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LaBarge LR, Hill RA, Berman CM, Margulis SW, Allan ATL. Anthropogenic influences on primate antipredator behavior and implications for research and conservation. Am J Primatol 2020; 82:e23087. [PMID: 31894614 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Revised: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Predation risk affects prey species' behavior, even in the absence of a direct threat, but human-induced environmental change may disturb ecologically significant predator-prey interactions. Here, we propose various ways in which knowledge of antipredator tactics, behavioral risk effects, and primate-predator interactions could assist in identifying human-caused disruption to natural systems. Using behavior to evaluate primate responses to the ongoing environmental change should be a potentially effective way to make species conservation more predictive by identifying issues before a more dramatic population declines. A key challenge here is that studies of predation on primates often use data collected via direct observations of habituated animals and human presence can deter carnivores and influence subjects' perception of risk. Hence, we also review various indirect data collection methods to evaluate their effectiveness in identifying where environmental change threatens wild species, while also minimizing observer bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura R LaBarge
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, Program in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Amherst, New York.,Primate and Predator Project, Lajuma Research Centre, Louis Trichardt, South Africa
| | - Russell A Hill
- Primate and Predator Project, Lajuma Research Centre, Louis Trichardt, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK.,Department of Zoology, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
| | - Carol M Berman
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, Program in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Amherst, New York.,Department of Anthropology, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Amherst, New York
| | - Susan W Margulis
- Department of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York.,Department of Biology, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York
| | - Andrew T L Allan
- Primate and Predator Project, Lajuma Research Centre, Louis Trichardt, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK
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Wild Samango Monkeys, Cercopithecus mitis, Balance Risk and Opportunity to Interact with Novel Objects in Village Gardens. INT J PRIMATOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-019-00113-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Allan AT, Hill RA. What have we been looking at? A call for consistency in studies of primate vigilance. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165 Suppl 65:4-22. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T.L. Allan
- Department of Anthropology; Durham University; Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom
- Primate and Predator Project; Lajuma Research Centre; PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt 0920 South Africa
| | - Russell A. Hill
- Department of Anthropology; Durham University; Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom
- Primate and Predator Project; Lajuma Research Centre; PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt 0920 South Africa
- Department of Zoology; University of Venda; Private bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950 South Africa
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Samango Monkeys ( Cercopithecus albogularis labiatus) Manage Risk in a Highly Seasonal, Human-Modified Landscape in Amathole Mountains, South Africa. INT J PRIMATOL 2016; 38:194-206. [PMID: 28546650 PMCID: PMC5422488 DOI: 10.1007/s10764-016-9913-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Wild species use habitats that vary in risk across space and time. This risk can derive from natural predators and also from direct and indirect human pressures. A starving forager will often take risks that a less hungry forager would not. At a highly seasonal and human-modified site, we predicted that arboreal samango monkeys (Cercopithecus albogularis labiatus) would show highly flexible, responsive, risk-sensitive foraging. We first determined how monkeys use horizontal and vertical space across seasons to evaluate if high-risk decisions (use of gardens and ground) changed with season, a proxy for starvation risk. Then, during a subsequent winter, we offered equal feeding opportunities (in the form of high-value, raw peanuts) in both gardens and forest to see if this short-term change in food availability and starvation risk affected monkeys’ foraging decisions. We found that during the food-scarce winter, monkeys foraged outside indigenous forest and in gardens, where they fed on exotic species, especially fallen acorns (Quercus spp.), despite potential threats from humans. Nevertheless, and as predicted, when given the choice of foraging on high-value foods in gardens vs. forest during our artificial foraging experiment, monkeys showed a preference for a safer forest habitat. Our experiment also indicated monkeys’ sensitivity to risk in the lower vertical strata of both habitats, despite their previous extensive use of the ground. Our findings support one of the central tenets of optimal foraging theory: that risk of starvation and sensitivity to the variation in food availability can be as important drivers of behavior as risk of predation.
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