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Tédonzong LRD, Ndju'u MBM, Tchamba M, Angwafo TE, Lens L, Tagg N, Willie J. The influence of vegetation structure on sleeping site selection by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes). Am J Primatol 2023:e23505. [PMID: 37157167 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Sleep is an important aspect of great ape life; these animals build sleeping platforms every night. In a community of chimpanzees, each subgroup selects a sleeping site where each individual builds a sleeping platform, mostly on a tree. Previous studies have measured the heights of sleeping platforms and sleeping trees to test the predation avoidance and thermoregulation hypotheses of sleeping site selection. However, it remains unclear how components of vegetation structure (vertical and horizontal) together determine the selection of sleeping sites by chimpanzees. Using botanical inventories around sleeping sites in a tropical rainforest of Cameroon, we found that chimpanzees preferentially sleep in trees measuring 40-50 cm in diameter. Regarding height, on average, sleeping trees measured 26 m and sleeping platforms were built at 16 m. To build sleeping platforms, chimpanzees preferred four tree species, which represent less than 3% of tree species in the study area. We demonstrate that the variation in abundance of tree species and the vertical and horizontal structure of the vegetation drive chimpanzee sleeping site selection. It was previously thought that preference for vegetation types was the driver of sleeping site selection in chimpanzees. However, results from this study indicate that the importance of vegetation types in sleeping site selection depends on their botanical characteristics including the variation in tree size, the abundance of all trees, the abundance of sleeping trees, and the occurrence of preferred sleeping tree species, which predict sleeping site selection. The height and diameter of trees are considered by chimpanzees when selecting a particular tree for sleeping and when selecting a site with a specific vertical structure. In addition to tree height, the abundance of smaller neighboring trees may also play a role in the chimpanzee antipredation strategy. Our results demonstrate that chimpanzees consider several vegetation parameters to establish sleeping sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luc Roscelin Dongmo Tédonzong
- Projet Grands Singes (PGS), Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Centre for Research and Conservation (CRC), Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA), Antwerp, Belgium
- Section on Great Apes, Primate Specialist Group, IUCN Species Survival Commission, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | | | - Martin Tchamba
- Department of Forestry, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
| | | | - Luc Lens
- Department of Biology, Ghent University (UGent), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Nikki Tagg
- Projet Grands Singes (PGS), Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Centre for Research and Conservation (CRC), Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA), Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jacob Willie
- Projet Grands Singes (PGS), Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Centre for Research and Conservation (CRC), Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA), Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Biology, Ghent University (UGent), Ghent, Belgium
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Hankinson E, Korstjens AH, Hill RA, Wich SA, Slater HD, Abdullah A, Supradi S, Marsh CD, Nijman V. Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on group densities of Thomas' langurs (
Presbytis thomasi
) within a lowland tropical forest, north Sumatra. Ecol Res 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Hankinson
- School of Social Sciences Oxford Brookes University Headington Campus, Oxford UK
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences Bournemouth University, Christchurch House Talbot Campus, Poole UK
| | - Amanda H. Korstjens
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences Bournemouth University, Christchurch House Talbot Campus, Poole UK
| | - Ross A. Hill
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences Bournemouth University, Christchurch House Talbot Campus, Poole UK
| | - Serge A. Wich
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool UK
| | - Helen D. Slater
- School of Social Sciences Oxford Brookes University Headington Campus, Oxford UK
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Newcastle University Newcastle Upon Tyne UK
| | - Abdullah Abdullah
- Fakultas Biologi Universitas Syiah Kuala Darussalam, Banda Aceh Indonesia
| | - Supradi Supradi
- Fakultas Biologi Universitas Syiah Kuala Darussalam, Banda Aceh Indonesia
| | - Christopher D. Marsh
- School of Social Sciences Oxford Brookes University Headington Campus, Oxford UK
- Department of Biology University of New Mexico Albuquerque New Mexico USA
| | - Vincent Nijman
- School of Social Sciences Oxford Brookes University Headington Campus, Oxford UK
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Marsh CD, Hill RA, Nowak MG, Hankinson E, Abdullah A, Gillingham P, Korstjens AH. Measuring and modelling microclimatic air temperature in a historically degraded tropical forest. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2022; 66:1283-1295. [PMID: 35357567 PMCID: PMC9132844 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-022-02276-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is predicted to cause widespread disruptions to global biodiversity. Most climate models are at the macroscale, operating at a ~ 1 km resolution and predicting future temperatures at 1.5-2 m above ground level, making them unable to predict microclimates at the scale that many organisms experience temperature. We studied the effects of forest structure and vertical position on microclimatic air temperature within forest canopy in a historically degraded tropical forest in Sikundur, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. We collected temperature measurements in fifteen plots over 20 months, alongside vegetation structure data from the same fifteen 25 × 25 m plots. We also performed airborne surveys using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to record canopy structure remotely, both over the plot locations and a wider area. We hypothesised that old-growth forest structure would moderate microclimatic air temperature. Our data showed that Sikundur is a thermally dynamic environment, with simultaneously recorded temperatures at different locations within the canopy varying by up to ~ 15 °C. Our models (R2 = 0.90 to 0.95) showed that temperature differences between data loggers at different sites were largely determined by variation in recording height and the amount of solar radiation reaching the topmost part of the canopy, although strong interactions between these abiotic factors and canopy structure shaped microclimate air temperature variation. The impacts of forest degradation have smaller relative influence on models of microclimatic air temperature than abiotic factors, but the loss of canopy density increases temperature. This may render areas of degraded tropical forests unsuitable for some forest-dwelling species with the advent of future climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Marsh
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK.
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
| | - Ross A Hill
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - Matthew G Nowak
- The PanEco Foundation - Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, Chileweg 5, Berg Am Irchel, Switzerland
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA
| | - Emma Hankinson
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - Abdullah Abdullah
- Department of Biology, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia
| | - Phillipa Gillingham
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - Amanda H Korstjens
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
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van der Marel A, O’Connell CL, Prasher S, Carminito C, Francis X, Hobson EA. A comparison of low‐cost behavioral observation software applications for handheld computers and recommendations for use. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Claire L. O’Connell
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio45221USA
| | - Sanjay Prasher
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio45221USA
| | - Chelsea Carminito
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio45221USA
| | - Xavier Francis
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio45221USA
| | - Elizabeth A. Hobson
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio45221USA
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Influences of Forest Structure on the Density and Habitat Preference of Two Sympatric Gibbons (Symphalangus syndactylus and Hylobates lar). INT J PRIMATOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-021-00199-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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