Mekonnen Addisu, Fashing Peter J, Sargis Eric J, Venkataraman Vivek V, Bekele Afework, Hernandez-Aguilar R Adriana, Rueness Eli K, Stenseth Nils Chr
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Am J Primatol. 2018 May;80(5):e22760. doi: 10.1002/ajp.22760. Epub 2018 Apr 17.
Studies of the effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on primate positional behavior, strata use, and substrate utilization offer valuable insights into the behavioral and ecological flexibility of primates whose habitats have undergone extensive anthropogenic disturbance. In this study, we evaluated how positional behavior, strata use, and substrate utilization differed between Bale monkeys (Chlorocebus djamdjamensis)-bamboo-eating cercopithecids endemic to the southern Ethiopian Highlands-occupying continuous versus fragmented forests. Bale monkeys in forest fragments (where bamboo had been degraded or eradicated) spent significantly more time on the ground and in understory strata whereas those in continuous forest spent significantly more time in the middle and upper strata. Bale monkeys in forest fragments also spent significantly more time walking and galloping and significantly less time climbing than those in continuous forest. Our results suggest that, unlike the primarily arboreal Bale monkeys in continuous forest, Bale monkeys in forest fragments should be characterized as semi-terrestrial. In response to habitat disturbance in fragments, we observed a greater emphasis on terrestrial foraging and travel among Bale monkeys in these human altered habitats, which may put them at greater risk of predation and conflict with nearby human populations. Bale monkeys in fragments exhibit flexibility in their positional behavioral repertoire and their degree of terrestriality is more similar to their sister taxa in Chlorocebus than to Bale monkeys in continuous forest. These findings suggest that habitat alteration may compel Bale monkeys to exhibit semi-terrestrial behaviors crucial for their persistence in human-modified habitats. Our results contribute to a growing body of literature on primate behavioral responses to anthropogenic modification of their habitats and provide information that can contribute to the design of appropriate conservation management plans.
关于栖息地破碎化和退化对灵长类动物的姿势行为、分层利用和基质利用的影响的研究，为深入了解栖息地遭受广泛人为干扰的灵长类动物的行为和生态灵活性提供了宝贵的见解。在本研究中，我们评估了生活在埃塞俄比亚高地南部特有的以竹子为食的猕猴科动物——贝尔猴（Chlorocebus djamdjamensis）——在连续森林与破碎森林中的姿势行为、分层利用和基质利用情况有何不同。生活在森林碎片（竹子已退化或被根除）中的贝尔猴在地面和林下分层花费的时间明显更多，而生活在连续森林中的贝尔猴在中层和上层分层花费的时间明显更多。与生活在连续森林中的贝尔猴相比，生活在森林碎片中的贝尔猴行走和奔跑的时间也明显更多，而攀爬的时间明显更少。我们的研究结果表明，与生活在连续森林中主要树栖的贝尔猴不同，生活在森林碎片中的贝尔猴应被归类为半陆生动物。针对碎片中的栖息地干扰，我们观察到在这些人类改变的栖息地中，贝尔猴更加强调地面觅食和移动，这可能使它们面临更大的被捕食风险以及与附近人类群体发生冲突的风险。生活在碎片中的贝尔猴在其姿势行为模式上表现出灵活性，并且它们的陆生程度与其绿猴属的姐妹分类群比与生活在连续森林中的贝尔猴更为相似。这些发现表明，栖息地改变可能迫使贝尔猴表现出对它们在人类改造的栖息地中生存至关重要的半陆生行为。我们的研究结果为关于灵长类动物对其栖息地人为改造的行为反应的文献不断增多做出了贡献，并提供了有助于制定适当保护管理计划的信息。
