Summary
Behavioral observations over 16 months of two groups of Tana River crested mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus galeritus) in East Africa provide evidence, contrary to previous reports, for site-specific aggression and territorial exclusion. In addition, movements and vocal responses to neighboring group's long-call vocalizations vary temporally, reflecting seasonal variation in food availability and distribution. Patterns of response to neighboring groups are consistent with the hypothesis that resources should be defended only when it is economic to do so. When fruit resources are rare intergroup interactions are infrequent and groups use separate areas. As fruit availability increases, the distribution of diet species influences the type of interaction; peaceful intergroup interactions generally occur when mangabeys eat uniformly distributed species and aggressive interactions occur when mangabeys eat species with patchy distributions. Differences between male vocal responses and group spatial responses may reflect conflicting objectives of territorial defense by males and females.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altmann J (1974) Observational study of behavior: Sampling methods. Behaviour 49:227–267.
Altmann S, Altmann J (1970) Baboon Ecology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL.
Brown JH (1964) The evolution of diversity of avian territorial systems. Wilson Bull 76:160–169.
Butynski TM (1990) Comparative ecology of blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopulations. Ecol Monogr 60(1)1–26.
Chapman C, Fedigan LM (1984) Territoriality in the St. Kits vervet, Cercopithecus aethiops. J Hum Evol 13:677–686.
Cox DR (1970) The analysis of binary data. Chapman and Hall, London UK.
Davies NB, Houston AI (1984) Territory economics. In: Krebs JR, Davies NB (eds) Behavioural ecology: an evolutionary approach. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland MA, pp 148–169.
Ewald PW, Carpenter FL (1978) Territorial responses to energy manipulations in the Anna hummingbird. Oecologia 31:277–292.
Freund RJ, Littell RC (1981) SAS for linear models. SAS Institute, Raleigh NC.
Gartlan JS, Brain CK (1968) Ecology and social variability in Cercopithecus aethiops and C. mitis. In: Jay P (ed) Primates: studies in adaptation and variability. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York NY, pp 253–293.
Hamilton WJ III, Buskirk RE, Buskirk WH (1976) Defence of space and resources by chacma (Papio ursinus) baboon troops in an African desert and swamp. Ecology 57:1263–1272.
Homewood KM (1976) Ecology and behavior of the Tana mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus galeritus). Unpublished PhD disseration, University of London, UK.
Horn H (1968) The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the brewers blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus). Ecology 49:682–694.
Jolly A (1972) Troop continuity and troop spacing in Propithecus verreauxi and Lemur catta at Berenty (Madagascar). Folia Primatol 17:335–362.
Kavanagh M (1981) Variable territoriality among Tantalus monkeys in Cameroon. Folia Primatol 36:76–98.
Kinnaird MF (1990) Behavioral and demographic responses to habitat change by the Tana river crested mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus galeritus). Unpublished Ph D dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville FL.
Kinnaird MF (1992) Phenology of flowering and fruiting in an East African riverine forest ecosystem. Biotropica, in press.
Kodric-Brown A, Brown JH (1978) Influence of economics, inter-specific competition, and sexual dimorphism on territoriality in immigrant rufous hummingburds. Ecology 59:285–296.
McCullagh P, Nelder JA (1983) Generalized linear models. Chapman and Hall, London UK.
Marsh CM (1978) Tree phenology in a gallery forest on the Tana River, Kenya. E Afr Agric For J 43(4):305–316.
Medley KE (1990) Forest ecology and conservation in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya. Unpublished Ph D disseration, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI.
Mitani JC, Rodman PS (1979) Territoriality: the relation of ranging pattern and home range size to defendability, with an analysis of territoriality among primate species. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 5:241–251.
Morisita M (1959) Measuring the dispersion of individuals and analysis of the distributional patterns. Mem Fac Sci Kjyushu Univ Ser E (Biol) 2:215–235.
Ostfeld RS (1985) Limiting resources and territoriality in microtine rodents. Am Nat 126(1):1–15.
Ostfeld RS (1990) The ecology of territoriality in small mammals. Trends Ecol Evol 5(12):411–415.
Robinson JG (1985) Expected benefits determine area defense: experiments with capuchin monkeys. Nat Geogr Res Rep 21:421–424.
SAS (1985) SAS User's Guide. SAS Institute Incorporated, Cary, NC.
Schoener TW (1987) Time budgets and territory size: some simultaneous optimization models for energy maximizers. Am Zool 27:259–291.
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. Freeman Press, San Francisco, CA.
Stephens DW, Krebs JR (1986) Foraging theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Struhsaker TT, Leland L (1979) Socioecology of five sympatric monkey species in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. Adv Study Behav 9:159–228.
Waser P (1975) Experimental playbacks show vocal mediation of intergroup avoidance in a forest monkey. Nature 255:56–58.
Waser P (1976) Cercocebus albigena: site attachment, avoidance, and intergroup spacing. Am Nat 110: 911–935.
Waser P (1982) The evolution of male loud calls among mangabeys and baboons. In: Snowdon CT, Brown CH, Petersen MR (eds) Primate communication. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, pp 117–143.
Waser P, Floody O (1974) Ranging patterns of the mangabey, Cercocebus albigena, in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. Z Tierpsychol 35:85–101.
Waser P, Homewood K (1979) Cost-benefit approaches to territoriality: a test with forest primates. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 6:115–119.
Whitehead JM (1989) The effect of the location of simulated intruder on responses to long-distance vocalization of mantled howling monkeys, Alouata palliata palliata. Behaviour 108:73–103.
Wrangham RW (1980) An ecological model of female-bonded primate groups. Behaviour 75:262–300.
Yoshiba K (1968) Local and intertroop variability in ecology and social behavior of common Indian langurs. In: Jay PC (ed) Primates: studies in adaptability and variability. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York NY, pp 217–242.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kinnaird, M.F. Variable resource defense by the Tana River crested mangabey. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 31, 115–122 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00166344
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00166344