Western lowland gorilla in a logging concession: comparison of density and nesting behavior before and after logging

Timber exploitation is rapidly expanding throughout the Congo Basin. In Gabon, timber industry is currently the second working sector and logging concessions cover 45% of the country forest area, largely overlapping with the range of western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla WLG). Logging may negatively impact gorilla because of an increase in hunting pressure linked to human concentration and easier access to forest. On the other hand, WLG might benefit from forest opening and the associated growth in Terrestrial Herbaceous Vegetation, following timber felling and roads/trails implementation.
In the present study, gorilla density and nesting behavior were studied in a 617,000-ha logging concession located in Central Gabon. A Standing Crop Nest Count census was realized 25 years after the first timber harvesting cycle, consisting in the assessment of the potentiality of logged forest to hold viable WLG populations. A second census was undertaken four to six months after the second logging wave. Comparing nesting behavior and estimated gorilla density between the two census allows to highlight the short-term effects of logging on gorilla populations.
A relatively high WLG density was observed during the first census (2.1 weaned gorillas/km²). This figure dropped down to 1.0 weaned gorillas/km² after the second felling cycle. Both density values fall within the range of documented WLG densities documented at other sites. Gorillas consistently nested preferentially in open terra firme forest and built the majority of their nests using herbs of the Marantaceae and Zingiberaceae families. Both these observations underline the importance of Terrestrial Herbaceous Vegetation for nesting.
The results of this study suggest that timber exploitation and WLG conservation are not mutually exclusive. The initial high density might traduce an effective anti-poaching strategy for now. The decline in gorilla density observed directly in the second census is probably linked with the avoidance of the disturbance of logging operations. Monitoring the evolution of WLG density would be important in order to control if the figure will rise over time to reach its initial value, but also to assess if a positive effect of Terrestrial Herbaceous Vegetation growth will be observed.