A citizen science survey: perceptions and attitudes of urban residents towards vervet monkeys

Patterson, Lindsay; Kalle, Riddhika; Downs, Colleen T.

doi:10.1007/s11252-016-0619-0

Cited by 26 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The distribution, abundance, and behavior of animals is well known to vary seasonally (Dayton 2008); food sources of animals often show significant temporal fluctuations (such as fruiting trees for monkeys, Patterson et al 2017), animals have seasonal diets (e.g., grizzly bears, Nielsen et al 2010), resource requirements differ during breeding seasons (e.g., birds, Unno 2002), and activity patterns can vary with seasonal changes in climate (e.g., frogs become active after rain, Paltridge and Southgate 2001). Given that the presence, abundance and activity of animals vary seasonally, often in response to seasonal fluctuations in their resources (Dayton 2008), it would be reasonable to assume that the factors that drive the abundance and presence in gardens may also vary seasonally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the presence, abundance and activity of animals vary seasonally, often in response to seasonal fluctuations in their resources (Dayton 2008), it would be reasonable to assume that the factors that drive the abundance and presence in gardens may also vary seasonally. While multiple studies provide promising evidence that garden features could be manipulated to improve conservation outcomes for fauna in gardens (e.g., Dique et al 2004, Daniels and Kirkpatrick 2006, Oprea et al 2009, Patterson et al 2017, Van Helden et al 2020 b ), considering seasonality will allow for the identification of all features that influence the presence and abundance of animals, including those that are important in single seasons and those that are consistent across seasons. This will inform decision‐making as to which features could be manipulated to achieve the greatest conservation outcome and in which season garden manipulations will have the most benefit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing gardens for wildlife: Features that predict mammal presence and abundance in gardens vary seasonally

Helden

Stewart

et al. 2021

Ecosphere

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Residential gardens in urban areas offer substantial opportunities for biodiversity conservation. To realize this opportunity, a comprehensive understanding of which species prosper in gardens, which mechanisms promote their use of these green spaces and how these mechanisms can be manipulated by residents to achieve conservation outcomes, is needed. While substantial progress has been made in evaluating the mechanisms that influence the diversity, presence, and abundance of wildlife in gardens, how these mechanisms vary seasonally is largely unknown. This study investigated whether the garden features influencing the presence and/or abundance of arboreal, flying, and ground-dwelling mammals in gardens varied seasonally using acoustic, trapping, and spotlighting surveys undertaken in four consecutive seasons (2018/19) in 52 gardens in southwestern Australia. As animal behavior and resource availability varies seasonally, we predicted that garden features influencing the presence and abundance of mammals in gardens would also vary seasonally. For arboreal and ground-dwelling mammals, we found that some garden features (e.g., canopy cover and presence of dogs, respectively) were important in more than one season; however, none were important in all seasons with most only being influential in one. No garden features predicted the presence of flying mammals in more than one season. Our results suggest that sampling in a single or few seasons may fail to identify features influencing wildlife at times other than in the season of sampling, or alternatively, may overemphasize factors that do not operate across all seasons. Studies that consider the mechanisms on a seasonal basis will provide a more comprehensive list of features influencing the presence and abundance of animals in gardens. We suggest it is both those features that support wildlife in multiple or all seasons, and those that support critical life-history events in a single season that could contribute to conservation if manipulated by residents appropriately.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing gardens for wildlife: Features that predict mammal presence and abundance in gardens vary seasonally

Helden

Stewart

et al. 2021

Ecosphere

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“…Research on primate behavioural flexibility in anthropogenic habitats has increased markedly since the 2000s; however, this only includes 17% of currently recognised species (McLennan, Spagnoletti, & Hockings, ). Therefore, while vervet monkeys are shown to persist in urban areas (Chapman & Fedigan, ; Horrocks & Baulu, ; McLennan et al, ; Patterson, Kalle, & Downs, , ,; Shimada & Shotake, ; Thatcher, Downs, & Koyama, , ; Wolfheim, ), the absence of urban spatial data has greatly curtailed the efficacy of vervet monkey management efforts in transformed landscapes like KZN. To date, most management decisions have been based on previous practices, public opinion and the suggestions of researchers both with and without relevant experience and knowledge of the local vervet monkey population (Simbithi Environmental Group, 2016 pers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living in the suburbs: Space use by vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in an eco‐estate, South Africa

2019

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We examined vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) space use using GPS/UHF telemetry data from 10 vervet monkeys across six troops over 9 months within a 420 ha suburban eco‐estate. We documented a mean home range of 0.99 km2 (95% MCP) and 1.07 km2 (95% KDE) for females (n = 6), 1 km2 (95% MCP) and 1.50 km2 (95% KDE) for males (n = 4) and 0.87 km2 (95% MCP) and 1.12 km2 (95% KDE) for troops (n = 6), respectively, indicating that males and larger troops had larger home ranges. These relatively small home ranges included shared territorial boundaries and high home range overlap. Vervet monkey movements indicated higher morning activity levels, and habitat selection indicated significantly more use of golf course, urban residential and forest, thicket and woodland areas, and avoidance of wetland, grassland and shrub, and urban built‐up areas. Our results suggest that modified habitat use by vervet monkeys is a consequence of behavioural facilitation to access highly available food resources, thereby facilitating their persistence in green spaces in urban areas of South Africa. Conflict management is dependent on the conservation of sufficient natural habitats and food resources, to minimise their dependence on anthropogenic supplementary food resources and consequently reduce human–monkey conflict.

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“…Vervet monkeys can thrive in urban landscapes (Patterson et al 2017(Patterson et al , 2018(Patterson et al , 2019Saj et al 1999), exhibiting behavioral flexibility to adapt to anthropogenic disturbance (Chapman et al 2016;Thatcher et al 2019). It is therefore an ideal species to examine the effect of variation in human-wildlife interactions on ranging behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive and Negative Interactions with Humans Concurrently Affect Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) Ranging Behavior

2019

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Many nonhuman primates adjust their behavior and thrive in human-altered habitats, including towns and cities. Studying anthropogenic influences from an animal's perspective can increase our understanding of their behavioral flexibility, presenting important information for human-wildlife cohabitation management plans. Currently, research on anthropogenically disturbed wildlife considers either positive or negative aspects of human-wildlife encounters independently, highlighting a need to consider potential interactions between both aspects. Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are a suitable species to address this gap in research as they tolerate urbanization; however, they are understudied in urban landscapes. We conducted this study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where vervet monkeys are commonly found throughout the anthropogenic landscape. Here we determined, from a monkey's perspective, how the frequency and nature of human-monkey interactions, both positive (human food availability) and negative (human-monkey aggression), affected vervet monkey ranging patterns in an urban environment. We assessed the movement patterns of three groups of urban vervet monkeys over 1 year, analyzing both 95% and 50% kernel density estimates of their home ranges alongside daily path lengths and path sinuosities every month using generalized linear mixed models. Overall, we found that human interactions within the urban landscape affected all measures of ranging to some degree. The core home ranges of vervet monkeys increased with a higher rate of positive human encounters, and their total home range increased with an interaction of both positive and negative human encounters. Furthermore, vervet monkeys were less likely to respond (i.e., increase daily path length or path sinuosity) to human aggression when food rewards were high, suggesting that effective management should focus on reducing human food foraging opportunities. Our results highlight the complex interplay between positive and negative aspects of urban living and provide guidance for managers of human-nonhuman primate interactions.

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A citizen science survey: perceptions and attitudes of urban residents towards vervet monkeys

Cited by 26 publications

References 34 publications

Managing gardens for wildlife: Features that predict mammal presence and abundance in gardens vary seasonally

Managing gardens for wildlife: Features that predict mammal presence and abundance in gardens vary seasonally

Living in the suburbs: Space use by vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in an eco‐estate, South Africa

Positive and Negative Interactions with Humans Concurrently Affect Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) Ranging Behavior

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