Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity

Citation

Kuhl HS, Boesch C, Kulik L, Haas F, Arandjelovic M, Dieguez P, Bocksberger G, McElreath MB, Agbor A, Angedakin S, Ayimisin EA, Bailey E, Barubiyo D, Jeffery KJ & Morgan B (2019) Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity. Science, 363 (6434), pp. 1453-1455. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau4532

Abstract
Chimpanzees possess a large number of behavioral and cultural traits among non-human species. The ‘disturbance hypothesis’ predicts that human impact depletes resources and disrupts social learning processes necessary for behavioral and cultural transmission. We used an unprecedented data set of 144 chimpanzee communities, with information on 31 behaviors, to show that chimpanzees inhabiting areas with high human impact have a mean probability of occurrence reduced by 88%, across all behaviors, compared to low impact areas. This behavioral diversity loss was evident irrespective of the grouping or categorization of behaviors. Therefore, human impact may not only be associated with the loss of populations and genetic diversity, but also affects how animals behave. Our results support the view that ‘culturally significant units’ should be integrated into wildlife conservation.

Notes
Additional co-authors: Mattia Bessone, Gregory Brazzola, Rebecca Chancellor, Heather Cohen, Charlotte Coupland, Emmanuel Danquah, Tobias Deschner, Orume Diotoh, Dervla Dowd, Andrew Dunn, Villard Ebot Egbe, Henk Eshuis, Rumen Fernandez, Yisa Ginath, Annemarie Goedmakers, Anne-Céline Granjon, Josephine Head, Daniela Hedwig, Veerle Hermans, Inaoyom Imong, Sorrel Jones, Jessica Junker, Parag Kadam, Mbangi Kambere, Mohamed Kambi, Ivonne Kienast, Deo Kujirakwinja, Kevin Langergraber, Juan Lapuente, Bradley Larson, Kevin Lee, Vera Leinert, Manuel Llana, Giovanna Maretti, Sergio Marrocoli, Tanyi Julius Mbi, Amelia C. Meier, David Morgan, Felix Mulindahabi, Mizuki Murai, Emily Neil, Protais Niyigaba, Lucy Jayne Ormsby, Liliana Pacheco, Alex Piel, Jodie Preece, Sebastien Regnaut, Aaron Rundus, Crickette Sanz, Joost van Schijndel, Volker Sommer, Fiona Stewart, Nikki Tagg, Elleni Vendras, Virginie Vergnes, Adam Welsh, Erin G. Wessling, Jacob Willie, Roman M. Wittig, Kyle Yurkiw, Klaus Zuberbuehler, Ammie K. Kalan

Journal
Science: Volume 363, Issue 6434

People

Ms Kathryn Jeffery

Research Fellow, Biological and Environmental Sciences