1
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Pritchard AJ, Beisner BA, Nathman A, McCowan B. Social stability via management of natal males in captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta). J APPL ANIM WELF SCI 2024; 27:408-425. [PMID: 38221724 PMCID: PMC10957301 DOI: 10.1080/10888705.2024.2303679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Keystone individuals are expected to disproportionately contribute to group stability. For instance, rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) who police conflict contribute towards stability. Not all individuals' motivations align with mechanisms of group stability. In wild systems, males typically disperse at maturity and attempt to ascend via contest competition. In a captive system, dispersal is not naturally enabled - individuals attempt to ascend in their natal groups, which can be enabled by matrilineal kin potentially destabilizing group dynamics. We relocated select high-ranking natal males from five groups and assessed group stability before and after. We quantified hierarchical metrics at the individual and group level. After removal, we found significantly higher aggression against the established hierarchy (reversals), indicative of opportunistic attempts to change the hierarchy. Mixed-sex social signaling became more hierarchical, but the strength of this effect varied. Stable structure was not uniformly reached across the groups and alpha males did not all benefit. Indiscriminate natal male removal is an unreliable solution to group instability. Careful assessment of how natal males are embedded within their group is necessary to balance individual and group welfare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander J. Pritchard
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Emory National Primate Research Center Field Station, Division of Animal Resources, Emory University, Lawrenceville, GA 30044 USA
| | - Amy Nathman
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
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2
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Blersch R, Vandeleest JJ, Nathman AC, Pósfai M, D'Souza R, McCowan B, Beisner BA. What you have, not who you know: food-enhanced social capital and changes in social behavioural relationships in a non-human primate. R Soc Open Sci 2024; 11:231460. [PMID: 38234443 PMCID: PMC10791527 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Social network position in non-human primates has far-reaching fitness consequences. Critically, social networks are both heterogeneous and dynamic, meaning an individual's current network position is likely to change due to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. However, our understanding of the drivers of changes in social network position is largely confined to opportunistic studies. Experimental research on the consequences of in situ, controlled network perturbations is limited. Here we conducted a food-based experiment in rhesus macaques to assess whether allowing an individual the ability to provide high-quality food to her group changed her social behavioural relationships. We considered both her social network position across five behavioural networks, as well as her dominance and kin interactions. We found that gaining control over a preferential food resource had far-reaching social consequences. There was an increase in both submission and aggression centrality and changes in the socio-demographic characteristics of her agonistic interaction partners. Further, we found that her grooming balance shifted in her favour as she received more grooming than she gave. Together, these results provide a novel, preliminary insight into how in situ, experimental manipulations can modify social network position and point to broader network-level shifts in both social capital and social power.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemary Blersch
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jessica J. Vandeleest
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Amy C. Nathman
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Márton Pósfai
- Dept. of Network and Data Science, Central European University, Budapest, Nadoru 13104, Hungary
| | - Raissa D'Souza
- University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- The Sante Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, CA, USA
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 2409 Taylor Rd, Suwanee, GA 30024, USA
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3
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Haertel AJ, Beisner BA, Buehler MS, Capuano S, Carrol KE, Church T, Cohen JK, Crane MM, Dutton JW, Falkenstein KP, Gill L, Hopper LM, Hotchkiss CE, Lee GH, Malinowski CM, Mendoza E, Sayers K, Scorpio DG, Stockinger D, Taylor JM. The impact of housing on birth outcomes in breeding macaque groups across multiple research centers. Am J Primatol 2023; 85:e23554. [PMID: 37771291 PMCID: PMC10591726 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
Demand for nonhuman primates in research has increased over the past several years, while nonhuman primate supply remains a challenge in the United States. Global nonhuman primate supply issues make it increasingly important to maximize domestic colony production. To explore how housing conditions across primate breeding colonies impact infant survival and animal production more broadly, we collected medical records from 7959 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and 492 pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) across seven breeding facilities and used generalized mixed-effect modeling to determine prenatal and infant survival odds by housing type and group size. Infant survival odds for each housing type and group size varied for prenatal, neonatal, early infant, and late infant age groups. Odds of prenatal survival were lowest in paired indoor housing and small and medium outdoor groups. No housing type performed better than large outdoor groups for neonatal survival. Odds of early infant survival was greatest in indoor and mixed indoor/outdoor housing compared to large outdoor enclosures. Large outdoor housing was associated with higher survival odds for late infant survival compared to small and medium outdoor housing. These results may influence housing choices at macaque breeding facilities hoping to maximize infant success, although there are relative care costs, the promotion of species-typical behaviors, and infrastructure factors to also consider. Our study used an interinstitutional collaboration that allowed for the analysis of more infant macaque medical records than ever before and used the broad variations across the seven national primate research centers to make the results applicable to many other facilities housing macaques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Haertel
- Oregon National Primate Research Center, Division of Animal Resources and Research Support, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Emory National Primate Research Center Field Station, Division of Animal Resources, Emory University, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA
| | - Margaret S Buehler
- Anthropology Department, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana, USA
| | - Saverio Capuano
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Kelsey E Carrol
- Primate Medicine Services, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Travis Church
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Joyce K Cohen
- Emory National Primate Research Center Field Station, Division of Animal Resources, Emory University, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Maria M Crane
- Emory National Primate Research Center Field Station, Division of Animal Resources, Emory University, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA
| | - John W Dutton
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Katherine P Falkenstein
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana, USA
| | - Leanne Gill
- Research Services, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Lydia M Hopper
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Charlotte E Hotchkiss
- Washington National Primate Research Center, Animal Resources Division, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Grace H Lee
- Washington National Primate Research Center, Animal Resources Division, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Carolyn M Malinowski
- Arizona Breeding Colony, Washington National Primate Research Center, University of Washington, Mesa, Arizona, USA
| | - Elda Mendoza
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Ken Sayers
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Diana G Scorpio
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Diane Stockinger
- Primate Medicine Services, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Joshua M Taylor
- Oregon National Primate Research Center, Division of Animal Resources and Research Support, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
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4
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Balasubramaniam KN, Aiempichitkijkarn N, Kaburu SSK, Marty PR, Beisner BA, Bliss-Moreau E, Arlet ME, Atwill E, McCowan B. Impact of joint interactions with humans and social interactions with conspecifics on the risk of zooanthroponotic outbreaks among wildlife populations. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11600. [PMID: 35804182 PMCID: PMC9263808 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15713-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Pandemics caused by pathogens that originate in wildlife highlight the importance of understanding the behavioral ecology of disease outbreaks at human–wildlife interfaces. Specifically, the relative effects of human–wildlife and wildlife-wildlife interactions on disease outbreaks among wildlife populations in urban and peri-urban environments remain unclear. We used social network analysis and epidemiological Susceptible-Infected-Recovered models to simulate zooanthroponotic outbreaks, through wild animals’ joint propensities to co-interact with humans, and their social grooming of conspecifics. On 10 groups of macaques (Macaca spp.) in peri-urban environments in Asia, we collected behavioral data using event sampling of human–macaque interactions within the same time and space, and focal sampling of macaques’ social interactions with conspecifics and overall anthropogenic exposure. Model-predicted outbreak sizes were related to structural features of macaques’ networks. For all three species, and for both anthropogenic (co-interactions) and social (grooming) contexts, outbreak sizes were positively correlated to the network centrality of first-infected macaques. Across host species and contexts, the above effects were stronger through macaques’ human co-interaction networks than through their grooming networks, particularly for rhesus and bonnet macaques. Long-tailed macaques appeared to show intraspecific variation in these effects. Our findings suggest that among wildlife in anthropogenically-impacted environments, the structure of their aggregations around anthropogenic factors makes them more vulnerable to zooanthroponotic outbreaks than their social structure. The global features of these networks that influence disease outbreaks, and their underlying socio-ecological covariates, need further investigation. Animals that consistently interact with both humans and their conspecifics are important targets for disease control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK. .,Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | | | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Biomedical Science and Physiology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY, UK
| | - Pascal R Marty
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Zoo Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 221, 8044, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Animal Resources Division, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Malgorzata E Arlet
- Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Edward Atwill
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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5
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Wooddell LJ, Beisner BA, Nathman AC, Day A, Cameron A, Pomerantz O, McCowan B. Sex Differences in Hierarchical Stability in a Formation of a Mixed-sex Group of Rhesus Macaques. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 2022; 61:67-74. [PMID: 34903314 PMCID: PMC8786381 DOI: 10.30802/aalas-jaalas-21-000067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Forming groups of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) is a common management practice. New formations of unfamiliar macaques can be costly, with high levels of trauma, particularly as intense aggression is used to establish a dominance hierarchy. Combining previous subgroups into one new group may be beneficial, as some individuals already have established dominance relationships. We tested this hypothesis by forming a new mixed-sex group of rhesus macaques that combined an established group of females with an established group of males. Prior to the mixed-sex group formation, both the female and male hierarchies had been stable for 3 y; after mixed-sex group formation these hierarchies were maintained by the females and were initially maintained by the males for 3 wks. However, the temporary hospitalization (due to a laceration caused by aggression) of the alpha male destabilized the male hierarchy. Age and weight then predicted male rank. Temporary hospitalizations resulted in rank changes for the males, evidenced by reversals in subordination signals. This study indicates that using established groups of familiar individuals may maintain female hierarchical stability in a mixedsex group formation, but further research is needed to understand how to maintain and predict male hierarchical stability to reduce trauma. Improved knowledge of hierarchical stability would be invaluable to managers of large rhesus macaque groups and would help improve the welfare of captive rhesus macaques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren J Wooddell
- Colony Management Department, Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station, Lawrenceville, Georgia
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Colony Management Department, Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station, Lawrenceville, Georgia
| | - Amy C Nathman
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Ashleigh Day
- Population Behavioral Health Services, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California
| | - Ashley Cameron
- Population Behavioral Health Services, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California
| | - Ori Pomerantz
- Population Behavioral Health Services, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California
| | - Brenda McCowan
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
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6
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Balasubramaniam KN, Beisner BA, McCowan B, Bloomsmith MA. Female social structure influences, and is influenced by, male introduction and integration success among captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta). BEHAVIOUR 2021; 158:1007-1042. [PMID: 36176722 PMCID: PMC9518721 DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
Animal social structure is influenced by multiple socioecological factors. Of these, the links between changes to group demography through the arrival of new individuals and residents' social structure remain unclear. Across seven groups of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), we examine how male introductions may be influenced by, and in-turn influence, aspects of female social structure. GLMMs revealed that males integrated more successfully into groups in which females showed more 'despotic' social structures, i.e., higher aggression rates, steeper dominance hierarchies, and greater rank-skew in allogrooming network connectedness. Yet during periods that followed males' social integration, females increased their social tolerance (decreased aggression and shallower hierarchies) and group cohesivity (less clustered allogrooming networks), but retained their tendencies to groom dominants. Our findings, independent of group size and matrilineal relatedness, help better understand how dispersal/immigration may influence social structure, and how assessing changes to social structure may inform macaque welfare and management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N. Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis CA 95616, USA
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station, Emory University, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis CA 95616, USA
| | - Mollie A. Bloomsmith
- Department of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station, Emory University, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, USA
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7
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Balasubramaniam KN, Kaburu SSK, Marty PR, Beisner BA, Bliss-Moreau E, Arlet ME, Ruppert N, Ismail A, Anuar Mohd Sah S, Mohan L, Rattan S, Kodandaramaiah U, McCowan B. Implementing social network analysis to understand the socioecology of wildlife co-occurrence and joint interactions with humans in anthropogenic environments. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:2819-2833. [PMID: 34453852 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Human population expansion into wildlife habitats has increased interest in the behavioural ecology of human-wildlife interactions. To date, however, the socioecological factors that determine whether, when or where wild animals take risks by interacting with humans and anthropogenic factors still remains unclear. We adopt a comparative approach to address this gap, using social network analysis (SNA). SNA, increasingly implemented to determine human impact on wildlife ecology, can be a powerful tool to understand how animal socioecology influences the spatiotemporal distribution of human-wildlife interactions. For 10 groups of rhesus, long-tailed and bonnet macaques (Macaca spp.) living in anthropogenically impacted environments in Asia, we collected data on human-macaque interactions, animal demographics, and macaque-macaque agonistic and affiliative social interactions. We constructed 'human co-interaction networks' based on associations between macaques that interacted with humans within the same time and spatial locations, and social networks based on macaque-macaque allogrooming behaviour, affiliative behaviours of short duration (agonistic support, lip-smacking, silent bare-teeth displays and non-sexual mounting) and proximity. Pre-network permutation tests revealed that, within all macaque groups, specific individuals jointly took risks by repeatedly, consistently co-interacting with humans within and across time and space. GLMMs revealed that macaques' tendencies to co-interact with humans was positively predicted by their tendencies to engage in short-duration affiliative interactions and tolerance of conspecifics, although the latter varied across species (bonnets>rhesus>long-tailed). Male macaques were more likely to co-interact with humans than females. Neither macaques' grooming relationships nor their dominance ranks predicted their tendencies to co-interact with humans. Our findings suggest that, in challenging anthropogenic environments, less (compared to more) time-consuming forms of affiliation, and additionally greater social tolerance in less ecologically flexible species with a shorter history of exposure to humans, may be key to animals' joint propensities to take risks to gain access to resources. For males, greater exploratory tendencies and less energetically demanding long-term life-history strategies (compared to females) may also influence such joint risk-taking. From conservation and public health perspectives, wildlife connectedness within such co-interaction networks may inform interventions to mitigate zoonosis, and move human-wildlife interactions from conflict towards coexistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Biomedical Science and Physiology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
| | - Pascal R Marty
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Zoo Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Animal Resources Division, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Malgorzata E Arlet
- Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | - Nadine Ruppert
- School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.,Malaysian Primatological Society, Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia
| | - Ahmad Ismail
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | | | - Lalith Mohan
- Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, Shimla, India
| | | | - Ullasa Kodandaramaiah
- IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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8
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Beisner BA, Remillard CM, Moss S, Long CE, Bailey KL, Young LA, Meeker T, McCowan B, Bloomsmith MA. Factors influencing the success of male introductions into groups of female rhesus macaques: Introduction technique, male characteristics and female behavior. Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23314. [PMID: 34343364 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
In captive populations of rhesus macaques, novel adult males are commonly introduced to female groups every few years to prevent inbreeding, which mimics male dispersal in wild macaque populations. However, introducing adult males is challenging because macaques are aggressive to newcomers, which can result in serious injuries. Efforts to reduce trauma risk during the introduction process and increase the probability of success are needed. Here we investigate the impact of multiple factors, including male attributes (e.g., age, weight, rank, and experience), introduction method (punctuated vs. continual exposure to females), and female behavior, on males' trauma risk and integration success. We studied eight introductions of multimale cohorts (3-7 males each; N = 36 total) into existing female groups of rhesus macaques at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Four cohorts were introduced using the punctuated exposure method where adult males were moved each morning from run housing to the females' indoor enclosure and returned to run housing in the afternoon, and four cohorts were introduced using the continual exposure method where adult males were moved to an introduction enclosure attached to the females' outdoor compound, allowing males to live in protected contact next to the female group continuously. Generalized linear mixed models fitted to trauma risk (e.g., latency to first trauma; total trauma count) and success or failure to integrate (i.e., continual residence within the female group for greater than 53% of days within a 28-day window after first overnight stay) showed that continual exposure to females in the introduction enclosure reduced male trauma risk and increased the likelihood of successful integration compared to punctuated exposure. Males received less trauma when they received a higher rate of grooming from females. Male attributes had no effect. These findings highlight the importance of introduction technique and female behavior in the process of males' social integration into female groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Caren M Remillard
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Shannon Moss
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Caroline E Long
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Kelly L Bailey
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Leigh A Young
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Tracy Meeker
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, California, USA.,Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Mollie A Bloomsmith
- Division of Animal Resources, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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9
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Balasubramaniam KN, Marty PR, Samartino S, Sobrino A, Gill T, Ismail M, Saha R, Beisner BA, Kaburu SSK, Bliss-Moreau E, Arlet ME, Ruppert N, Ismail A, Sah SAM, Mohan L, Rattan SK, Kodandaramaiah U, McCowan B. Impact of individual demographic and social factors on human-wildlife interactions: a comparative study of three macaque species. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21991. [PMID: 33319843 PMCID: PMC7738552 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78881-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite increasing conflict at human–wildlife interfaces, there exists little research on how the attributes and behavior of individual wild animals may influence human–wildlife interactions. Adopting a comparative approach, we examined the impact of animals’ life-history and social attributes on interactions between humans and (peri)urban macaques in Asia. For 10 groups of rhesus, long-tailed, and bonnet macaques, we collected social behavior, spatial data, and human–interaction data for 11–20 months on pre-identified individuals. Mixed-model analysis revealed that, across all species, males and spatially peripheral individuals interacted with humans the most, and that high-ranking individuals initiated more interactions with humans than low-rankers. Among bonnet macaques, but not rhesus or long-tailed macaques, individuals who were more well-connected in their grooming network interacted more frequently with humans than less well-connected individuals. From an evolutionary perspective, our results suggest that individuals incurring lower costs related to their life-history (males) and resource-access (high rank; strong social connections within a socially tolerant macaque species), but also higher costs on account of compromising the advantages of being in the core of their group (spatial periphery), are the most likely to take risks by interacting with humans in anthropogenic environments. From a conservation perspective, evaluating individual behavior will better inform efforts to minimize conflict-related costs and zoonotic-risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | - Pascal R Marty
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Shelby Samartino
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA
| | - Alvaro Sobrino
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Taniya Gill
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India
| | - Mohammed Ismail
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Primate Conservation Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Rajarshi Saha
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Department of Biomedical Science and Physiology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY, UK
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Department of Psychology and the California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Malgorzata E Arlet
- Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Nadine Ruppert
- School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Ahmad Ismail
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia
| | | | - Lalit Mohan
- Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, 171002, India
| | - Sandeep K Rattan
- Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, 171002, India
| | - Ullasa Kodandaramaiah
- IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Maruthamala P.O., Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram, 695551, India
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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10
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Balasubramaniam KN, Marty PR, Arlet ME, Beisner BA, Kaburu SSK, Bliss-Moreau E, Kodandaramaiah U, McCowan B. Impact of anthropogenic factors on affiliative behaviors among bonnet macaques. Am J Phys Anthropol 2020; 171:704-717. [PMID: 32064585 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In primates, allogrooming and other affiliative behaviors confer many benefits and may be influenced by many socioecological factors. Of these, the impact of anthropogenic factors remain relatively understudied. Here we ask whether interactions with humans decreased macaques' affiliative behaviors by imposing time-constraints, or increased these behaviors on account of more free-/available-time due to macaques' consumption of high-energy human foods. MATERIALS AND METHODS In Southern India, we collected data on human-macaque and macaque-macaque interactions using focal-animal sampling on two groups of semi-urban bonnet macaques for 11 months. For each macaque within each climatic season, we calculated frequencies of human-macaque interactions, rates of monitoring human activity and foraging on anthropogenic food, dominance ranks, grooming duration, number of unique grooming partners, and frequencies of other affiliative interactions. RESULTS We found strong evidence for time-constraints on grooming. Macaques that monitored humans more groomed for shorter durations and groomed fewer partners, independent of their group membership, sex, dominance rank, and season. However, monitoring humans had no impact on other affiliative interactions. We found no evidence for the free-time hypothesis: foraging on anthropogenic food was unrelated to grooming and other affiliation. DISCUSSION Our results are consistent with recent findings on other urban-dwelling species/populations. Macaques in such environments may be especially reliant on other forms of affiliation that are of short duration (e.g., coalitionary support, lip-smacking) and unaffected by time-constraints. We stress on the importance of evaluating human impact on inter-individual differences in primate/wildlife behavior for conservation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Pascal R Marty
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Małgorzata E Arlet
- Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań, Poland
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.,Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Biomedical Science and Physiology, Faculty of Science & Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.,Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Ullasa Kodandaramaiah
- IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.,Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
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11
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Vandeleest JJ, Winkler SL, Beisner BA, Hannibal DL, Atwill ER, McCowan B. Sex differences in the impact of social status on hair cortisol concentrations in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Am J Primatol 2020; 82:e23086. [PMID: 31876328 PMCID: PMC6980377 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Social status impacts stress in primates, but the direction of the effect differs depending on species, social style, and group stability. This complicates our ability to identify broadly applicable principles for understanding how social status impacts health and fitness. One reason for this is the fact that social status is often measured as linear dominance rank, yet social status is more complex than simply high or low rank. Additionally, most research on social status and health ignores the effects of sex and sex-specific relationships, despite known differences in disease risk, coping strategies, and opposite-sex dominance interactions between males and females in many species. We examine the influence of social status, sex, and opposite-sex interactions on hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in a well-studied species, rhesus macaques, where the literature predicts low ranking individuals would experience more chronic stress. Animals in three captive, seminaturalistic social groups (N = 252; 71 male) were observed for 6 weeks to obtain metrics of social status (rank and dominance certainty [DC]). DC is a measure of one's fit within the hierarchy. Hair samples were collected from each subject and analyzed for HCC. Generalized linear mixed models were used to examine (a) whether rank, DC, or sex predicted HCC; (b) whether same- or opposite-sex dominance relationships differentially impacted HCC; and (c) whether aggressive interactions initiated or received could explain any observed relationships. Results indicated that DC, not rank, predicted HCC in a sex-specific manner. For males, high HCC were predicted by receiving aggression from or having high DC with other males as well as having low DC with females. For females, only high DC with males predicted high HCC. These results likely relate to sex-specific life history pattern differences in inherited versus earned rank that are tied to female philopatry and male immigration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica J Vandeleest
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - Sasha L Winkler
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
- Department of Anthropology, UCLA, Los Angeles, California
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - Darcy L Hannibal
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - Edward R Atwill
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - Brenda McCowan
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California Davis, Davis, California
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12
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Balasubramaniam KN, Beisner BA, Hubbard JA, Vandeleest JJ, Atwill ER, McCowan B. Affiliation and disease risk: social networks mediate gut microbial transmission among rhesus macaques. Anim Behav 2019; 151:131-143. [PMID: 32831349 PMCID: PMC7434028 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
In social animals, affiliative behaviours bring many benefits, but also costs such as disease risk. The ways in which affiliation may affect the risk of infectious agent transmission remain unclear. Moreover, studies linking variation in affiliative interactions to infectious agent incidence/diversity have speculated that disease transmission may have occurred, rather than revealing that transmission did occur. We address these gaps using the phylogenetics of commensal gut Escherichia coli to determine whether affiliative grooming and huddling social networks mediated microbial transmission among rhesus macaques. We collected behavioural and microbial data from adult macaques across a 12-week period that was split into two 6-week phases to better detect dyadic transmission. We reconstructed undirected social networks from affiliative interactions and reconstructed microbial transmission networks from the pairwise phylogenetic similarity of E. coli pulsotypes from macaques within and across adjacent sampling events. Macaque E. coli pulsotypes were more phylogenetically similar to each other than to environmental isolates, which established a premise for socially mediated transmission. Dyadic grooming and huddling frequencies strongly influenced the likelihood of E. coli transmission during the second data collection phase, but not the first. Macaques that were more central/well connected in both their grooming and huddling networks were also more central in the E. coli transmission networks. Our results confirmed that affiliative grooming and huddling behaviours mediate the transmission of gut microbes among rhesus macaques, particularly among females and high-ranking individuals. The detectability of socially mediated E. coli transmission maybe partially masked by environmental acquisition in males, or by high frequencies of interactions in captivity. Predicting the potential transmission pathways of gastrointestinal parasites and pathogens, our findings add to current knowledge of the coevolutionary relationships between affiliative behaviour and health and may be used to identify 'superspreader' individuals as potential targets for disease control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N. Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
- Neuroscience & Behavior Unit, California National
Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
| | - Josephine A. Hubbard
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California,
Davis, CA, U.S.A
| | - Jessica J. Vandeleest
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
- Neuroscience & Behavior Unit, California National
Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
| | - Edward R. Atwill
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School
of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
- Neuroscience & Behavior Unit, California National
Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
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13
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Abstract
Socially inflicted traumas are a major concern for the management of captive groups of rhesus macaques. Rhesus macaques are the most commonly used nonhuman primate in biomedical research, and social housing is optimal for promoting psychological well-being. However, trauma is frequent due to a strong reliance on aggression to establish and maintain hierarchical relationships. We studied six captive groups of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) that underwent a variety of social perturbations and explored whether rates of aggression mapped onto rates of trauma using a fine-grained analysis that divided both aggression and trauma variables into specific, behaviorally-relevant categories (e.g., severe aggression by adult males relative to lacerations). Results did not show the expected positive relationship between aggression variables and trauma variables. Instead, rates of trauma (i.e., lacerations, moderate-severe trauma, total trauma) were negatively associated with the rate of impartial interventions (i.e., an intervention directed at both targets during an ongoing conflict) during baseline periods. Additionally, rates of trauma (i.e., lacerations, punctures, moderate-severe trauma, total trauma) were negatively associated with rates of total aggression following temporary knockouts of the individuals who commonly intervene impartially (i.e., conflict policers), and punctures and moderate-severe trauma were negatively associated with rates of severe aggression by adult males following permanent knockout of a high-ranked natal male. These results suggest that under homeostatic conditions, impartial interventions serve as a mechanism to reduce socially inflicted trauma but, following social manipulations of high-ranking males, an imbalance emerges. Our results underscore the importance of developing management strategies for rhesus macaque groups that promote internal social mechanisms of social stability such as maintaining conflict policing individuals (i.e., adult males) in social groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
| | - Lauren J. Wooddell
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
| | - Darcy L. Hannibal
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
| | - Amy Nathman
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
- Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA
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14
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Balasubramaniam KN, Beisner BA, Berman CM, De Marco A, Duboscq J, Koirala S, Majolo B, MacIntosh AJ, McFarland R, Molesti S, Ogawa H, Petit O, Schino G, Sosa S, Sueur C, Thierry B, de Waal FBM, McCowan B. The influence of phylogeny, social style, and sociodemographic factors on macaque social network structure. Am J Primatol 2017; 80. [PMID: 29140552 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2017] [Revised: 09/30/2017] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Among nonhuman primates, the evolutionary underpinnings of variation in social structure remain debated, with both ancestral relationships and adaptation to current conditions hypothesized to play determining roles. Here we assess whether interspecific variation in higher-order aspects of female macaque (genus: Macaca) dominance and grooming social structure show phylogenetic signals, that is, greater similarity among more closely-related species. We use a social network approach to describe higher-order characteristics of social structure, based on both direct interactions and secondary pathways that connect group members. We also ask whether network traits covary with each other, with species-typical social style grades, and/or with sociodemographic characteristics, specifically group size, sex-ratio, and current living condition (captive vs. free-living). We assembled 34-38 datasets of female-female dyadic aggression and allogrooming among captive and free-living macaques representing 10 species. We calculated dominance (transitivity, certainty), and grooming (centrality coefficient, Newman's modularity, clustering coefficient) network traits as aspects of social structure. Computations of K statistics and randomization tests on multiple phylogenies revealed moderate-strong phylogenetic signals in dominance traits, but moderate-weak signals in grooming traits. GLMMs showed that grooming traits did not covary with dominance traits and/or social style grade. Rather, modularity and clustering coefficient, but not centrality coefficient, were strongly predicted by group size and current living condition. Specifically, larger groups showed more modular networks with sparsely-connected clusters than smaller groups. Further, this effect was independent of variation in living condition, and/or sampling effort. In summary, our results reveal that female dominance networks were more phylogenetically conserved across macaque species than grooming networks, which were more labile to sociodemographic factors. Such findings narrow down the processes that influence interspecific variation in two core aspects of macaque social structure. Future directions should include using phylogeographic approaches, and addressing challenges in examining the effects of socioecological factors on primate social structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, California
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, California.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - Carol M Berman
- Department of Anthropology, Graduate Program in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
| | | | - Julie Duboscq
- Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.,Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
| | - Sabina Koirala
- Small Mammal Conservation and Research Foundation (SMCRF), Kathamandu, Nepal
| | | | - Andrew J MacIntosh
- Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.,Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
| | - Richard McFarland
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
| | | | - Hideshi Ogawa
- School of International Liberal Studies, Chukyo University, Toyota, Japan
| | - Odile Petit
- Ethologie Cognitive et Sociale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Strasbourg, France
| | - Gabriele Schino
- Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy
| | - Sebastian Sosa
- Anthropology Department, Sun-Yat sen University, Guang Zhou, China
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Strasbourg, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Strasbourg, France
| | - Bernard Thierry
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Strasbourg, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Strasbourg, France
| | | | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, California.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
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15
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Seil SK, Hannibal DL, Beisner BA, McCowan B. Predictors of insubordinate aggression among captive female rhesus macaques. Am J Phys Anthropol 2017; 164:558-573. [PMID: 28832918 PMCID: PMC5983891 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Cercopithicine primates tend to have nepotistic hierarchies characterized by predictable, kinship-based dominance. Although aggression is typically directed down the hierarchy, insubordinate aggression does occur. Insubordination is important to understand because it can precipitate social upheaval and undermine group stability; however, the factors underlying it are not well understood. We test whether key social and demographic variables predict insubordination among captive female rhesus macaques. MATERIALS AND METHODS To identify factors influencing insubordination, multivariate analyses of 10,821 dyadic conflicts among rhesus macaque females were conducted, using data from six captive groups. A segmented regression analysis was used to identify dyads with insubordination. Negative binomial regression analyses and an information theoretic approach were used to assess predictors of insubordination among dyads. RESULTS In the best models, weight difference (w = 1.0; IRR = 0.930), age (dominant: w = 1.0, IRR = 0.681; subordinate: w = 1.0, IRR = 1.069), the subordinate's total number of allies (w = 0.727, IRR = 1.060) or non-kin allies (w = 0.273, IRR = 1.165), the interaction of the dominant's kin allies and weight difference (w = 0.938, IRR = 1.046), violation of youngest ascendancy (w = 1.0; IRR = 2.727), and the subordinate's maternal support (w = 1.0; IRR = 2.928), are important predictors of insubordination. DISCUSSION These results show that both intrinsic and social factors influence insubordinate behavior. This adds to evidence of the importance of intrinsic factors and flexibility in a social structure thought to be rigid and predetermined by external factors. Further, because insubordination can precipitate social overthrow, determining predictors of insubordination will shed light on mechanisms underlying stability in nepotistic societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon K. Seil
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- California National Primate Research Center, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Darcy L. Hannibal
- Correspondence and current address: Darcy Hannibal, Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA, , Phone: 530-752-1580, Fax: (530) 752-5845
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- California National Primate Research Center, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- California National Primate Research Center, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
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16
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Theil JH, Beisner BA, Hill AE, McCowan B. Effects of Human Management Events on Conspecific Aggression in Captive Rhesus Macaques ( Macaca mulatta). J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 2017; 56:122-130. [PMID: 28315640 PMCID: PMC5361036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Revised: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Conspecific aggression in outdoor-housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at primate research facilities is a leading source of trauma and can potentially influence animal wellbeing and research quality. Although aggression between macaques is a normal part of daily social interactions, human presence might affect the frequency of various behaviors and instigate increases in conspecific aggression. We sought to determine how and which human management events affect conspecific aggression both immediately after an event and throughout the course of a day. From June 2008 through December 2009, we recorded agonistic encounters among macaques living in 7 social groups in large outdoor field cages. Behavioral data were then synchronized with specific management events (for example, feeding, enclosure cleaning, animal catching) that occurred within or near the enclosure. By using an Information Theoretical approach, 2 generalized linear mixed models were developed to estimate the effects of human management events on 1) aggression after individual management events and 2) daily levels of aggression. Univariate analysis revealed an increase in the rate of aggression after a management event occurred. The best predictor of aggression in a cage was the type of management event that occurred. Various factors including the number of daily management events, the total time of management events, the technicians involved, reproductive season, and their interactions also showed significant associations with daily aggression levels. Our findings demonstrate that human management events are associated with an increase in conspecific aggression between rhesus macaques and thus have implications regarding how humans manage primates in research facilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob H Theil
- Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California;,
| | - Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, Brain, Mind, and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis
| | - Ashley E Hill
- Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, Davis, California
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, Brain, Mind, and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis
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17
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Vandeleest JJ, Beisner BA, Hannibal DL, Nathman AC, Capitanio JP, Hsieh F, Atwill ER, McCowan B. Decoupling social status and status certainty effects on health in macaques: a network approach. PeerJ 2016; 4:e2394. [PMID: 27672495 PMCID: PMC5028790 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Accepted: 07/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although a wealth of literature points to the importance of social factors on health, a detailed understanding of the complex interplay between social and biological systems is lacking. Social status is one aspect of social life that is made up of multiple structural (humans: income, education; animals: mating system, dominance rank) and relational components (perceived social status, dominance interactions). In a nonhuman primate model we use novel network techniques to decouple two components of social status, dominance rank (a commonly used measure of social status in animal models) and dominance certainty (the relative certainty vs. ambiguity of an individual's status), allowing for a more complex examination of how social status impacts health. METHODS Behavioral observations were conducted on three outdoor captive groups of rhesus macaques (N = 252 subjects). Subjects' general physical health (diarrhea) was assessed twice weekly, and blood was drawn once to assess biomarkers of inflammation (interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP)). RESULTS Dominance rank alone did not fully account for the complex way that social status exerted its effect on health. Instead, dominance certainty modified the impact of rank on biomarkers of inflammation. Specifically, high-ranked animals with more ambiguous status relationships had higher levels of inflammation than low-ranked animals, whereas little effect of rank was seen for animals with more certain status relationships. The impact of status on physical health was more straightforward: individuals with more ambiguous status relationships had more frequent diarrhea; there was marginal evidence that high-ranked animals had less frequent diarrhea. DISCUSSION Social status has a complex and multi-faceted impact on individual health. Our work suggests an important role of uncertainty in one's social status in status-health research. This work also suggests that in order to fully explore the mechanisms for how social life influences health, more complex metrics of social systems and their dynamics are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica J. Vandeleest
- Population Health & Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California, United States
- Brain, Mind and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Population Health & Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California, United States
- Brain, Mind and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States
| | - Darcy L. Hannibal
- Population Health & Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California, United States
- Brain, Mind and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States
| | - Amy C. Nathman
- Brain, Mind and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States
| | - John P. Capitanio
- Brain, Mind and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States
| | - Fushing Hsieh
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Davis, California, United States
| | - Edward R. Atwill
- Population Health & Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California, United States
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Population Health & Reproduction, University of California, Davis, California, United States
- Brain, Mind and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States
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Beisner BA, Hannibal DL, Finn KR, Fushing H, McCowan B. Social power, conflict policing, and the role of subordination signals in rhesus macaque society. Am J Phys Anthropol 2016; 160:102-12. [PMID: 26801956 PMCID: PMC5380402 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Revised: 12/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Policing is a conflict-limiting mechanism observed in many primate species. It is thought to require a skewed distribution of social power for some individuals to have sufficiently high social power to stop others' fights, yet social power has not been examined in most species with policing behavior. We examined networks of subordination signals as a source of social power that permits policing behavior in rhesus macaques. MATERIALS AND METHODS For each of seven captive groups of rhesus macaques, we (a) examined the structure of subordination signal networks and used GLMs to examine the relationship between (b) pairwise dominance certainty and subordination network pathways and (c) policing frequency and social power (group-level convergence in subordination signaling pathways). RESULTS Networks of subordination signals had perfect linear transitivity, and pairs connected by both direct and indirect pathways of signals had more certain dominance relationships than pairs with no such network connection. Social power calculated using both direct and indirect network pathways showed a heavy-tailed distribution and positively predicted conflict policing. CONCLUSIONS Our results empirically substantiate that subordination signaling is associated with greater dominance relationship certainty and further show that pairs who signal rarely (or not at all) may use information from others' signaling interactions to infer or reaffirm the relative certainty of their own relationships. We argue that the network of formal dominance relationships is central to societal stability because it is important for relationship stability and also supports the additional stabilizing mechanism of policing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
| | - Darcy L Hannibal
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
| | - Kelly R Finn
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
| | - Hsieh Fushing
- Department of Statistics, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
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19
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Beisner BA, Balasubramaniam KN, Fernandez K, Heagerty A, Seil SK, Atwill ER, Gupta BK, Tyagi PC, Chauhan NPS, Bonal BS, Sinha PR, McCowan B. Prevalence of enteric bacterial parasites with respect to anthropogenic factors among commensal rhesus macaques in Dehradun, India. Primates 2016; 57:459-69. [PMID: 27056264 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-016-0534-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
There has been a recent surge in research on primate infectious disease ecology. Two major areas remain relatively unaddressed to date-the prevalence of enteric bacterial parasites and the role of anthropogenic environmental factors in parasite acquisition in commensally living primate populations. In this preliminary assessment, we address both these gaps by assessing the prevalence, and the role of anthropogenic factors in shaping this prevalence, of three enteric bacterial parasites-E . coli O157:H7, Salmonella sp., Shigella sp.-across populations of rhesus macaques (M. mulatta) that live commensally with humans in Dehradun, northern India. Across 10-week study period, we collected data on (1) human-macaque behavioral interactions, (2) macaque and human demographic and activity scans, and (3) macaque fecal samples from the environment at four different locations in Dehradun. Biochemical tests and morphology-based confirmations clearly established the presence of all three enteric bacterial parasites in rhesus macaques. Overall prevalence ranged from 2 to 5 %, with Shigella sp. being the most prevalent. Regression analyses linking anthropogenic factors to bacterial prevalence showed a positive association between rates of macaques eating human garbage and E. coli O157:H7 (β = 0.23, p = 0.083), but a negative association with Salmonella sp. (β = -0.17, p = 0.026). Rather, the prevalence of Salmonella sp. was positively linked to rates of macaque eating provisioned food (β = 0.0012, p = 0.058). Finally, we found no relationship between anthropogenic factors and the prevalence of Shigella sp. Our findings establish the prevalence of enteric bacterial parasites in commensal populations of primates and suggest that although anthropogenic factors are linked to bacterial prevalence, the nature of the relationships may depend on the socioecological/foraging strategies of macaques and the food sources that facilitate the environmental survival of particular types of enteric bacteria over others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA. .,Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA. .,California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, USA.
| | - Krishna N Balasubramaniam
- Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA
| | - Kristine Fernandez
- Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA
| | - Allison Heagerty
- International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, USA
| | - Shannon K Seil
- International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, USA
| | - Edward R Atwill
- International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA
| | - Brij K Gupta
- Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi, India
| | - P C Tyagi
- Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, India
| | - Netrapal P S Chauhan
- Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, India.,Amity Institute of Wildlife Science, Amity University, Noida, India
| | - Bishan S Bonal
- Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi, India.,National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi, India
| | - Priya R Sinha
- Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi, India.,India Country Office, IUCN, New Delhi, India
| | - Brenda McCowan
- International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,Dept of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, USA
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20
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Abstract
Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network modeling approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four stable and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggression-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direction status-aggression (i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status). In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads (but remained higher than expected) as well as more frequent than expected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between aggression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two different ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA ; California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Jian Jin
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Hsieh Fushing
- Department of Statistics, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Brenda Mccowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA ; California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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21
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Beisner BA, Heagerty A, Seil SK, Balasubramaniam KN, Atwill ER, Gupta BK, Tyagi PC, Chauhan NPS, Bonal BS, Sinha PR, McCowan B. Human-wildlife conflict: proximate predictors of aggression between humans and rhesus macaques in India. Am J Phys Anthropol 2014; 156:286-94. [PMID: 25348896 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2014] [Revised: 10/16/2014] [Accepted: 10/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Macaques live in close contact with humans across South and Southeast Asia, and direct interaction is frequent. Aggressive contact is a concern in many locations, particularly among populations of rhesus and longtail macaques that co-inhabit urbanized cities and towns with humans. We investigated the proximate factors influencing the occurrence of macaque aggression toward humans as well as human aggression toward macaques to determine the extent to which human behavior elicits macaque aggression and vice versa. We conducted a 3-month study of four free-ranging populations of rhesus macaques in Dehradun, India from October-December 2012, using event sampling to record all instances of human-macaque interaction (N = 3120). Our results show that while human aggression was predicted by the potential for economic losses or damage, macaque aggression was influenced by aggressive or intimidating behavior by humans as well as recent rates of conspecific aggression. Further, adult female macaques participated in aggression more frequently than expected, whereas adult and subadult males participated as frequently as expected. Our analyses demonstrate that neither human nor macaque aggression is unprovoked. Rather, both humans and macaques are responding to one another's behavior. Mitigation of human-primate conflict, and indeed other types of human-wildlife conflict in such coupled systems, will require a holistic investigation of the ways in which each participant is responding to, and consequently altering, the behavior of the other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA; Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Vet. Med., University of California Davis, Davis, CA; Brain, Mind and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
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22
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Beisner BA, Mccowan B. Signaling context modulates social function of silent bared-teeth displays in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Am J Primatol 2014; 76:111-21. [PMID: 24038330 PMCID: PMC3919452 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2013] [Revised: 07/31/2013] [Accepted: 08/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The signaling context has been found to change the meaning of the silent bared-teeth display (SBT) in pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) such that the SBT in apparently peaceful contexts communicates subordination, a long-term pattern of behavior, whereas in conflict contexts it communicates immediate submission (PNAS, 104: 1581-1586). However, the context dependent nature of the SBT has not yet been explored in other species. We investigated SBT usage with respect to grooming, severe aggression, and signaler-receiver sex, rank difference, and body size in seven captive groups of rhesus macaques. Peaceful SBTs were given most often to male receivers by male and female signalers whereas conflict SBTs were given to both male and female receivers primarily by female signalers. Male signalers rarely gave SBTs (peaceful or conflict) to female receivers. Unlike pigtail macaques, peaceful SBTs in rhesus were often accompanied by withdrawal behavior (referred to as peaceful SBT-leave), which influenced grooming, but not aggression, at the dyadic level. Severe aggression was less frequent among dyads using peaceful SBTs (regardless of withdrawal behavior) than those using conflict SBTs. In contrast, grooming was more frequent among dyads using peaceful SBT-stay signals than those using peaceful SBT-leave signals or conflict SBTs. In total, our results indicate that peaceful SBTs are a functionally different signal from conflict SBTs in rhesus macaques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, California
| | - Brenda Mccowan
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, California
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
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23
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Vandeleest JJ, Hannibal DL, Beisner BA, Barnard AM, McCowan B. Trends in the Field of Mammalian Social Behavior and Health Over the Last 20 Years. IJCP 2014. [DOI: 10.46867/ijcp.2014.27.01.04] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In any scientific field there are thematic changes over time as new technologies and methods of investigation are developed and accumulated knowledge drives new research directions. The current study examines how themes in the investigation of social behavior and health have changed over the last 20 years. Literature searches were performed to identify articles published between 1993-2012 that investigate the intersection between social behavior and health in mammals. Results identify the top journals that publish articles in this field and describe trends in how sub-divisions in social behavior (e.g. aggression or dominance) and health (e.g. immunity or brain chemicals) have changed over the last 20 years. Our results suggest a dramatic increase in publications on the intersection between social behavior and health over this time span. Major categories of study include relationships between general social behavior or social stress and health outcomes relating to stress responses, endocrinology, and the brain.
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Beisner BA, McCowan B. Policing in nonhuman primates: partial interventions serve a prosocial conflict management function in rhesus macaques. PLoS One 2013; 8:e77369. [PMID: 24167570 PMCID: PMC3805604 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2013] [Accepted: 09/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of prosocial policing in nonhuman societies traditionally focus on impartial interventions because of an underlying assumption that partial support implies a direct benefit to the intervener, thereby negating the potential for being prosocial in maintaining social stability for the benefit of the group. However, certain types of partial interventions have significant potential to be prosocial in controlling conflict, e.g. support of non-kin subordinates. Here, we propose a policing support hypothesis that some types of agonistic support serve a prosocial policing function that maintains group stability. Using seven large captive groups of rhesus macaques, we investigated the relationship between intervention type and group-level costs and benefits (rates of trauma, severe aggression, social relocation) and individual level costs and benefits (preferential sex-dyad targeting, dominance ambiguity reduction, access to mates, and return aggression). Our results show that impartial interventions and support of subordinate non-kin represent prosocial policing as both (1) were negatively associated with group-level rates of trauma and severe aggression, respectively, (2) showed no potential to confer individual dominance benefits, (3) when performed outside the mating season, they did not increase chances of mating with the beneficiary, and (4) were low-cost for the highest-ranking interveners. We recommend expanding the definition of 'policing' in nonhumans to include these 'policing support interventions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
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25
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Chan S, Fushing H, Beisner BA, McCowan B. Joint modeling of multiple social networks to elucidate primate social dynamics: I. maximum entropy principle and network-based interactions. PLoS One 2013; 8:e51903. [PMID: 23468833 PMCID: PMC3585323 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2012] [Accepted: 11/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In a complex behavioral system, such as an animal society, the dynamics of the system as a whole represent the synergistic interaction among multiple aspects of the society. We constructed multiple single-behavior social networks for the purpose of approximating from multiple aspects a single complex behavioral system of interest: rhesus macaque society. Instead of analyzing these networks individually, we describe a new method for jointly analyzing them in order to gain comprehensive understanding about the system dynamics as a whole. This method of jointly modeling multiple networks becomes valuable analytical tool for studying the complex nature of the interaction among multiple aspects of any system. Here we develop a bottom-up, iterative modeling approach based upon the maximum entropy principle. This principle is applied to a multi-dimensional link-based distributional framework, which is derived by jointly transforming the multiple directed behavioral social network data, for extracting patterns of synergistic inter-behavioral relationships. Using a rhesus macaque group as a model system, we jointly modeled and analyzed four different social behavioral networks at two different time points (one stable and one unstable) from a rhesus macaque group housed at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC). We report and discuss the inter-behavioral dynamics uncovered by our joint modeling approach with respect to social stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Chan
- Department of Statistics, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Hsieh Fushing
- Department of Statistics, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Brianne A. Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
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26
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McCowan B, Beisner BA, Capitanio JP, Jackson ME, Cameron AN, Seil S, Atwill ER, Fushing H. Network stability is a balancing act of personality, power, and conflict dynamics in rhesus macaque societies. PLoS One 2011; 6:e22350. [PMID: 21857922 PMCID: PMC3153932 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2011] [Accepted: 06/20/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Stability in biological systems requires evolved mechanisms that promote robustness. Cohesive primate social groups represent one example of a stable biological system, which persist in spite of frequent conflict. Multiple sources of stability likely exist for any biological system and such robustness, or lack thereof, should be reflected and thus detectable in the group's network structure, and likely at multiple levels. Here we show how network structure and group stability are linked to the fundamental characteristics of the individual agents in groups and to the environmental and social contexts in which these individuals interact. Both internal factors (e.g., personality, sex) and external factors (e.g., rank dynamics, sex ratio) were considered from the level of the individual to that of the group to examine the effects of network structure on group stability in a nonhuman primate species. The results yielded three main findings. First, successful third-party intervention behavior is a mechanism of group stability in rhesus macaques in that successful interventions resulted in less wounding in social groups. Second, personality is the primary factor that determines which individuals perform the role of key intervener, via its effect on social power and dominance discrepancy. Finally, individuals with high social power are not only key interveners but also key players in grooming networks and receive reconciliations from a higher diversity of individuals. The results from this study provide sound evidence that individual and group characteristics such as personality and sex ratio influence network structures such as patterns of reconciliation, grooming and conflict intervention that are indicators of network robustness and consequent health and well-being in rhesus macaque societies. Utilizing this network approach has provided greater insight into how behavioral and social processes influence social stability in nonhuman primate groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda McCowan
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
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27
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Beisner BA, Jackson ME, Cameron A, McCowan B. Effects of natal male alliances on aggression and power dynamics in rhesus macaques. Am J Primatol 2011; 73:790-801. [PMID: 21698659 PMCID: PMC3058123 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2010] [Revised: 10/29/2010] [Accepted: 11/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In the wild, male rhesus macaques disperse at sexual maturity. In captivity, however, males cannot disperse from their natal groups. Thus, the presence of natal males in captive rhesus social groups is unnatural and has the potential to negatively influence group dynamics and stability. A primary difference between natal males and non-natal (immigrant) males is that natal males have the opportunity to form long-term alliances with their maternal kin as well as nonkin. We investigated the factors associated with natal males' kin alliances and the impact of these alliances on measures of natal male behavior, group dynamics, and group stability. We found that natal males more frequently formed alliances with maternal kin when they were from high-ranking matrilines, had more siblings, and were younger. More frequent kin alliances were associated with more frequent use of intense aggression, higher individual rank, and higher degree of integration within the male displacement network. Thus, it seems that natal males use their alliances to be more active and influential in the social group, which may affect group stability. It appears that juvenile natal males from high-ranking matrilines, in particular, have the largest impact on group stability. Younger natal males from high-ranking matrilines formed alliances with kin more frequently and used intense aggression more frequently than older or lower ranking males. Furthermore, groups with a higher proportion of juvenile males from high-ranking matrilines also had higher rates of wounding. We suggest that the presence of natal males in rhesus groups may act in opposition to group stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Beisner
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California.
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Beisner BA, Isbell LA. Factors affecting aggression among females in captive groups of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Am J Primatol 2011; 73:1152-9. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2011] [Revised: 06/15/2011] [Accepted: 06/15/2011] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Beisner BA, Jackson ME, Cameron AN, McCowan B. Detecting instability in animal social networks: genetic fragmentation is associated with social instability in rhesus macaques. PLoS One 2011; 6:e16365. [PMID: 21298105 PMCID: PMC3027651 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2010] [Accepted: 12/21/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The persistence of biological systems requires evolved mechanisms which promote stability. Cohesive primate social groups are one example of stable biological systems, which persist in spite of regular conflict. We suggest that genetic relatedness and its associated kinship structure are a potential source of stability in primate social groups as kinship structure is an important organizing principle in many animal societies. We investigated the effect of average genetic relatedness per matrilineal family on the stability of matrilineal grooming and agonistic interactions in 48 matrilines from seven captive groups of rhesus macaques. Matrilines with low average genetic relatedness show increased family-level instability such as: more sub-grouping in their matrilineal groom network, more frequent fighting with kin, and higher rates of wounding. Family-level instability in multiple matrilines within a group is further associated with group-level instability such as increased wounding. Stability appears to arise from the presence of clear matrilineal structure in the rhesus macaque group hierarchy, which is derived from cohesion among kin in their affiliative and agonistic interactions with each other. We conclude that genetic relatedness and kinship structure are an important source of group stability in animal societies, particularly when dominance and/or affilative interactions are typically governed by kinship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
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Beisner BA, Isbell LA. Ground substrate affects activity budgets and hair loss in outdoor captive groups of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Am J Primatol 2009; 70:1160-8. [PMID: 18828148 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
How the captive environment influences the behavior of animals is relevant to the well-being of captive animals. Captivity diverges from the natural environment in many ways, and one goal of enrichment practices is to encourage species-typical behavior in these unnatural environments. This study investigated the influence of grass vs. gravel substrate on activity budgets and degree of hair loss in seven groups of captive rhesus macaques housed in outdoor enclosures at the California National Primate Research Center. Groups having grass substrate spent a greater proportion of their time foraging and a smaller proportion of time grooming compared with groups having gravel substrate. Increased time spent grooming in gravel enclosures may have contributed to significantly greater hair loss in those enclosures. A causal relationship between ground substrate on foraging and grooming, and therefore hair loss, is strengthened by similar changes in activity budgets and hair loss in a single group that was moved from gravel to grass substrate halfway through the study. These results add to growing evidence that substrate type in captivity is important to consider because it affects animal well-being. In particular, these results reveal that grass substrate is more effective than gravel in stimulating foraging and reducing allo-grooming to levels that are comparable to wild populations, and enable animals to maintain healthier coats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianne A Beisner
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA.
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