Socioecological Adaptations by Chimpanzees from Animal Behaviour

Researchers Hockings, Anderson, and Matsuzawa, authors of "Socioecological adaptations by chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, inhabiting an anthropogenically impacted habitat" as published in the scholarly journal, Animal Behaviour collected data in Bossou, Guinea over a year long period to examine the living conditions of a group of chimpanzees there. In examining "party size" in both crop raids and wild feeds, they were able to observe the ways in which chimpanzees band together in various ecological environments. This particular study explores the ways in which this particular group of chimpanzees behaves within an agricultural-forest region.

The introduction of the study briefly discussed the realities of human invasion of the forest regions of Guinea and suggests that such intrusions may have a significant affect on chimp resource consumption, activity budgets, party cohesiveness, and other factors directly affecting life for the chimps in the region. One important point of discussion in the beginning portion of the article is the idea that agricultural development by humans directly affects all species of a particular region, both in ways that we can observe directly and others that take more exploration and foresight.

Behavioral flexibility is noted as a process that occurs not just in instances of agricultural development, but also in situations where climate and seasonal changes warrant adaptation from a given species to benefit survival. Climate changes can limit availability of food, but heightened access to human food can change the behaviors particular species exhibit in a given region. The authors cite a study that found that other species of monkeys were found to spend less time foraging for food with an increased access to human food.

Behaviors observed by the researchers were divided into several categories- feeding, moving, resting, and social. Single focal individuals were noted, and the researchers also included mention that the other individuals being observed were not always exhibiting the same behavior as the focal individual.

This article in particular is important in that it gives us an insight into the affect human populations have on the well-being of various animal species. Minor intrusions can make significant changes in the overall lifestyle of an animal. In some respects, small differences were found in instances such as party cohesiveness, but significant differences were found in the area of activity budgets. More studies focusing on similar and different animal behaviors will allow for a more definitive outlook on chimp life.

Source: Socioecological adaptations by chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, inhabiting an anthropogenically impacted habitat from Animal Behaviour by Kimberley J. Hockings, James R. Anderson, and Tetsuro Matsuzawa. USD students may find the article via Copley Library at http://0-www.sciencedirect.com.sally.sandiego.edu/science/article/pii/S0003347212000036.