Abstract
An animal’s use of space may be strongly influenced by habitat edges and neighboring conspecifics encountered in and around its home range. Habitat edges are known to affect species density and distribution, but their impact on home range use is largely unknown. Additionally, among large animals, interactions with neighbors become particularly important as increasing home range size leads to decreasing exclusivity of resource use, but the effect of neighbors on home range use remains poorly understood. Here, we examine the influence of neighbors and habitat edges on the ranging patterns of three groups of Phayre’s leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) in northeast Thailand over a period of more than 2 years. The study animals occupied dry evergreen forest, and adjacent patches of dry dipterocarp forest created a habitat edge and formed barriers between some groups. We found that the use of home range interiors was 50–90% higher than the border areas, indicating concentrated use of resources within the home range. The use of peripheral areas was influenced by social organization, the presence of neighboring groups, and forest edges. While one multimale group showed no particular habitat preference, two single-male groups preferred areas bordering dry dipterocarp habitat and avoided areas bordering neighboring groups, suggesting that the threat of neighbors mediated border presence. Additionally, groups may have been attracted to the forest edge, where conspecific competitors are absent and increased sunlight may increase resource abundance and/or quality. This study revealed that the use of border areas can be modulated by neighboring groups and habitat edges, thereby adding to our understanding of home range use among territorial species in heterogeneous habitats.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) for the permission to conduct this study. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and guidance by Jarupol Prabnasuk, Kanjana Nitaya, and Kitti Kreetiyutanont (Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary), Naris Bhumpakphan and Wichan Eiadthong (Kasetsart University), and Warren Brockelman (Mahidol University). For the help with data collection, we would like to thank Carola Borries, Amnoi Bprasapmu, Surachest Dtubpraserit, Eileen Larney, Emily Lloyd, Amy Lu, the late Wichian Natongbo, Guillaume Pages, Scott Suarez, Amphon Suyanang, Pia Terranova, Tara Whitty, and Araya Yamee. We are thankful for the helpful comments and suggestions on the manuscript by Carola Borries, Tara Whitty, Hamish Wilman, the three anonymous reviewers, and the Associate Editor David Watts. The project was financially supported by NSF (BCS-0215542 and BCS-0542035) and approved by Stony Brook University’s IACUC (IDs: 20031120–20061120). All work reported here was non-invasive and complied with the laws of Thailand and the USA.
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Gibson, L., Koenig, A. Neighboring groups and habitat edges modulate range use in Phayre’s leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66, 633–643 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1311-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1311-2