Primate response to natural gas pipeline construction in the Peruvian Amazon

While natural resource exploration and extraction activity is expanding in the Neotropics, our understanding of wildlife response to such activity is almost non‐existent. Primates, which fulfill important ecological roles and face numerous anthropogenic threats, are of particular concern. We studied primate group distribution before, during, and after natural gas pipeline construction in the Peruvian Amazon to investigate whether primates spatially avoid areas of disturbance. We monitored primates on eight transects 20 times per annual sampling period in three consecutive years and analyzed changes in group observations relative to the pipeline right‐of‐way in a multi‐season occupancy modeling framework. Overall primate group encounter rates were low (<half) compared to a nearby protected area. Contrary to expectations, we did not see clear evidence of spatial avoidance of the pipeline area. Although higher overall encounter rates before construction suggested lower primate use of the area during and following construction, this pattern could not be confirmed statistically, and probability of colonization and extinction of transect sections in the occupancy analysis could not be differentiated from zero. These results are probably attributable to a combination of low numbers of primate encounters and high spatial variability in primate use of different transects. This study provides valuable preliminary data and a methodological framework for understanding the response of an ecologically important group of mammals to anthropogenic activity. We encourage other researchers to continue exploring the impacts of natural resource exploration‐ and extraction‐related activities in the tropics, as such activities are likely to have a growing effect on ecosystems.