RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Violent encounters between social units hinder the growth of a high-density mountain gorilla population
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaba0724
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aba0724
VO 6
IS 45
A1 Caillaud, Damien
A1 Eckardt, Winnie
A1 Vecellio, Veronica
A1 Ndagijimana, Felix
A1 Mucyo, Jean-Pierre
A1 Hirwa, Jean-Paul
A1 Stoinski, Tara
YR 2020
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/45/eaba0724.abstract
AB Density-dependent processes such as competition for resources, migration, predation, and disease outbreaks limit the growth of natural populations. The analysis of 50 years of mountain gorilla data reveals that social behavior changes observed at high group density may also affect population growth in social species. A sudden increase in social group density observed in 2007 caused a threefold increase in the rate of violent encounters between social units (groups and solitary males). A fivefold increase in the rate of infanticide and seven cases of lethal fights among mature males were subsequently recorded, and the annual subpopulation growth rate declined by half between 2000 and 2017. The increase in infanticide alone explains 57% of this decline. These findings highlight the complex relationship between population density and growth in social species and hold important implications for the management of island populations.