Animal conflicts escalate in a warmer world

The potential for climate change to affect animal behaviour is widely recognized, yet its possible consequences on ag-gressiveness are still unclear. If warming and drought limit the availability of food resources, climate change may elicit an increase of intraspecific conflicts stemming from resource competition. By measuring aggressivity indices in a group-living, herbivorous mammal (the Apennine chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata) in two sites differing in habitat quality, and coupling them with estimates of plant productivity, we investigated whether harsh climatic conditions ac-cumulated during the growing season influenced agonistic contests at feeding via vegetation-mediated effects, and their interaction with the site-specific habitat quality. We focused on females, which exhibit intra-group contest com-petition to access nutritious food patches. Accounting for confounding variables, we found that (1) the aggression rate between foraging individuals increased with the warming accumulated over previous weeks; (2) the probability to de-liver more aggressive behaviour patterns toward contestants increased with decreasing rainfall recorded in previous weeks; (3) the effects of cumulative warming and drought on aggressivity indices occurred at time windows spanning 15-30 days, matching those found on vegetation productivity; (4) the effects of unfavourable climatic conditions via vegetation growth on aggressivity were independent of the site-specific habitat quality. Simulations conducted on our model species predict a similar to 50 % increase in aggression rate following the warming projected over the next 60 years. Where primary productivity will be impacted by warming and drought, our findings suggest that the anticipated climate change scenarios may trigger bottom-up consequences on intraspecific animal conflicts. This study opens the doors for a better understanding of the multifactorial origin of aggression in group-living foragers, emphasising how the escalation of agonistic contests could emerge as a novel response of animal societies to ongoing global warming.

Automated summary

The study investigates the impact of climate change on animal aggression, particularly on the aggressiveness caused by resource competition. By examining a group-living mammal, the Apennine chamois, the study found that increased temperatures and decreased rainfall led to an increase in aggression rates. These effects were related to previous weather conditions and vegetation productivity. The findings suggest that anticipated climate change scenarios may trigger bottom-up consequences on intraspecific animal conflicts.