Behavioral adjustments of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) inhabiting an agricultural landscape Biogeographic rules of arthropod body-size across trees in a forest canopy
1er sémaire : As a forest-dependent species, the Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is affected by the loss of natural resources induced by human activities, and the progressive conversion of forest-adjacent lands into crops. Their persistence in shared landscapes depends on their behavioral flexibility, which may involve being able to exploit human agricultural production, leading to increasing human/monkey conflict. This study explores how Barbary macaques adjust their behavior in response to a recent agricultural settlement, and how humans can efficiently protect their crops, thereby mitigating conflicts with this endangered monkey.
2e séminaire : Arthropods are often large in geographic regions that are cool or isolated. Temperature and isolation vary also at much smaller scales, such as among different host trees within a forest canopy, but we do not know how this affects arthropod body size. We show that large-bodied species establish on host-trees that are cool in herbivores, but warm in predators. Large-bodied species establish on phylogenetically isolated trees (partly reinforcing effects of temperature). We suggest that small and large species are sorted across trees through a mosaic of isolation and heat, ultimately contributing to the emblematic species diversity of forest canopies.
