BonDiv

Data and sample collection

Systematic data and sample collection is designed to be performed in a 25-30km2. 

After the reconessence (recce) of the area, field teams decide, together with the BonDiv core team, where to place the grid for the systematic data and sample collection.

During at least 12 months, teams follow the same protocol to collect data on bonobo populations using non-invasive methods.

Simultaneously, teams collect environmental information to characterize the vegetation and calculate the fruit abundance; climate data to help understand the ecological dynamics and animal behaviour; sympatric wildlife data to estimate the abundance of potential prey and predator species; or pathogen samples to evaluate the ecosystem’s health, among others.

Bonobo presence/absence data is collected at two complementary satellite sites at each location to improve the geographic coverture, and social interviews at villages around the research site allow us to study the human impact providing the social context.

 

September 2023, By Paula Dieguez