GEOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATIC CONTROL OF PRIMATE DIVERSITY

Although the comparative ecology of primates has been relatively well studied and there have been a number of outstanding studies of individ ual primate communities, the factors determining primate species diver sity on either a local or regional level are largely unexplored. Under standing the determinants of species abundance is an important aspect of biodiversity and is critical for interpreting the comparative ecolo gy of these different communities and for designing effective strategi es of conservation. Comparative analysis of species diversity in more than 70 primate communities from South America, Africa, Madagascar, an d Asia shows that on major continental areas and large tropical island s, there is a high positive correlation between the number of primate species and the area of tropical forest. Within major continental area s, the species diversity at individual sites is highly correlated with mean annual rainfall for South America, Africa, and Madagascar, but n ot Asia.