Flexibility in positional behavior, strata use, and substrate utilization among Bale monkeys (Chlorocebus djamdjamensis) in response to habitat fragmentation and degradation

Abstract

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.