Climate change may force monkeys and lemurs to abandon trees

By Gwyn Wright via SWNS

Monkeys and lemurs could be forced down from the trees because of climate change, according to new research.

A new study claims warming temperatures will force the primates to begin roaming the floor of the forests, wetlands, mountains and savannahs where they live.

Researchers say the species are less happy and healthy on the ground because they are away from their favorite food and shelter spots and end up having more negative interactions with people and domesticated animals.

The large study examined 47 species of primate including 15 lemur species and 35 types of monkey at 68 sites in the Americas and Madagascar.

The international research team became curious when they noticed certain groups of the primates were spending more time on the ground but others, in areas less well-trodden by humans, were never descending from the trees.

They examined the influence of human-induced pressures and traits specific to certain species on the amount of time they spent on the ground.

Primates that eat less fruit and live in large social groups were found to be more likely to descend to the ground.

Meanwhile, primates living in hotter environments, and with less canopy cover, were more likely to adapt to these changes by also spending more time on the ground.

Many of these species are already struggling in environments that are now warmer, more fragmented and contain less food.

As climate change worsens, the authors say primates with a more wide-ranging diet who live in larger groups will be best suited to living on the ground.

The research also suggests primates who live further away from humans are less likely to descend to the ground.

The team says the presence of humans may interfere with species’ ability to adapt naturally to warming temperatures.

While the transition from living in trees to living on the ground has happened before, the researchers say the pace of change today poses a serious threat.

Lead study author Dr. Timothy Eppley from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in California said: “It’s possible that spending more time on the ground may cushion some primates from the effects of forest degradation and climate change.

“However, for the less-adaptable species, fast and effective conservation strategies will be necessary to ensure their survival.”

Study senior author Dr. Giuseppe Donati, of Oxford Brookes University, said: “Though similar ecological conditions and species traits may have influenced previous evolutionary shifts of arboreal primates, including hominins, to ground living, it is clear that the current pace of deforestation and climate change puts most primate species in peril.”

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.