How does deforestation in the Congo

Basin contribute to the increased risk of

extinction for the Loxodonta Cyclotis?

Name: Helena Alcañiz Garcia

ESS Internal Assessment

Word Count:

1
Table of Contents

Research Question 3
Context 3
Sampling Strategy 3
Procedure 4
Results 5
Analysis 7
Conclusion 8
Evaluation 8
Applications 10
Bibliography 11

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Research Question

My research question is “How does deforestation in the Congo Basin contribute to the increased risk of
extinction for the Loxodonta Cyclotis?”

Context

According to World Wildlife Fund , the Congo Basin is one of the most critical wilderness areas that are left
on Planet Earth. This enormous region stands as the world’s second-largest tropical forest so its conservation
is crucial for the planet’s well-being, for its region’s biodiversity and for global ecological stability,
considering it plays a remarkable role in regulating the planet’s climate by absorbing carbon dioxide in large
amounts. (WorldWildlife, n.d.)
For the past years, deforestation has increased disproportionately, especially in the Congo Basin with the
purpose of increasing urbanization and agriculture.(ReSoil Foundation, 2022) Deforestation causes the
release of very high levels of carbon which contributes to global warming. The destruction of these forests,
evidently, affects the flora and fauna habitating the Congo Basin.
The African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis) is among the most important species that can be found
in this habitat. It is a keystone species in this ecosystem. Its presence is crucial for maintaining the
equilibrium and the health of the ecosystem. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW), “They keep their forest home healthy by digging for water, uprooting trees, and consuming large
amounts of plant life. All of this contributes to the thinning of vegetation, which lowers the competition for
nutrients and helps more sunlight reach the forest floor. They also help disperse the seeds of the plants they
eat.” (International Fund for Animal Welfare, n.d.)
Since 1989, the African Forest Elephant’s population has declined excessively, decreasing 86%, mainly
because of habitat loss.
The extinction of the African Forest Elephant would likely lead to the collapse of the whole ecosystem,
causing the loss of biodiversity and the destabilization of the global climate.
Clearly, its genetic diversity must be preserved in order to maintain the balance in the Congo (Malhi et al.,
2013, 1). So, deforestation and the loss of biodiversity (African Forest Elephant) need to be avoided at all
costs.

Hypothesis
I believe that deforestation and the decrease in population will be related. I stand by the idea that
deforestation in the Congo Basin is the number one cause of the risk of extinction of the African Forest
Elephant, considering that’s their natural habitat and where they’re used to living.

Sampling Strategy

As I said, for my Internal Assessment I will try to examine the impact of deforestation on the Congo Basin
and try to relate it with the extinction risk of the African Forest Elephant.
For the collection of data I will use only secondary data. I don’t intend to collect any data by myself
considering that I can’t travel to the Congo Basin and take samples by myself. Not only that, but I will also
collect data from recent studies, if possible from the past 10 years. This will ensure that my study is relevant
and accurate.

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The data that I use will be directly related to deforestation in the Congo and to population rates or
biodiversity of the African Forest Elephant. On one side, I will search for studies or graphs that show the
increase or decrease of deforestation in the area of the Congo Basin. I will use data showing before and after
2015 considering that’s the turning point in the deforestation of the Congo Basin (Cavallito, 2022). On the
other hand, I will search for data about the African Forest Elephant’s population in order to compare it and
relate it to the deforestation in the Congo.
Also, all the sources I use will be reliable and will come either from known organizations or from research
institutions.
The data will appear in the form of any type of publications such as articles, graphs, images or assessments
among others. So, I will be using only secondary sources.
Once I have found my sources, I will try to gather qualitative and quantitative data. I will extract relevant
data points regarding the African Forest Elephant’s population (taking into account its increase or decrease
during the past few years.). Subsequently, I will identify trends, correlations or causative relationships
between data.

Procedure

Step-by-step:

1. Search Data
a. Search for studies or online publications about the rate and the extent of the deforestation
in the Congo Basin.
b. Find studies about the impact of habitat loss on African Forest Elephants.
c. Search data about the population of the African Forest Elephant for the past few years.
d. Find how the extinction of the African Forest Elephant can affect the whole ecosystem.
2. Analyse data found.
a. Create linear graphs to visualize the data found about African Forest Elephant population
and about deforestation in the Congo Basin
b. Create dispersion graphs in order to compare deforestation rates to elephant’s population.
3. Compare information
a. Look for relations between deforestation and the decrease of elephant’s population
through correlation coefficient (r^2)
4. Use all of the data to answer my research question and write a conclusion

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Ethical Considerations

When it comes to ethical considerations, I will try to respect the environment as much as I can. Bearing in
mind that I will not conduct any experiments to develop this research, I will try to use sources only from
known organizations that do not harm animals for research and that ensure the welfare of the species.

Results

After a lot of research, I’ve been able to find information about the African Forest Elephant’s population. It
has been hard to find studies about that because there aren’t many about this concrete sub-species of African
elephants. Still, with all the found data, I’ve created Table Number 1. The table shows us the Elephant’s
population densities in different measures. This is due to the fact that the data collected has not been found
on the same source. Multiple sources have been needed in order to have enough and complete information.
In the “Analysis” this data will be transformed to the same measure so it can be used.

Table 1:Recopilation of Information About African Forest Elephant Population

Elephant population (throughout the years) Sources

1976 1,340,000 (African Forest Elephant — Global

Conservation, n.d.)

1979 3 million square miles (World Wild Life, n.d.)

2007 1 million square miles or (World Wild Life, n.d.)

446,666

2016 The African Elephant’s (IUCN, 2021)

population (Savannah +
Forest) was 415,000 (World Wild Life, n.d.)
The African Savannah
Elephant’s population
was around 352,271

2021 100,000 (Global Conservation, n.d.)

nowadays 150,000 (World Wild Life, n.d.)

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After this, I also did some research on deforestation and forest loss. The information was found all in one
same source which provided forest loss in hectares every year since 2002. Even so, the table created
underneath (Table 2) will only show the years relevant to the investigation which are the years shown in
Table 1 (African Forest elephant Population). This will be done in order to ease the creation of graphs later
on.

Table 2: Forest Loss in the Congo Basin (Global Forest Watch, n.d.)

Years Forest Loss (hectares)

2007 155000

2016 500000

2021 499000

nowadays 526000

Analysis

For this assessment a thorough analysis has been needed. The collection of data has provided results in
different measures so for the analysis the data in Table 1 needs to be transformed so the measures coincide.
The only measures that appear to be different are the 2007 and 2016 data. As for the 2007 data, it needs to
be converted from million square miles into a concrete number of elephants by making calculations and
assumptions. On the other hand, the 2016 data needs to be directly calculated considering the only data
found is about African Elephants and African Savannah Elephants and not about African Forest Elephants
which is the information needed for the investigation.

First Calculation:
From 1976 to 1979 the population probably didn’t change that much. We can see that in 2007 the elephant
population was three times smaller than in 1979. So, to find the exact number, the ‘76 population (aprox. 3
million square miles) needs to be divided into three to obtain the result ( 1 million square miles in a concrete
number).

1,340,000 : 3 = 446,666

Second Calculation:
No data was found about African Forest Elephant population in 2016. That’s why the number of elephants
has to be calculated by subtracting the number of African Savannah Elephants to the total number of
African Elephants (African Savannah Elephant + African Forest Elephant). According to the IUCN Redlist,
the total number of African Elephants was 415,000 elephants. According to WWF, the African Savannah
Elephant’s population was around 352,271.

415,000 - 352,271 = 62,729

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After all the data is in its correct measures, lineal and dispersion graphs need to be done to see in a more clear
and visual way this information and be able to comprehend it, compare it, contrast it and extract
conclusions from it.

Figure Number 1 shows all the information gathered from Table 1 and from the previous calculations made.
Not only that, but in order to observe the changes in a better scale, a second graph has been created
containing only data from 2007 to nowadays. This has been done because the high population of African
Forest Elephants in 1976 hinders the difference and variation of the information of the rest of the years that
the graph includes.

Figure 1: Graph of the African Forest Elephant Population (1976-Nowadays)

Figure 2: Graph of the African Forest Elephant Population (2007-Nowadays)

Figure 3: Forest loss in hectares. (linear)

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After creating these graphs, a Table needs to be created. To be able to make a dispersion graph and obtain
clear results and a clear representation, the data found in the previous section needs to be put on the same
table. Table 3 shows the evolution of forest loss in the Congo Basin and population of African Forest
Elephants.

Table 3: Forest Loss in the Congo Basin in relation to African Forest Elephant’s population

Forest Loss Elephant

Year (hectares) Population

2007 155000 446666

2016 500000 62729

2021 499000 100000

nowadays 526000 150000

From this table, Graph number 4 has been created. The dispersion graphs allows to see the relation between
the two factors in a more clear way. Not only that, but it also includes the correlation coefficient between
forest loss and elephant population. This coefficient is “ is a number between -1 and 1 that tells you the
strength and direction of a relationship between variables” (Bhandari, 2021). For this investigation and for
proving my hypothesis the correlation coefficient needs to be as approximate to 1 as possible. This will show
that there’s a positive relation. If the number is approximate to 0, there will be no relationship between the
two factors.

Figure 4: Correlation between Forest Loss and Elephant Population

The correlation rate is closer to zero than to one, which means the relationship is not as strong as though.
Still, it is not equal to zero which proves that forest loss has a little bit to do with the fact that the population
of the African Forest Elephant is decreasing at an alarming rate.

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Conclusion

To summarize this investigation it could be said that the results show that the relationship between
deforestation in the Congo Basin and the decrease of African Forest Elephant’s population is not very high.
Even so, it is obvious that deforestation is one of the causes of elephants being at risk of extinction. When
humans destroy forests or areas like the Congo Basin, they’re destroying the habitat of many animals and
making it inhabitable for them. Not only that but it also fragments habitat which separates species. In some
cases, deforestation also means a loss of food resources for some species. In the Congo Basin, deforestation
makes elephants have less space to live and less chances to survive. Even so, there are many other reasons for
the loss of elephant population which reinforces the idea and the fact that the relationship between forest
loss and elephant population.
As WWF states, poaching for ivory is the most present threat for African Forest Elephants.
So, this investigation has not demonstrated the initial hypothesis

Evaluation

For the evaluation, the initial hypothesis made needs to be taken into account. The hypothesis standed by
the idea that deforestation and population decline (African Forest Elephant) would be related to each other.
I also said that deforestation in the Congo Basin would be the number one cause of the risk of extinction of
the African Forest Elephant. The method used to find the answer to my research question has been useful in
the process of validating my hypothesis because it has provided clear evidence (shown in the graphics) that
deforestation and the population of the African Forest Elephant are not as related as I thought they would
be.
After finishing the investigation I’ve realized some of the points I made were not correct..
I have clearly been proved wrong about my beliefs of the relationship between deforestation and decrease of
population and I’ve come to understand the reasons throughout the whole assessment. Also, I’ve come to
realize that deforestation is in fact not the main cause of loss of African Forest Elephants. As I was
researching for this assessment I found that the actual main cause is poaching. Even so, most of the causes
are because of human activities.
If I were to do this investigation all over again I would do it differently. As I have previously mentioned,
finding data of the African Forest Elephant’s population has been a very hard process. There were many
graphs and stats about African Elephants but not of the subspecies I was looking for. For future projects, a
previous research on the availability and abundance of existing data should be added. Not only that, but I
will also try to ask deeper questions. I can affirm that I have learnt many things throughout the whole
process and I’ve reached conclusions that I could have imagined, confirming my suspicions and my initial
hypothesis. I think I’ve done a good and deep research and it has helped me on many levels that I would have
not expected.

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Applications

I believe this research does not assess an existing solution nor does it solve any of the problems presented.
Even so, I believe my work proves the need of taking action and urgently decreasing the rates of
deforestation, especially in the Congo Basin since it provides clear evidence of an ongoing disturbance
(deforestation) and how it threatens the stability of the Congo basin by increasing its risk of extinction. Not
only that but the population of the African Forest Elephant must increase. The species must be protected at
all costs to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.
In order to improve the current situation, awareness needs to be raised. Whether it’s about deforestation or
the risk of extinction of the elephants. In the first case, measures need to be taken such as reforestation or
promotion of responsible consumption. In the other case, more or less the same measures must be taken
considering we’ve seen through the whole research that deforestation causes the decrease of African Forest
Elephants. Also, action must be taken about poaching, considering it puts at risk this species population.
So, even though no solution has been found with this research, I believe it does a great job informing people
about the current situation. Measures need to be taken immediately to stop a great ecosystem, like the
Congo Basin, to collapse.

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