Assessing the impacts of oil exploration and restoration on mammals in Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Uganda

Abstract

Global energy demand has driven expansion of oil and gas extraction into African protected areas, raising concern about potential deleterious impacts on wildlife. Efforts aim to restore extraction sites to their original condition, but may take many years to be successful. We analysed the impact of human disturbance (road density, distance to border, sound levels and the presence of restored oil drill pads) on mammal distributions in Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA), Uganda. We detected 27 mammal species using camera trap surveys within three disturbance-related strata: restored (<500 m from a restored drill pad), disturbed matrix (within the disturbed landscape but >1 km from a disturbance feature) and remote (>3 km from any disturbance). Herbivore species richness was greater within the disturbed matrix and at restored sites compared to remote areas, whereas species richness did not vary by strata for other guilds. Occupancy models fit for 15 relatively common species indicated no difference in occupancy probability across the three strata, but giraffe occupancy was higher at sites with more restored drill pads. Most species did not avoid areas of high human disturbance in this study, and new vegetation growth may attract some herbivores to restored oil sites.