Resumen de Humans, monkeys, and the rock: the anthropogenic ecology of the barbary macaques in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar
Agustin Fuentes, Nancy O'Neill, Eric Shaw, John E. Cortés
Current perspectives on ecology are increasingly incorporating humans as significant components of dynamic ecosystems.
However, these approaches frequently focus on measuring the impact of humans’ habitat alteration, degradation and exploitation on animal or plant populations. In many cases non-human organisms and humans co-exist and interact in a myriad of ways, ranging from competitive to commensal to mutualistic. Understanding these interactive complexes can enable us to increase our assessment and understanding of complex ecological systems. The macaque monkeys (Macaca sylvanus) living in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar, have co-existed with humans for centuries and currently engage in frequent interactions with large numbers of people from across Europe. These interactions involve behavioral, nutritional, physiological, and potentially epidemiological factors. Humans are a core part of these macaques’ ecology and the ecosystems in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. In this paper we present an overview of human-monkey interactions in Gibraltar with a focus on the role that anthropogenic elements play in the behavioral ecology of these monkey and consider the implications of these patterns for the ecosystems across the Upper Rock Nature Reserve
