Extensive Overlap in the Selection of Wild Fruits by Chimpanzees and Humans: Implications for the Management of Complex Social-Ecological Systems

Abstract

Understanding the capacity for humans to share resources (crops, wild foods, space) with large-bodied wildlife is vital for biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing, and requires comprehensive examination of their temporal interactions over fine spatial scales. We combined ecological (plant identification, wild fruit availability plots, animal fecal and trace sampling) and social science (free-listing, semi-structured interviews, participant observation) methods to systematically and simultaneously collect data on the availability and selection of fruits from wild plants by humans and critically endangered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), a national conservation flagship species at Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. Within an area of 12.7 km 2 , we demonstrate that local people's monthly use of wild fruits was driven by its overall availability in the habitat, whereas chimpanzees, as ripe fruit specialists, sought out fruits year-round. Humans and chimpanzees overlap in the selection of fruits from at least 27 wild plant species. The ranked use of fruits from species which were used by both chimpanzees and humans was significantly positively correlated, suggesting they preferentially target fruits of the same wild plant species. Each month, humans and chimpanzees selected three to six of the same wild fruit species. Chimpanzees fed significantly more on wild fruit species that were available for longer periods, with no effect of that plant species density. Neither plant density nor number of fruiting months impacted human selection of fruit from a plant species, suggesting people might seek out desired resources irrespective of a species' abundance in the landscape. These findings are important for the development of a shared knowledge base to establish culturally relevant conservation management strategies. We recommend the active management of plant species that are exploited for their fruits by both humans and chimpanzees at Cantanhez National Park, including figs (Ficus spp.), oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis) and velvet tamarind (Dialium guineense). This can be achieved through supporting traditional resource management practices and the strategic replanting of

First Evidence of Chimpanzee Extractive Tool Use in Cantanhez, Guinea-Bissau: Cross-Community Variation in Honey Dipping

“…It is estimated that there are 10-12 chimpanzee communities in CNP as a whole (Bersacola, 2019). In the forested areas of centralsouthern CNP, genetic, behavioural and ecological research support the presence of seven different chimpanzee communities (Hockings and Sousa, 2013;Sá, 2013;Bessa et al, 2015;Bersacola, 2019;Vieira et al, 2019;Hockings et al, 2020); these include the four studied communities: Caiquene-Cadique, Lautchandé, Madina and Cambeque. Due to the unhabituated nature of these communities, at present little is known about their community sizes and compositions; nonetheless, previous works estimate that the communities' range between 35-60 individuals (Bessa et al, 2015;Vieira et al, 2019).…”

“…Specifically, no long-term studies have yet reached the westernmost populations of the species' distribution. Recent work in Cantanhez National Park (CNP), Guinea-Bissau, has started to fill this gap (Sousa et al, 2011;Hockings and Sousa, 2012;Bessa et al, 2015;Vieira et al, 2019;Hockings et al, 2020). For example, a 9-month study at CNP found, through the analysis of faecal samples and other indirect data, that these chimpanzees fed on wild bee honey with some degree of frequency, however no tools were ever found (Bessa et al, 2015).…”

Developing an Evidence-Based Coexistence Strategy to Promote Human and Wildlife Health in a Biodiverse Agroforest Landscape

“…At Cantanhez NP, humans and chimpanzees show substantial overlap in their use of space, and encounter each other regularly on roads, paths and around the edges of villages and agricultural areas. Humans and chimpanzees use at least 27 of the same wild fruit species, including oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), velvet tamarind (Dialium guineensis), and saba (Saba senegalensis) (Hockings et al, 2020), with chimpanzee use of space driven partly by the availability of oil-palm fruit (Bersacola et al, 2021). Although the Caiquene-Cadique community of chimpanzees in central Cantanhez NP use areas away from villages and agriculture more intensively, they optimise their foraging strategies when wild fruits are scarce by increasing their use of village areas with cultivated fruits (Bersacola et al, 2021).…”

The human–primate interface in the New Normal: Challenges and opportunities for primatologists in the COVID‐19 era and beyond

“…Humans and primates share space across many different habitats spanning the primate distribution range, including forests, open woodlands, agricultural landscapes, roadsides, villages, and urban landscapes (Estrada et al, 2017;Hockings et al, 2015;Radhakrishna, Huffman, & Sinha, 2013). Because humans and primates have broadly similar physiological needs and diets, these sympatric contexts can lead to ecological competition in forests and agricultural landscapes (Hockings, Parathian, Bessa, & Frazão-Moreira, 2020;Riley, 2007), as well as create opportunities for provisioning and other close encounters between species.…”