Fiona A Stewart
Biographic Data
| ID | 667180 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fiona A Stewart |
| GIVEN NAMES | Fiona A |
| FAMILY NAME | Stewart |
| SIGNATURE | STEWART F A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4929-4711 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 38 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 96 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Moving in a Miombo: Ranging Patterns and Habitat Use in Red‐Tailed Monkeys ( Cercopithecus ascanius ) From the Issa Valley, Tanzania
Self-Testing for 5 Respiratory Viruses in Adult Vaccelerate Volunteers in Germany—a Pilot Study on Multi-Pathogen Rapid Antigen Testing to Monitor Community-Acquired Acute Respiratory Infections
Background Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are the most common human infections. Diagnostic testing for respiratory pathogens is largely restricted to medical institutions. Self-testing may allow for real-time epidemiological monitoring of ARI pathogens, in particular in individuals not seeking medical attention. Methods Adults from the VACCELERATE Volunteer Registry received a test-kit for multiple respiratory antigens, a laminar flow device …
A case of suspected chimpanzee scavenging in the Issa Valley, Tanzania
The role of green financial sector initiatives in the low-carbon transition: A theory of change
Develop a theory of change on the role of green financial sector initiatives for climate mitigation. • Provide causal chain maps for the transmission of green financial sector initiatives to the economy. • Apply to the theory of change to the low-carbon transition in coal and carbon intensive regions. Green financial sector initiatives, including green macroprudential policies, green monetary policies, and green public co-funding, could play an i…
A case of intercommunity lethal aggression by chimpanzees in an open and dry landscape, Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Intercommunity (lethal) aggression is a familiar component of the behavioural repertoire of many forest-dwelling chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) communities. However, until now, the absence of intercommunity attacks – including killings – in communities that live in open, mosaic environments has supported hypotheses of reduced resource competition in drier habitats, and informed referential models of early hominin social dynamics in a similar habi…
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) grouping patterns in an open and dry savanna landscape, Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Quantitative estimates of glacial refugia for chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) since the Last Interglacial (120,000 BP)
Paleoclimate reconstructions have enhanced our understanding of how past climates have shaped present‐day biodiversity. We hypothesize that the geographic extent of Pleistocene forest refugia and suitable habitat fluctuated significantly in time during the late Quaternary for chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ). Using bioclimatic variables representing monthly temperature and precipitation estimates, past human population density data, and an extensi…
Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) in savanna landscapes
Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) are the only great apes that inhabit hot, dry, and open savannas. We review the environmental pressures of savannas on chimpanzees, such as food and water scarcity, and the evidence for chimpanzees' behavioral responses to these landscapes. In our analysis, savannas were generally associated with low chimpanzee population densities and large home ranges. In addition, thermoregulatory behaviors that likely reduce hy…
Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers
OBJECTIVES: Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that climate, socioecological traits, and habitat patch size would influence the occurrence of this beha…
Red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) prey upon and mob birds in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Comparing Methods for Assessing Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Party Size: Observations, Camera Traps, and Bed Counts from a Savanna–Woodland Mosaic in the Issa Valley, Tanzania
Studying animal grouping behavior is important for understanding the causes and consequences of sociality and has implications for conservation. Chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) party size is often assessed by counting individuals or extracted indirectly from camera trap footage or the number of nests. Little is known, however, about consistency across methods for estimating party size. We collected party size data for wild chimpanzees in the Issa …
Sex Bias and Social Influences on Savanna Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Nest Building Behavior
Many primates show sex differences in behavior, particularly social behavior, but also tool use for extractive foraging. All great apes learn to build a supportive structure for sleep. Whether sex differences exist in building, as in extractive foraging, is unknown, and little is known about how building skills develop and vary between individuals in the wild. We therefore aimed to describe the nesting behavior of savanna chimpanzees ( Pan troglo…
Author Correction: Chimpanzee ethnography reveals unexpected cultural diversity
Chimpanzee ethnography reveals unexpected cultural diversity
Leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius) in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Predation is predicted to be an important selection pressure for primates. Evidence for this hypothesis is rare, however, due to the scarcity of direct observations of primate predation. We describe an observation of leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti) at the Issa Valley, a savanna-woodland mosaic landscape in western Tanzania. We compare rates of evidence of leopard presence between Issa a…
Cercopithecine and Colobine Abundance Across Protected and Unprotected Land in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem, Western Tanzania
Most primates live in unprotected land where abundances and threats may differ from those in protected areas. We therefore need to establish population densities in both unprotected and protected areas to effectively inform conservation planning. The Greater Mahale Ecosystem in western Tanzania is a region of mixed protected status with seven cercopithecine and colobine species: blue ( Cercopithecus mitis doggetti ), red-tailed ( C. ascanius schm…
Food abundance and weather influence habitat‐specific ranging patterns in forest‐ and savanna mosaic‐dwelling red‐tailed monkeys ( Cercopithecus ascanius )
OBJECTIVES: Primates that live in predominantly forested habitats and open, savanna mosaics should exhibit behavioral responses to differing food distributions and weather. We compared ecological constraints on red-tailed monkey ranging behavior in forest and savanna mosaic environments. Intraspecific variation in adaptations to these conditions may reflect similar pressures faced by hominins during the Plio-Pleistocene. METHODS: We followed six …
Sleep and nesting behavior in primates: A review
Sleep is a universal behavior in vertebrate and invertebrate animals, suggesting it originated in the very first life forms. Given the vital function of sleep, sleeping patterns and sleep architecture follow dynamic and adaptive processes reflecting trade‐offs to different selective pressures. Here, we review responses in sleep and sleep‐related behavior to environmental constraints across primate species, focusing on the role of great ape nest b…
Anaerobic Fungi in Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Feces: An Adaptation to a High-Fiber Diet
Nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ): Evidence for flexible sleeping patterns and insights into human evolution
OBJECTIVES: We investigated occurrences and patterns of terrestrial nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and modelled the influence of various ecological predictors on nocturnal activity. METHODS: Data were extracted from terrestrial camera-trap footage and ecological surveys from 22 chimpanzee study sites participating in the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee. We described videos demonstrating nocturnal activity,…
Savanna chimpanzees adjust sleeping nest architecture in response to local weather conditions
OBJECTIVES: Great ape nests are hypothesized to aid safe, secure sleep via providing thermoregulation or protection from predators and vectors. We aimed to describe and investigate variation in chimpanzee nest architecture across two populations in response to local weather conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We experimentally tested whether nests provide insulation by measuring heat loss within and outside nests, and took detailed measurements of…
The diet of open-habitat chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Issa valley, western Tanzania
Chimpanzee vertebrate consumption: Savanna and forest chimpanzees compared
Population status of chimpanzees in the Masito‐Ugalla Ecosystem, Tanzania
More than 75 percent of Tanzania's chimpanzees live at low densities on land outside national parks. Chimpanzees are one of the key conservation targets in the region and long-term monitoring of these populations is essential for assessing the overall status of ecosystem health and the success of implemented conservation strategies. We aimed to assess change in chimpanzee density within the Masito-Ugalla Ecosystem (MUE) by comparing results of re…
Termite fishing by wild chimpanzees: New data from Ugalla, western Tanzania
Living archaeology: Artefacts of specific nest site fidelity in wild chimpanzees
The diet of open-habitat chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Issa valley, western Tanzania
Brief communication: Why sleep in a nest? empirical testing of the function of simple shelters made by wild chimpanzees
All great apes build nightly a structure (“nest” or “bed”) that is assumed to function primarily as a sleeping‐platform. However, several other nest function hypotheses have been proposed: antipredation, antipathogen, and thermoregulation. I tested these simple shelter functions of chimpanzee nests in an experiment for which I was the subject in Fongoli, Senegal. I slept 11 nights in chimpanzee nests and on the bare ground to test for differences…
Chimpanzee ethnography reveals unexpected cultural diversity
Chimpanzee vertebrate consumption: Savanna and forest chimpanzees compared
Nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ): Evidence for flexible sleeping patterns and insights into human evolution
OBJECTIVES: We investigated occurrences and patterns of terrestrial nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and modelled the influence of various ecological predictors on nocturnal activity. METHODS: Data were extracted from terrestrial camera-trap footage and ecological surveys from 22 chimpanzee study sites participating in the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee. We described videos demonstrating nocturnal activity,…
Savanna chimpanzees adjust sleeping nest architecture in response to local weather conditions
OBJECTIVES: Great ape nests are hypothesized to aid safe, secure sleep via providing thermoregulation or protection from predators and vectors. We aimed to describe and investigate variation in chimpanzee nest architecture across two populations in response to local weather conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We experimentally tested whether nests provide insulation by measuring heat loss within and outside nests, and took detailed measurements of…
Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers
OBJECTIVES: Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that climate, socioecological traits, and habitat patch size would influence the occurrence of this beha…
Comparing Methods for Assessing Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Party Size: Observations, Camera Traps, and Bed Counts from a Savanna–Woodland Mosaic in the Issa Valley, Tanzania
Studying animal grouping behavior is important for understanding the causes and consequences of sociality and has implications for conservation. Chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) party size is often assessed by counting individuals or extracted indirectly from camera trap footage or the number of nests. Little is known, however, about consistency across methods for estimating party size. We collected party size data for wild chimpanzees in the Issa …
Sex Bias and Social Influences on Savanna Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Nest Building Behavior
Many primates show sex differences in behavior, particularly social behavior, but also tool use for extractive foraging. All great apes learn to build a supportive structure for sleep. Whether sex differences exist in building, as in extractive foraging, is unknown, and little is known about how building skills develop and vary between individuals in the wild. We therefore aimed to describe the nesting behavior of savanna chimpanzees ( Pan troglo…
Food abundance and weather influence habitat‐specific ranging patterns in forest‐ and savanna mosaic‐dwelling red‐tailed monkeys ( Cercopithecus ascanius )
OBJECTIVES: Primates that live in predominantly forested habitats and open, savanna mosaics should exhibit behavioral responses to differing food distributions and weather. We compared ecological constraints on red-tailed monkey ranging behavior in forest and savanna mosaic environments. Intraspecific variation in adaptations to these conditions may reflect similar pressures faced by hominins during the Plio-Pleistocene. METHODS: We followed six …
Experimental Primate Archaeology: Detecting Stone Handling by Japanese Macaques ( Macaca Fuscata )
Non-human primates using stones in nature provide a rare opportunity to compare directly the behaviour of use with the resulting lithic artifacts. Wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) customarily do “stone handling” (SH = spontaneous, solitary, non-instrumental and seemingly playful manipulation of stones). Ten populations of monkeys show at least 48 behavioral variants, 13 of which entail repeated stone-on-stone or stone-on-substrate contact …
The role of green financial sector initiatives in the low-carbon transition: A theory of change
Develop a theory of change on the role of green financial sector initiatives for climate mitigation. • Provide causal chain maps for the transmission of green financial sector initiatives to the economy. • Apply to the theory of change to the low-carbon transition in coal and carbon intensive regions. Green financial sector initiatives, including green macroprudential policies, green monetary policies, and green public co-funding, could play an i…
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) grouping patterns in an open and dry savanna landscape, Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Castles
Houses
EnGendering Aids: Deconstructing Sex, Text and Epidemic by Tamsin Wilton
“Once you get a reputation, your life's like … ‘wrecked’”
Internet Communication and Qualitative Research: A Handbook for Researching Online
From the Publisher: Communication and Qualitative Research is the first textbook to examine the impact of Internet technology on qualitative research methods. Drawing on many pioneering studies using computer-mediated communication (CMC), the authors show how online researchers can employ Internet-based qualitative methods to collect rich, descriptive, contextually-situated data. They discuss the methodological, practical and theoretical consider…
Internet Interviewing
Do chimpanzees build comfortable nests
Nests built by wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) were studied at the Fongoli research site in southeastern Senegal from January 2004–May 2004 to investigate the role of comfort in nest building behavior by relating measures of nest comfort and building effort. Nest comfort across zones of the nest surface were compared with construction effort for 25 nests. Several variables of nest comfort were assessed: (1) physical discomfort, (2) vis…
Brief communication: Why sleep in a nest? empirical testing of the function of simple shelters made by wild chimpanzees
All great apes build nightly a structure (“nest” or “bed”) that is assumed to function primarily as a sleeping‐platform. However, several other nest function hypotheses have been proposed: antipredation, antipathogen, and thermoregulation. I tested these simple shelter functions of chimpanzee nests in an experiment for which I was the subject in Fongoli, Senegal. I slept 11 nights in chimpanzee nests and on the bare ground to test for differences…
Living archaeology: Artefacts of specific nest site fidelity in wild chimpanzees
Responses of chimpanzees to a recently dead community member at Gombe National Park, Tanzania
Chimpanzee responses to the death of a group member have rarely been observed in the wild and most instances involve infant deaths. One of the very few detailed accounts of a group's response to the death of an adult community member is from Gombe National Park, Tanzania, where Teleki [Folia Primatologica 20:81–94, 1973] observed the responses of 16 chimpanzees to an accidental death, none of whom touched the body. Now, almost 40 years later, we …
Do Chimpanzee Nests Serve an Anti‐Predatory Function
Sleep is a vulnerable state for animals as it compromises the ability to detect predators. The evolution of shelter construction in the great apes may have been a solution to the trade-off between restorative sleep and predation-risk, which allowed a large bodied ape to sleep recumbent in a safe, comfortable spot. In this article we review the evidence of predator pressure on great apes and specifically investigate the potential influence of pred…
Termite fishing by wild chimpanzees: New data from Ugalla, western Tanzania
Experimental Primate Archaeology: Detecting Stone Handling by Japanese Macaques ( Macaca Fuscata )
Non-human primates using stones in nature provide a rare opportunity to compare directly the behaviour of use with the resulting lithic artifacts. Wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) customarily do “stone handling” (SH = spontaneous, solitary, non-instrumental and seemingly playful manipulation of stones). Ten populations of monkeys show at least 48 behavioral variants, 13 of which entail repeated stone-on-stone or stone-on-substrate contact …
Gastrointestinal Parasites of Savanna Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Ugalla, Tanzania
Population status of chimpanzees in the Masito‐Ugalla Ecosystem, Tanzania
More than 75 percent of Tanzania's chimpanzees live at low densities on land outside national parks. Chimpanzees are one of the key conservation targets in the region and long-term monitoring of these populations is essential for assessing the overall status of ecosystem health and the success of implemented conservation strategies. We aimed to assess change in chimpanzee density within the Masito-Ugalla Ecosystem (MUE) by comparing results of re…
The diet of open-habitat chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Issa valley, western Tanzania
Chimpanzee vertebrate consumption: Savanna and forest chimpanzees compared
Sleep and nesting behavior in primates: A review
Sleep is a universal behavior in vertebrate and invertebrate animals, suggesting it originated in the very first life forms. Given the vital function of sleep, sleeping patterns and sleep architecture follow dynamic and adaptive processes reflecting trade‐offs to different selective pressures. Here, we review responses in sleep and sleep‐related behavior to environmental constraints across primate species, focusing on the role of great ape nest b…
Anaerobic Fungi in Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Feces: An Adaptation to a High-Fiber Diet
Nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ): Evidence for flexible sleeping patterns and insights into human evolution
OBJECTIVES: We investigated occurrences and patterns of terrestrial nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and modelled the influence of various ecological predictors on nocturnal activity. METHODS: Data were extracted from terrestrial camera-trap footage and ecological surveys from 22 chimpanzee study sites participating in the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee. We described videos demonstrating nocturnal activity,…
Savanna chimpanzees adjust sleeping nest architecture in response to local weather conditions
OBJECTIVES: Great ape nests are hypothesized to aid safe, secure sleep via providing thermoregulation or protection from predators and vectors. We aimed to describe and investigate variation in chimpanzee nest architecture across two populations in response to local weather conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We experimentally tested whether nests provide insulation by measuring heat loss within and outside nests, and took detailed measurements of…
Leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius) in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Predation is predicted to be an important selection pressure for primates. Evidence for this hypothesis is rare, however, due to the scarcity of direct observations of primate predation. We describe an observation of leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti) at the Issa Valley, a savanna-woodland mosaic landscape in western Tanzania. We compare rates of evidence of leopard presence between Issa a…
Cercopithecine and Colobine Abundance Across Protected and Unprotected Land in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem, Western Tanzania
Most primates live in unprotected land where abundances and threats may differ from those in protected areas. We therefore need to establish population densities in both unprotected and protected areas to effectively inform conservation planning. The Greater Mahale Ecosystem in western Tanzania is a region of mixed protected status with seven cercopithecine and colobine species: blue ( Cercopithecus mitis doggetti ), red-tailed ( C. ascanius schm…
Food abundance and weather influence habitat‐specific ranging patterns in forest‐ and savanna mosaic‐dwelling red‐tailed monkeys ( Cercopithecus ascanius )
OBJECTIVES: Primates that live in predominantly forested habitats and open, savanna mosaics should exhibit behavioral responses to differing food distributions and weather. We compared ecological constraints on red-tailed monkey ranging behavior in forest and savanna mosaic environments. Intraspecific variation in adaptations to these conditions may reflect similar pressures faced by hominins during the Plio-Pleistocene. METHODS: We followed six …
Red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) prey upon and mob birds in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania
Primate Behavior and Ecology (29 works) · Biology (28 works) · Ecology (21 works) · Geography (20 works) · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior (17 works) · Ecology (14 works) · Habitat (14 works) · Tanzania (13 works) · Troglodytes (11 works) · Animal ecology (10 works)