The gut microbiome is expected to adapt to the varying energetic and nutritional pressures in females of different reproductive states. Changes in the gut microbiome may lead to varying nutrient utilizing efficiency in pregnant and lactating female primates. In this study, we examined variation in the gut bacterial community composition of wild female Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) across different reproductive states (cycling, pregnancy and lactation). Fecal samples (n = 25) were collected from ten adult females harvested across different reproductive states. Gut microbial community composition and potential functions were assessed using 16 S rRNA gene sequences. We found significant changes in gut bacterial taxonomic composition, structure and their potential functions in different reproductive states of our study species. In particular, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria increased significantly during pregnancy and lactation. In addition, the relative abundance of Succinivibrionaceae and Succinivibrio (Succinivibrionaceae) were overrepresented in pregnant females, whereas Bifidobacteriaceae and Bifidobacterium (Bifidobacteriaceae) were overrepresented in lactating females. Furthermore, the relative abundance of predicted functional genes of several metabolic pathways related to host’s energy and nutrition, such as metabolism of carbohydrates, cofactors and vitamins, glycans and other amino acids, were enriched in pregnancy and lactation. Our findings suggest that changes in the gut microbiome may play an important role in meeting the energetic needs of pregnant and lactating Tibetan macaques. Future studies of the “microbial reproductive ecology” of primates that incorporate food availability, reproductive seasonality, female reproductive physiology and gut inflammation are warranted.

Collective behavior has recently attracted a great deal of interest in both natural and social sciences. While the role of leadership has been closely scrutinized, the rules used by joiners in collective decision making have received far less attention. Two main hypotheses have been proposed concerning these rules: mimetism and quorum. Mimetism predicts that individuals are increasingly likely to join collective behavior as the number of participants increases. It can be further divided into selective mimetism, where relationships among the participants affect the process, and anonymous mimetism, where no such effect exists. Quorum predicts that a collective behavior occurs when the number of participants reaches a threshold. To probe into which rule is used in collective decision making, we conducted a study on the joining process in a group of free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in Huangshan, China using a combination of all-occurrence and focal animal sampling methods. Our results show that the earlier individuals joined movements, the more central a role they occupied among the joining network. We also found that when less than three adults participated in the first five minutes of the joining process, no entire group movement occurred subsequently. When the number of these early joiners ranged from three to six, selective mimetism was used. This means higher rank or closer social affiliation of early joiners could be among the factors of deciding whether to participate in movements by group members. When the number of early joiners reached or exceeded seven, which was the simple majority of the group studied, entire group movement always occurred, meaning that the quorum rule was used. Putting together, Macaca thibetana used a combination of selective mimetism and quorum, and early joiners played a key role in deciding which rule should be used.

The coexistence of sympatric species with similar ecological niches has been a central issue in ecology. Clarifying the daily activity patterns of sympatric wild ungulates can help understand their temporal niche differentiation and the mechanisms of coexistence, providing information for their conservation. The Baotianman National Nature Reserve in northern China is rich in wild ungulates, but little is known about the daily activity patterns of wild ungulates in the area, making it difficult to develop effective conservation strategies. We studied five representative wild ungulates (i.e. forest musk deer, Chinese goral, Reeve’s muntjac, Siberian roe deer, and wild boar) of the region using camera-trapping data, focusing on the seasonal daily activity patterns and effects of seasonal grazing of domestic sheep, to reveal their coexistence based on temporal ecological niche differentiation. Comparative analyses of the seasonal daily activity showed that forest musk deer exhibited a single-peak activity in the warm season. Other ungulates exhibited multipeak activity. All five ungulates differed significantly in daily activity patterns. Notably, wild boar and Reeve’s muntjac showed high overlap coefficients between the cold and warm seasons. In both cold and warm seasons, the five wild ungulates and domestic sheep displayed low overlap in their daily activity rhythms potentially indicating temporal ecological niche differentiation. The results suggest that temporal isolation might be a strategy for wild ungulates to avoid domestic sheep and reduce interspecific competition, and that temporal ecological niche differentiation potentially promoted the coexistence among the studied sympatric ungulates. This understanding may provide new insights for the development of targeted conservation strategies.

The primary purpose of the Man and the Biosphere Program is the sustainable development of both the economy and nature conservation activities. Although the effectiveness of eco-tourism to reach this goal has been proposed, due to the lack of long-term monitoring data and a model species, there has been no obvious mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of this policy. This study explored the effectiveness of the sustainable development policy of HMBR based on 30 years data of monitoring the Tibetan macaque, local human population, visitors, and annual ecotourism income in Huangshan by estimating species habitat suitability and the impact of ecotourism. The results showed increases in the income for the local human population, the number of visitors, and annual eco-tourism. Simultaneously, the reserve’s Tibetan macaque population size and suitable habitat areas increased. The macaques expanded their habitat to the low-altitude buffer zone (400–800 m), an area with lower eco-tourism disturbance. Scenic spots had a significant negative impact on habitat suitability (the substantially increased contributions of scenic spots from 0.71% to 32.88%). Our results and methods provide a suitable evaluation framework for monitoring the sustainable development and effectiveness of eco-tourism and wildlife conservation in Man and the Biosphere reserves.