Oil palm cultivation critically affects sociality in a threatened Malaysian primate.

ABSTRACT: Human-induced habitat alterations globally threaten animal populations, often evoking complex behavioural responses in wildlife. This may be particularly dramatic when negatively affecting social behaviour, which fundamentally determines individual fitness and offspring survival in group-living animals. Here, we provide first evidence for significant behavioural modifications in sociality of southern pig-tailed macaques visiting Malaysian oil palm plantations in search of food despite elevated predation risk. Specifically, we found critical reductions of key positive social interactions but higher rates of aggression in the plantation interior compared to the plantation edge (i.e. plantation areas bordering the forest) and the forest. At the plantation edge, affiliation even increased comp

SUBMITTER: Holzner A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8121792 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature