Foraging strategies of black-fronted titi monkeys (Callicebus nigrifrons) in relation to food availability in a seasonal tropical forest

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• 作者：Mariana B. Nagy-Reis ; Eleonore Z. F. Setz
• 关键词：Feeding ecology ; Seasonality ; Diet ; Space use ; Activity pattern ; Optimal foraging theory
• 刊名：Primates
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：58
• 期：1
• 页码：149-158
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Zoology; Animal Ecology; Behavioral Sciences; Evolutionary Biology;
• 出版者：Springer Japan
• ISSN：1610-7365
• 卷排序：58

文摘

Many primates have to cope with a temporal scarcity in food availability that shapes their foraging strategies. Here we investigated the changes in diet, activity, and ranging behavior of a group of black-fronted titi monkeys (Callicebus nigrifrons) according to the availability of the main high-nutritional-density item in their diet and the foraging strategy adopted when this food is scarce. We monitored one habituated group using instantaneous scan sampling over 1 year (533 h of observation, 61 days) in a seasonal tropical forest fragment (245 ha). We simultaneously collected data on food availability with fruit traps. The titi monkeys consumed fleshy fruits, the main high-nutritional-density item of their diet, in accordance with its availability, and the availability of this item modulated the ingestion of vegetative plant parts, a relatively low-nutritional-density food. During high fleshy fruit availability, the titi monkeys consumed more fleshy fruits, flowers, and invertebrates. They also traveled more, but concentrated their activity in a central area of their home range. Conversely, during fleshy fruit scarcity, they increased the breadth of their diet, switching to one richer in seeds and vegetative plant parts, and with greater plant diversity. At the same time, they reduced most energy-demanding activities, traveling less and over shorter distances, but using their home range more broadly. Corroborating the optimal foraging theory, titi monkeys altered foraging strategies according to temporal food fluctuations and responded to low fleshy fruit availability by changing their diet, activity, and ranging behavior. The adoption of a low-cost/low-yield strategy allowed us to classify them as energy minimizers.