Investigating anthropogenic and social influences on diet of semi-urban vervet monkeys using DNA metabarcoding

In human-dominated ecosystems, wildlife has been forced either to disappear or to adapt its behaviour in order to exploit the opportunities associated with anthropogenic activities. Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are omnivorous primates whose natural habitats have been progressively encroached upon by expanding suburban development. Due to their generalist and opportunistic feeding behaviour, vervet monkeys have successfully adapted to semi-urban environments. Characterising the composition of their diet can therefore reveal how they exploit anthropogenic resources and uncover new foraging behaviours. However, accurately determining their diet through direct observation can be challenging, especially in semi-urban areas where numerous anthropogenic structures obstruct visibility. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has been proposed as a non-invasive complementary method to determine diet and foraging strategies by analysing the DNA mixtures present in faecal samples. In this study, we d..., DNA extraction: DNA was extracted from faecal samples using a phosphate buffer-based approach (Taberlet et al., 2018), based on the protocol from the NucleoSpin Soil Kit (Macherey-Nagel), with the following modifications. The faeces in the scintillation vials were directly transferred to 2 mL Eppendorf tubes with 1.3 mL of phosphate buffer. The samples were placed on a tube rotator for 15 minutes to facilitate DNA absorption and later homogenised by vortexing. The samples were then centrifuged for 5 minutes. The subsequent steps of the extraction required the use of QIAvac technology (Qiagen). DNA extractions were performed in a dedicated laboratory designed for handling low-template DNA samples (Laboratory for Conservation Biology, University of Lausanne). For subsequent analyses, all DNA extracts were dilutedfivefold.
DNA metabarcoding assay: DNA extracts were amplified in triplicate using two sets of primers, one for plants and one for vertebrates. The first primer pair (Sper01) targ..., # Data from: Investigating anthropogenic and social influences on diet of semi-urban vervet monkeys using DNA metabarcoding

## Description of the data and file structure

Date of data collection: August 2023 to December 2023

Geographic location of data collection: Ballito, South Africa

Funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Swiss National Science Foundation, Finnish KONE Foundation, and UZH Förderung des Akademischen Nachwuchses, Gebauer Stiftung

#### DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

1\. Description of the dataset

In human-dominated ecosystems, wildlife has been forced either to disappear or to adapt its behaviour in order to exploit the opportunities associated with anthropogenic activities. Vervet monkeys(Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are omnivorous primates whose natural habitats have been progressively encroached upon by expanding suburban development. Due to their generalist and opportunistic feeding behaviour, vervet monkeys have successfully adapted to semi-urban environ...,