Structure and dynamics of wildlife community at bais in the Congo Basin

Deborah Lemke

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The lowland forests of the Republic of Congo hold extraordinary biodiversity. And the undisturbed environment of Messok-Dja area provides ideal circumstances for wildlife research. The study uses up to 24 camera traps positioned in open forest clearings (so called “bai”), crucial sites of animal gathering in the Congo basin rainforest, and the nearest surrounding area. This thesis focuses on improving knowledge on species richness, spatial and temporal dynamics of the assemblage of terrestrial wildlife, and potential interspecific associations in Messok-Dja. For this, the thesis investigates seasonal changes in species composition during a sampling period of one year. Across all seasons, frugivores represented the most abundant trophic guild. Additionally, species activity patterns were compared and species recovery after human disturbance was assessed. During the sampling period, a total of 31 species were recorded, showing a clear dominance of a few species and many rare species. Most abundant species included Peter’s duiker (Cephalophus callipygus), African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekiii) and western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Furthermore, the thesis examines a potential reduction of camera traps to assess the effectivity of long-term monitoring arrays. Interspecific associations were identified. Strongest tendency to associate was observed for Peter’s duiker (Cephalophus callipygus), blue duiker (Philantomba congica), mantled guereza (Colobus guereza) and forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus). The thesis contributes to the assessment of wildlife community structure in Messok-Dja and provides an exploratory discussion on interspecific associations within the community to build up potential future studies. Thus, the findings may contribute to the development of standardized research-protocol for bai research.

Keywords

Camera trap, Congo, monitoring, species richness, community

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 3. 4. 2026

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 19. 5. 2026
• Vedúci: Mgr. Tomáš Jůnek, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Ondřej Sedláček, CSc., externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Master programme:
Nature Conservation