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Habitat Use and Trophic Niche Overlap of Two Sympatric Colobines, Presbytis potenziani and Simias concolor, on Siberut Island, Indonesia

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Abstract

According to ecological theory, the concept of niche differentiation is essential to our understanding of how sympatric species can limit competition over resources. We here examine ecological niche differentiation in 2 sympatric Asian langurs, Presbytis potenziani and Simias concolor, both endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra. We collected data (home range size, canopy use, activity budgets, diet, and niche breadth and overlap) using GPS and scan/focal animal sampling methods on 2 groups of Presbytis potenziani and 3 groups of Simias concolor living in a mixed primary rain forest in northern Siberut. Results show that home ranges of the 2 species overlapped completely and that the home range size of Presbytis potenziani was ca. 4 times larger than that of Simias concolor. Lower canopy levels (<20 m) were used more often by Simias concolor, whereas Presbytis potenziani preferred the canopy >20 m. Apart from foraging and other activities, there was little difference in overall activity budgets of the 2 species. Regarding diet, although 60% of all food species examined were used by both langur species, they shared only 3 of the 10 most commonly eaten species. Presbytis potenziani fed more selectively on fruits, whereas Simias concolor fed predominantly on leaves. Levin’s niche breadth indices revealed that the diet of Simias concolor is more general (0.34) than that of Presbytis potenziani (0.22). Based on a Pianka index of 0.32, we conclude that there is a relatively small food niche overlap between the 2 colobine species and that diet represents an important mechanism enabling their coexistence.

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Acknowledgments

This project was conducted as part of the Siberut Conservation Programme (SCP). We thank SCP field assistants Rahmah T. Rahayu, Dwi Y. Febriyanti, Ratna Wulandari, Yohanes Wibisono, Vera Ikawati, Yulia D. Handayani, and Taswirul Afiyatin for their support during data collection. We also thank the SCP field manager Dodi Priata and secretary Siti Aminah for field and logistic support. We are much obliged to the chief of Policoman village, Marholop Salakkomak, for permission to conduct long-term field studies in the aboriginal communal forest of Peleonan. We especially thank Mohammad Agil from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) for administrative support and Sara Bauer from the Institut für Waldbiologie und Jagdkunde, University of Göttingen, for her assistance with kernel analysis. We also thank the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for partial funding of the project and Idea Wild for providing items of fieldwork equipment. Finally, we thank the 3 anonymous reviewers and the associate editor for providing valuable comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Reproductive Biology, German Primate Center, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Susilo Hadi, Thomas Ziegler & J. Keith Hodges

  2. Department of Conservation Biology, Center for Nature Conservation, Georg-August University, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Susilo Hadi, Matthias Waltert & Michael Mühlenberg

  3. Faculty of Biology, Gadjah Mada University, Jogjakarta, Indonesia

    Susilo Hadi

  4. Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural Institute, Bogor, Indonesia

    Fauzan Syamsuri

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  1. Susilo Hadi
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  2. Thomas Ziegler
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Correspondence to Thomas Ziegler.

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Hadi, S., Ziegler, T., Waltert, M. et al. Habitat Use and Trophic Niche Overlap of Two Sympatric Colobines, Presbytis potenziani and Simias concolor, on Siberut Island, Indonesia. Int J Primatol 33, 218–232 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9567-y

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