BIOTROPIA Vol. 28 No. 2, 2021: 173 - 180 DOI: 10.11598/btb.2021.28.2.1296 

173 

ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS ON THE REPRODUCTION OF 
NON-HUMAN PRIMATES 

 
 

MASHITAH SHIKHMAIDIN*,1,2, NUR HAFIZAH MOHAMMED1 AND AHMAD ISMAIL1 
 

 
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 

2Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security (ITAFoS), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 
 

Received 9 January 2020/Accepted 29 May 2020 

 
 

ABSTRACT 
 

 This paper aims to review some highlights on the effects of environmental stresses on the non-human 
primate population, particularly, climate change and food limitation that may have resulted in their poor 
reproductive performance. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists more than a third 
of the world’s primates as critically endangered or vulnerable. Non-human primates, which are the closest 
biological relatives of humans, are threatened with extinction from human activities and environmental stress. 
Deforestation is the main problem that intercalates with climate change. Either, indirectly or directly, those 
extinction factors could interrupt the physiological basis of reproduction among non-human primates. 
Researches on other species showed that high ambient temperature causing heat stress had harmed the 
reproductive performance by interfering with the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Therefore, the survival, 
conservation and sustainability of nonhuman primates growing in captivity and in the wild, require more works 
and researches to be done. 

 
Keywords: climate change, conservation, heat stress, primate, reproductive 

 
 
 

INTRODUCTION 
 

The non-human primate populations are 
increasingly endangered as they experienced 
warnings and threats from abrupt climate 
changes that slowly result in their population 
extinction. The Intergovernmental Panel on 
Climate Change (IPCC) has warned about the 
impacts of the escalating global temperatures. 
Moreover, global warming will continue even 
though it is not regionally uniform and the 
nations’ potential for adapting to this situation is 
limited in terms of protecting the natural 
systems. This situation is more complex than 
just rising temperature because climate change is 
an environmental stress causing changes in the 
body physiological metabolism in a short-term 
to long-term fight-or-flight response (Schulte 
2014). The intense increases in humidity and 

ambient temperature had resulted in animals and 
plants being exposed to adverse circumstances 
that threaten their survival, and ultimately, their 
biodiversity. Climate change would directly or 
indirectly cause reduction and shifting of wildlife 
populations and habitats, including the non-
human primates, thereby eventually inhibiting 
the survivability and sustainability of the species. 

Most primates are widely distributed 
throughout the tropical and subtropical regions 
of Africa, America and Asia. The majority of 
primates live in tropical areas that are rainfed 
and rain forested (Reed & Fleagle 1995), but 
they also exist in tropical dry forests, mangrove 
vegetation above high-tide levels, savannas, 
grasslands, inland wetlands and rocky areas 
(Mittermeier et al. 2013). Habitat for this group 
of animals is widespread but some of the areas 
are no longer able to accommodate these 
primates’ populations, as the areas have been 
mostly disturbed by human activities. About 
80% of the Malaysian rainforests are degraded *Corresponding author, email: mashitah@upm.edu.my 

 



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by logging and largely covered with oil palm 
plantations (Sophie 2013). Logging had 
threatened the biodiversity of those areas, 
including the nonhuman primate populations. 
Deforestation is also a result of human 
overpopulation happening in some places in the 
African and Asian countries. The populations of 
nonhuman primates are disturbed by human 
population growth, economic expansion and 
other human activities, such as those in the 
agricultural industry. The significant thermal 
impact that obviously elevated the effects of 
climate change has led to phenological changes 
in the wildlife habitats. Extreme irregularities in 
phenological events have also resulted in shifting 
food sources that has changed many natural 
cycles of pollinators and plants, predators and 
prey, and of primate and their food sources 
(Visser 2008; Both et al. 2009; Butt et al. 2015). 
All these disturbance factors threatening the 
nonhuman primate species have forced them to 
move out of their habitat range to get clean 
water, food, and to raise their offspring. These 
external factors, such as climate change, 
demanded an adaptive response from the 
animals to a new environment (Altmann et al. 
2002; Beehner et al. 2006a; Estrada et al. 2017; 
Fairbanks et al. 2011).  The critical challenge 
facing the global population of nonhuman 
primates is therefore, survival or extinction, 
because as animals lose the ability to control 
their environment (for examples, habitats lost 
and climate change), their physiological structure 
ultimately change. Moreover, it could cause 
adverse effects on their reproduction and 
development. 

This paper briefly reviews and discusses the 
impact of physical disturbances such as feed 
restriction and climate change on the 
reproductive physiology as these factors slowly 
create stress affecting  reproduction and 
eventually, the survival of the nonhuman 
primates. 
 

REVIEW 
 

Does Climate Change Affect the 
Reproductive Performance of Nonhuman 
Primates? 

In the last few decades, the effects of 
environmental stress to animals, mainly climate 
change, has become a major concern. However, 

still sparse works are done on the sustainability 
of wildlife, particularly the nonhuman primates, 
in this complex stress phenomenon. Many 
researches showed that continuous increase of 
the ambient temperature resulting in heat stress 
had significantly affected the reproductive 
physiology of animals, including nonhuman 
primates (Beehner et al. 2006ab; Sharpe, 2010; 
Rylander et al. 2013; Wang et al. 2014). An acute 
increase of ambient temperature generally affect 
the breeding patterns of animals through 
physiological changes in the brain, the center of 
the nervous system. Studies among livestock 
animals showed that extremely high 
temperatures strongly affected the 
hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (Shelton & 
Huston 1968; Wolfenson et al. 2000; Santolaria et 
al. 2014). These deleterious effects of heat stress 
could lead to disruptions in the reproductive 
performance of nonhuman primates.  

About 419 primate species, such as lemurs, 
lorises, tarsiers, monkeys and apes, would 
experience 10% more warming than the global 
average (Taylor 2016). Meanwhile, some 
primates would experience increases of more 
than 1.5 oC in annual average temperature for 
every degree in global warming. Therefore, 
primates that show high sensitivity to little 
changes on ambient temperature could 
experience more intense effects in their 
reproduction as compared to other primates. 
The consequence of climate change on the 
reproductive performance of nonhuman 
primates not only occurs in females but also in 
males. A 43 ˚C heat stress of about 30 minutes 
could induce apoptosis of germ cells in the testis 
of Macaca fascicularis,  a non-human primate, 
(Zhang et al. 2005). This situation was described 
in studies where suppression of testicular 
function under heat stress had led to a decrease 
in fertility in ruminants (Hamilton et al. 2016), 
and humans (Garolla et al. 2013; Rao et al. 2015). 
Those testis exposed to high ambient 
temperature could constantly effect the DNA 
fragmentation of sperms; thus, reduces the 
quality of sperms. An elevated surrounding 
temperature causing a rise in testicular 
temperature result in a reduction in sperm 
output, low sperm motility and an increase of 
morphologically abnormal spermatozoa (Hansen 
2009). Germ cell depletion and increase in DNA 
damage are induced by heat stress (Lue et al. 



Environmental stress on reproduction of nonhuman primates – ShikhMaidin et al. 

175 

1999; Paul et al. 2008). Oxidative stress clearly 
disturbs the functionality of sperm and leads to 
sperm damage, deformity, and eventually, male 
infertility (Halliwell & Gutteridge 2007; 
Mahfouz et al. 2010). Animals vulnerable to 
environmental changes, particularly heat stress, 
also exhibited changes in their mating behavior 
(Deutsch et al. 2008; McFarland et al. 2014). In 
female, heat stress had significant adverse effects 
on the reproductive performance particularly, 
delayed estrus cycle, lower embryo survivability, 
slow fetus development and early pregnancy 
abortion (Beehner et al. 2006b; Hansen 2009; 
Wiederholt et al. 2011). Documented 
information on the effects of these 
environmental stressors towards reproduction 
patterns of the female and male nonhuman 
primates is still sparse. Hence more studies are 
needed on understanding the impact of heat 
stress or climate change particularly on 
reproductive-physiology and reproductive 
behavior.  Identifying anthropogenic stressors 
on nonhuman primates is also essential for 
conservation planning and management of these 
primates (Graham et al. 2016).   
 
Importance of Nutrition and Reproduction 

The overall functions of the reproductive 
system are largely controlled by the hormonal 
interactions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-
ovarian axis, but the final output also depends 
on extrinsic factors such as nutrition. The diet 
that is easily digested and rich in fibre, 
carbohydrates and lipid from fruits, leaves, buds 
and insects, constitute an immense food source 
for most nonhuman primates (Strier 2007; 
Lambert 2010; Moges et al. 2014; Kassim et al. 
2017). However, habitat fragmentation and 
climate change could harm food availability. 
Captive orangutans fed with high-quality feeds 
have shorter inter-birth intervals as compared to 
wild orangutans (Kuze et al. 2012). Therefore, 
with a good quality food sources, the orangutan 
population will result in an increased 
reproductive performance and eventually 
increased population density. Food availability 
and nutritional composition are also important 
to the population density of nonhuman primates 
(Hanya & Chapman 2013). 

Two factors that contribute to pregnancy 
failure in females are the inadequate food intake 

and increased energy expenditure. It is 
important for pregnant females to meet the 
basic metabolic requirements mainly during early 
pregnancy to avoid negative energy balance. 
Studies done on the nutritional status and 
reproduction of laboratory and livestock animals 
recorded that underfed animals experienced 
delayed puberty period, decreased embryo 
survival rate, suppressed spermatogenesis and 
reduced number of sperm motility. Moreover, 
females that were deprived of food or underfed 
were less fertile and this reduces the chances of 
fertilisation; thus, affecting the population birth 
rate and eventually causing a decrease in 
population. This probably occurs severely 
among subordinate females of a nonhuman 
primate. Dominant females of marmoset 
monkey produced more offsprings as compared 
to subordinate females in a healthy environment 
(Abbot 1987). In the physiological level, 
dominant females can defeat the reproductive 
performance of subordinate females. The 
impact of a threatening activity, such as forest 
abuse, can damage the individual survival of 
nonhuman primate species, decrease fertility, 
and will shrink the population through time. 

Climate disaster also leads to the extinction 
of plants and animals. A study on wild baboons 
documented that pregnancy failure was high if 
the females conceived after the drought 
(Beehner et al. 2006b). During the 1990s, the 
decline in the orangutan population by at least 
30% of its total population was caused by fires 
and drought in the Bornean forests (Gould et al. 
1999). In addition, wildfires in Mexico also 
affected the nonhuman primates, whereby the 
habitats of New World monkeys were destroyed 
by drought and El Nino. Reduction of food 
availability as a result of El Nino event caused 
the population size reduction of atelines one 
year after the event (Wiederholt & Post 2010). 
Extreme temperatures can decrease the food 
production and drinking water availability of the 
existing nonhuman primates. High ambient 
temperature could decrease the concentration of 
fibre and protein contents of leaves due to high 
atmospheric carbon dioxide. In addition, a rising 
level of heat and carbon dioxide could make the 
leaf or green resources less nutritious (Gray & 
Brady 2016) and could also affect the plant 
physiology resulting in changes in the number 
and size of leaves (Taylor et al. 2003; Dermody et 



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176 

al. 2006). Higher temperatures also increased the 
plant matter toxicity resulting in reduced leaf 
sizes (Moore et al. 2015). Decreasing food 
source could also increase the competition 
within the population. In the long run, this 
indirect effect might impact the evolutionary 
and ecological processes of a certain population. 

Obviously, several factors contribute to food 
limitation in nonhuman primate habitats, such as 
forest exploitation, forest clearing for agriculture 
and climate change. As mentioned earlier, 
nutritional restriction can interrupt the breeding 
pattern, fertility, puberty development, embryo 
growth and development, and can increase 
susceptibility to disease and predation, intensify 
mortality of infants and mothers, and can delay 
reproductive maturity to a much later age 
(Korstjens & Hillyer 2016; Chaves et al. 2019; 
Laver et al. 2020). The synchronization of 
reproductive events of primate to fit the 
availability of the resources was also affected 
(Van Schaik et al. 1993; Post 2013). Climate 
change occuring in the African regions has cause 
significant changes in fruit production, as it was 
lower between 1988 and 1993 than between 
1994 and 2003 (Erhart and Overdorff 2008). 
This event negatively affected the red-fronted 
lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus), specifically their 
reproductive patterns, sex ratio, group sizes and 
population density. Early embryo wastage, one 
of the key factors towards species extinction, is a 
particularly critical issue for nonhuman 
primates,. The nonhuman primates in captive 
management may need to refine the feed intake 
that would satisfy the dietary needs and take into 
account to have an optimal reproductive 
functions.  
 
Reproductive and Stress Hormones on 
Reproduction 

It is well-known that progesterone is the 
main reproductive hormone that is essential to 
maintain pregnancy in animals, including in  
nonhuman primates and humans. Meanwhile, 
testosterone is important in mating behaviour 
and confounded with dominance rank in male 
primates (Dixson 1998; Wallen & Zehr 2004). 
Expressions of reproductive hormones depend 
on maternal responsiveness with the 
environments and differ between young and 

experienced female primates (Rangel‐Negrín et 

al. 2009; Saltzman & Maestripieri 2011). The 
understanding of neuroendocrine and primate 
maternal behaviour has increased, but of the 
physiology mechanism underlying the effects is 
still limited.  

During early pregnancy in nonhuman 
primates, progesterone secretion is solely from 
corpus luteum and it is replaced by the placenta 
during mid-pregnancy (Beehner et al. 2006a). An 
in vitro study on Macaque recorded the direct 
actions of progesterone and oestradiol on 
primate pre-antral follicle development (Ting et 
al. 2015). Androgens appeared to be a survival 
factor but hindered antral follicle differentiation; 
oestradiol appeared to be a survival and growth 
factor at the pre-antral and early antral stages, 
whereas progesterone may not be essential 
during early folliculogenesis in primates. 
Macaque and baboon are nonhuman primate 
models used for studies related to human 
reproductive health, such as contraception, 
reproductive aging, infertility, ovarian function, 
and reproductive tract disorder (Wandji et al. 
1997; D'Hooghe et al. 2004; Ting et al. 2015). 

Maternal stress during pregnancy that is 
controlled by the hypothalamus–pituitary–
adrenal (HPA) axes could produce disruptive 
effects on embryo and fetal growth and 
development (Del Giudice 2012; Laver et al. 
2020). Among wild baboons, food limitation 
due to drought contributed to fetal loss in the 
Amboseli population (Beehner et al. 2006b). A 
study on orangutans in Southeast Asian tropical 
forests showed that solitary lifestyle is relative to 
late weaning which is a consequence of their 
ecological environment (Vogel et al. 2015).  
Faecal glucocorticoid (fGC) is a survival 
probability indicator of many nonhuman 
primates, such as ring-tailed lemurs and red-
bellied lemurs. It shows high mortality rate due 
to habitat degradation that would cause 
reduction in fruit availability (Pride 2005; Tecot 
2013; Balestri et al. 2014).  

The non-invasive technique was used to 
measure reproductive hormones and cortisol 
through urine and faeces during a normal 
reproductive cycle (Rangel-Negrín et al. 2009). 
Chaves et al. (2019) used non-invasive 
biomarkers, fecal glucocorticoid metabolites to 
assess the physiological stress of adult wild 
brown howlers and the food availability in 
Brazilian Atlantic Forest fragments, and found 



Environmental stress on reproduction of nonhuman primates – ShikhMaidin et al. 

177 

that nursing females are highly nutrition 
demanding for their pregnancy and lactation  It 
shows that hormones obsess and affect the 
appetite throughout pregnancy, explaining the 
consistent association between undernutrition 
and reproductive failure. Studies on brain 
activity via hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis 
and stress hormones on embryo and fetal losses 
are still scarce. We suggest that researches need 
to focus on this because as observed, maternal 
hormonal patterns and external factors are 
important in sustaining embryo survivability.   

 
 

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE 
PERSPECTIVES 

 
This article has focused on how 

environmental stress, mainly climate change and 
poor dietary intake, can lead to reproductive 
stress and failure among nonhuman primates. 
These factors, known to be either directly or 
indirectly link to the hypothalamic-ovarian axis, 
harm the reproductive sites. Furthermore, the 
anthropogenic stressors on primate populations 
also contribute towards species extinctions, 
particularly in animals with slow reproductive 
rates. All these factors are closely related to the 
extinction of this vulnerable species. Primates 
are a flagship species for entire ecosystems, so 
its conservation also present important 
consequences for many other species. 

The success of its conservation and 
preservation programs are dependent on the 
ability of the species to reproduce successfully 
and to minimize offspring loss. Thus, important 
information on the fitness and success of its 
reproduction provides an understanding of the  
physiological-environment interactions of the 
nonhuman primates reproduction.   Moreover, 
the successful reproduction is fundamental to 
the survival and evolution of all species. Hence, 
further studies are needed to understand the 
impact of environmental stress on their 
physiological changes mainly the reproductive 
performance and endocrine reproduction of 
nonhuman primates. It would probably help 
researchers or governments to properly manage 
this species by investing on resources to 
safeguard the animals from the threats of habitat 
destruction, and, to monitor their reproductive 

performance through hormonal control for 
sustainable primate populations. 

 
 
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 

The authors would like to thank the 
Reprophysio Team from the Department of 
Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra 
Malaysia and Putra Grant GP/2018/9619600 
for generously supporting this publication. 
 
 

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