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This Theme Section of ESR looks into animals' responses to habitat alteration (degradation, fragmentation, agricultural use, restoration), with a focus on primates. Original habitat of animal species is being destroyed at an accelerating rate. This is usually associated with an alteration of the remaining habitat, which becomes degraded and/or fragmented. In many regions, forests are cleared to make way for plantations or other agricultural use, and animal species are forced to coexist with humans. In some countries, forests are in the process of being restored for wildlife. As even long-established and well protected areas typically comprise mosaics of habitats with different degrees of degradation, the future conservation of many species will depend on the capacity of such altered habitats to support their populations. During the last 15 years, more and more studies have addressed the way that different species respond to the human-induced change of their habitats. These responses are varied and range from population decline to adaptation and development of new behavioural strategies. Whereas some species heavily rely on intact primary forests, others can adapt to secondary forests and forest-agriculture mosaics. Habitat change has been shown to affect many aspects of the ecology and behaviour of animals. Changes in dietary composition and diversity, population density, group size and adult sex ratio in groups are some examples. This special issue aims at reviewing the existing knowledge on how animals, and particularly primates, respond to the alteration of their habitat.
All manuscripts were fully peer-reviewed and published with online open access.
Articles belonging to this Theme Section were published in the current ESR issue as soon as they became ready. They are listed below as well as on the contents page of the respective issue.
Editors: Giovanni Bearzi, Jörg Ganzhorn, Luca Luiselli, Anna Nekaris, Christoph Schwitzer, William Wallace
Contents
Schwitzer C, Glatt L, Nekaris KAI, Ganzhorn JU
OVERVIEW: Responses of animals to habitat alteration: an overview focussing on primates
ESR 14:31-38 | Full text in pdf format 
Salvadeo CJ, Lluch-Belda D, Gómez-Gallardo A, Urbán-Ramírez J, MacLeod CD
Climate change and a poleward shift in the distribution of the Pacific white-sided dolphin in the northeastern Pacific
ESR 11:13-19 | Full text in pdf format
Hastie LC, Tarr EC, al-Mousawi B, Young MR
Medium-term recruitment patterns in Scottish freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera populations
ESR 11:21-33 | Full text in pdf format
Raharivololona BM, Ganzhorn JU
Seasonal variations in gastrointestinal parasites excreted by the gray mouse lemur Microcebus murinus in Madagascar
ESR 11:113-122 | Full text in pdf format
Guillera-Arroita G, Lahoz-Monfort JJ, Milner-Gulland EJ, Young RP, Nicholson E
Using occupancy as a state variable for monitoring the Critically Endangered Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis
ESR 11:157-166 | Full text in pdf format
Shedden-González A, Rodríguez-Luna E
Responses of a translocated howler monkey Alouatta palliata group to new environmental conditions
ESR 12:25-30 | Full text in pdf format
Esque TC, Nussear KE, Drake KK, Walde AD, Berry KH, Averill-Murray RC, Woodman AP, Boarman WI, Medica PA, Mack J, Heaton JS
Effects of subsidized predators, resource variability, and human population density on desert tortoise populations in the Mojave Desert, USA
ESR 12:167-177 | Full text in pdf format
Schwitzer N, Clough D, Zahner H, Kaumanns W, Kappeler P, Schwitzer C
Parasite prevalence in blue-eyed black lemurs Eulemur flavifrons in differently degraded forest fragments
ESR 12:215-225 | Full text in pdf format
Moore RS, Nekaris KAI, Eschmann C
Habitat use by western purple-faced langurs Trachypithecus vetulus nestor (Colobinae) in a fragmented suburban landscape
ESR 12:227-234 | Full text in pdf format
Link A, de Luna AG, Alfonso F, Giraldo-Beltran P, Ramirez F
Initial effects of fragmentation on the density of three neotropical primate species in two lowland forests of Colombia