Crop feeding by brown howlers (Alouatta guariba clamitans) in forest fragments: the conservation value of cultivated species

Primates inhabiting human-modified habitats often complement their diets with cultivated species. Although this flexible foraging behavior reduces feeding stress in animals inhabiting small or low-quality habitats, its potential economic costs may promote negative human–nonhuman primate interactions. It is critical to assess the importance of cultivated species to primate diets, the factors influencing their exploitation, and their associated economic costs to evaluate the conservation value of cultivated species and the impact of crop feeding on human–nonhuman primate coexistence. Based on a 30-months study of three groups of brown howlers (Alouatta guariba clamitans) inhabiting <10-ha forest fragments in Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil, and semistructured interviews with landowners, we assessed 1) the cultivated species used as food sources, 2) the relationship between food availability and crop feeding, and 3) the potential economic costs of crop feeding and their impact ...