Newcomer Tara Capel presented at the most recent American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) Meeting in Austin, Texas. Elizabeth Hall and Carolyn Jost Robinson were co-authored on the presentation.
Her poster presentation highlighted the rapid increases in human development throughout West and Central Africa, and how these changes have impacted nonhuman primate conservation and the environment. Tara’s work was part of a 24-year-long study on primate population abundance in Korup National Park, Cameroon. Recent fluctuation in the national park’s guenon species are likely an example of competitive release. It is suggested that the survivability of Cercopithecus erythrotis (red-eared guenon) is related to local feeding taboos. Tara’s work also emphasized the importance of longterm study sites.
