Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Scramble Competition Among Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema, Ghana

  • Published:
International Journal of Primatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated the occurrence of scramble competition among Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema, Ghana. If scramble competition had an impact on feeding efficiency among females, we expected a positive relationship between group size and the proportion of time spent feeding, day journey length, or home range size assuming resource availability is similar among the groups compared. We collected focal data on the feeding behavior of adult females and males over 11 mo (September 2000–August 2001) on 2 study groups: WW (n = 31–33 individuals) and B (n = 8–16 individuals). We also collected ranging data on group movements at half-hour intervals. The large group (WW1) had a significantly longer day journey length than the small group (B1), and females in the large group spent a significantly greater proportion of time feeding in the wet season, a period of low food availability, which suggests it may be a bottleneck period when food resources are scarce and Colobus vellerosus is close to being energy limited. The proximity data suggested females may be able to reduce or adjust for competition by having fewer neighbors when they feed and by spreading out when in a larger group. However, we found no relationship between home range size and group size or that females spent a greater proportion of time feeding than adult males did. Our results highlight the need to factor in differences in food availability when investigating scramble competition. Though equivocal, our results suggest scramble competition occurs among Colobus vellerosus, leading us to suggest there was a match with the potential competitive regime, i.e., food distribution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, R. D. (1974). The evolution of social behavior. Annuals Review of Ecology and Systematics, 5, 325–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altmann, J. (1974). Observational study of behaviour: sampling methods. Behaviour, 49, 223–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. M. (1981). Subtrooping in a chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) population. Primates, 23, 445–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauchop, T. (1978). Digestion of leaves in vertebrate folivores. In G. G. Montgomery (Ed.), The ecology of arboreal folivores (pp. 193–204). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bocian, C. M. (1997). Niche Separation of Black-and-White Colobus Monkeys (Colobus angolensis and C. guereza) in the Ituri Forest. Ph.D. Thesis, The City University of New York.

  • Bourlière, F. (1985). Primate communities: their structure and role in tropical ecosystems. International Journal of Primatology, 6, 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brugière, D. (1998). Population size of the black colobus monkey Colobus satanas and the impact of logging in the Lopé Reserve, Central Gabon, 86, 15–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Brugière, D., Gautier, J. P., Moungazi, A., & Gautier-Hion, A. (2002). Primate diet and biomass in relation to vegetation composition and fruiting phenology in a rain forest in Gabon. International Journal of Primatology, 23, 999–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butynski, T. M. (1990). Comparative ecology of blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopulations. Ecological Monographs, 60, 1–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, C. A. (1988). Patterns of foraging and range use by three species of neotropical primates. Primates, 29, 177–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, C. A. (1990). Ecological constraints on group size in three species of neotropical primates. Folia Primatologica, 55, 1–9.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, C. A., & Chapman, L. J. (2000a). Determinants of group size in primates: the importance of travel costs. In S. Boinski, & P. A. Garber (Eds.), On the move: How and why animals travel in group (pp. 24–42). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, C. A., & Chapman, L. J. (2000b). Constraints on group size in red colobus and red-tailed guenons: Examining the generality of the ecological constraints model. International Journal of Primatology, 21, 565–585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, D. L. (1987). Interactions and relationships between groups. In B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, & T. T. Struhsaker (Eds.), Primate societies (pp. 267–281). Chicago: Chicago University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, D. L., & Seyfarth, R. M. (1987). The influence of intergroup competition on the survival and reproduction of female vervet monkeys. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 21, 375–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chism, J., & Rowell, T. E. (1988). The natural history of patas monkeys. In A. Gautier-Hion, F. Bourliere, J.-P. Gautier, & J. Kingdon (Eds.), A primate radiation: Evolutionary biology of the African guenons (pp. 412–438). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock, T. H., & Harvey, P. H. (1977). Species differences in feeding and ranging behaviour in primates. In T. H. Clutton-Brock (Ed.), Primate ecology: Studies of feeding and ranging behaviour in lemurs, monkeys and apes, (pp. 557–584). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasilva, G. L. (1989). The Ecology of the Western Black and White Colobus (Colobus polykomos polykomos Zimmerman 1780) on a riverine island in southeastern Sierra Leone. Ph.D. Thesis: University of Oxford.

  • Dasilva, G. L. (1992). The western black-and-white colobus as a low energy strategist: Activity budgets, energy expenditure and energy intake. Journal of Animal Ecology, 61, 79–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasilva, G. L. (1994). Diet of Colobus polykomos on Tiwai Island: Selection of food in relation to its seasonal abundance and nutritional quality. International Journal of Primatology, 15, 655–680.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. G., Oates, J. F., & Dasilva, G. L. (1999). Patterns of frugivory in three West African colobine monkeys. International Journal of Primatology, 20, 327–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R. I. M. (1987). Habitat quality, population dynamics, and group composition in colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza). International Journal of Primatology, 8, 299–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R. I. M., & Dunbar, E. P. (1974). Ecology and population dynamics of Colobus guereza in Ethiopia. Folia Primatologica, 21, 188–208.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R. I. M., & Dunbar, E. P. (1976). Contrasts in social structure among black-and-white colobus monkey groups. Animal Behavior, 24, 84–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fashing, P. J. (2001). Activity and ranging patterns of guerezas in the Kakamega Forest: Intergroup variation and implications for intragroup feeding competition. International Journal of Primatology, 22, 549–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleury, M. C., & Gautier-Hion, A. (1999). Seminomadic ranging in a population of black colobus (Colobus satanas) in Gabon and its ecological correlates. International Journal of Primatology, 20, 497–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galat, G., & Galat-Luong, A. (1985). La communaute de primates diurnes de la foret de Tai, Cote d’ Ivoire. Revue D Ecologie—La Terre et la Vie, 40, 3–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, T. R., & Chapman, C. A. (2001). Determinants of group size in the red colobus monkey (Procolobus badius): An evaluation of the generality of the ecological constraints model. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 50, 329–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. B., & Swaine, M. D. (1981). Distribution and Ecology of Vascular Plants in a Tropical Rain Forest: Forest Vegetation in Ghana. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, M. J. S. (1986). Feeding ecology of black colobus, Colobus satanas. In J. G. Else, & P. C. Lee, (Eds.), Primate ecology and conservation. (pp. 31–37). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isbell, L. A. (1991). Contest and scramble competition: Patterns of female aggression and ranging behavior among primates. Behavioral Ecology, 2, 143–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell, L. A., Cheney, D. L., & Seyfarth, R. M. (1990). Costs and benefits of home range shifts among vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 27, 351–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell, L. A., Pruetz, J. D., & Young, T. P. (1998). Movements of vervets (Cercopithecus aethiops) and patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 42, 123–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H. (1988). Intra-specific food competition and primate social structure: A synthesis. Behaviour, 105, 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H. (1990). Ecological consequences of individual spatial choice in foraging groups of brown capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella. Animal Behavior, 40, 922–934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H., & van Schaik, C. P. (1988). Recognizing the many faces of primate food competition: Methods. Behaviour, 105, 165–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kay, R. N. B., & Davies, A. G. (1994). Digestive physiology. In A. G. Davies, & J. F.Oates, (Eds.), Colobine monkeys: Their ecology, behaviour, and evolution, (pp. 229–249). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, R. C., Zou, R. J., Dierenfeld, E. S., & Zhou, H. W. (2001). Digestion of selected foods by Yunnan snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus bieti (Colobinae). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 114, 156–162.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, A. (2000). Competitive regime in forest-dwelling Hanuman langur females (Semnopithecus entellus). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 48, 93–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, A. (2002). Competition for resources and its behavioral consequences among female primates. International Journal of Primatology, 23, 759–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korstjens, A. H. (2001). The Mob, the Secret Sorority, and the Phantoms: An Analysis of the Socio-Ecological Strategies of the Three Colobines of Tai. Ph.D. Thesis, Utrecht University.

  • Korstjens, A. H., Sterck, E. H. M., & Noë, R. (2002). How adaptive or phylogenetically inert is primate social behaviour? A test with two sympatric colobines. Behaviour, 139, 203–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruger, O., Affeldt, E., Brackman, M., & Milhahn, K. (1998). Group size and composition of Colobus guereza in Kyambura Gorge, southwest Uganda, in relation to chimpanzee activity. International Journal of Primatology, 19, 287–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leskes, A., & Acheson, N. H. (1971). Social organization of a free-ranging troop of black and white colobus monkeys (Colobus abyssinicus). In H. Kummer, (Ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Primatology, Zurich, 1970, vol. 3, Behavior (pp. 22–31). Basel: S. Karger.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGraw, W. S. (1994). Census, habitat preference, and polyspecific associations of six monkeys in the Lomako Forest, Zaire. American Journal of Primatology, 34, 295–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKey, D. B. (1978). Soils, vegetation and seed-eating by black colobus monkeys. In G. G. Montgomery (Ed.), The ecology of arboreal folivores. (pp. 423–438). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milton, K. (1984). The role of food-processing factors in primate food choice. In P. S. Rodman, & J.G. Cant (Eds.), Adaptations for foraging in nonhuman primates (pp. 249–279). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oates, J. F. (1977a). The guereza and its food. In T. H. Clutton-Brock, (Ed.), Primate ecology: Studies of feeding and ranging behavior in lemurs, monkeys and apes (pp. 419–467). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oates, J. F. (1977b). The social life of a black-and-white colobus monkey, Colobus guereza. Zeitshrift für Tierpschychologie, 45, 1–60.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oates, J. F., Whitesides, G. H., Davies, A. G., Waterman, P. G., Green, S. M., Dasilva, G. L., et al. (1990). Determinants of variation in tropical forest primate biomass: New evidence from West Africa. Ecology, 71, 328–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, D. K. (1986). Determining range size for arboreal monkeys: Methods, assumptions, and accuracy. In D. M. Taub, & F. A. King, (Eds.), Current perspectives in primate social dynamics (pp. 212–227). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Onderdonk, D. A., & Chapman, C. A. (2000). Coping with forest fragmentation: The primates of Kibale National Park, Uganda. International Journal of Primatology, 21, 587–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parra, R. (1978). Comparison of foregut and hindgut fermentation in herbivores. In G. G. Montgomery (Ed.), The ecology of arboreal folivores.(pp. 205–229). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. G. (1988). Group size in wedge-capped capuchin monkeys (Cebus olivaceus) and the reproductive success of males and females. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 23, 187–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, M. D. (1978). Feeding and associated positional behavior of black and white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza). In G. G. Montgomery, (Ed.), Ecology of Arboreal Folivores (pp. 253–262). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saj, T. L. (2005). Ecological Influences on the Social Organization of Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema, Ghana. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Calgary, Canada.

  • Saj, T. L., & Sicotte, P. (2005). Male takeover in Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, central Ghana. Primates, 46, 211–214.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saj, T. L., & Sicotte, P. (2007). Predicting the competitive regime of female Colobus vellerosus from the distribution of food resources. International Journal of Primatology, 28. Available at DOI 10.1007/s10764-007-9124-x.

  • Saj, T. L., Teichroeb, J. A., & Sicotte, P. (2005). The population status of the ursine colobus (Colobus vellerosus) at Boabeng-Fiema sacred grove, Ghana. In J. D. Paterson, & J Wallis, (Eds.), Commensalism and conflict: Human-primate interface (pp. 350–375). American Society of Primatology.

  • Schenkel, R., & Schenkel-Hullinger, L. (1967). On the sociology of free-ranging colobus (Colobus guereza caudatus Thomas 1855). In D. Starck, R. Schneider, & H-J. Kuhn, (Eds.), Neue Ergebnisse der Primatologie (pp. 185–194). Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T. W. (1971). Theory of feeding strategies. Annuals Review of Ecology and Systematics, 2, 369–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sicotte, P., & MacIntosh, A. (2004). Inter-group encounters and male incursions in Colobus vellerosus in central Ghana. Behaviour, 141, 533–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. A. (1979). Human adaptation and energetic efficiency. Human Ecology, 7, 53–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stacey, P. B. (1986). Group size and foraging efficiency in yellow baboons. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 18, 175–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterck, E. H. M., Watts, D. P., & van Schaik, C. P. (1997). The evolution of female social relationships in nonhuman primates. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 41, 291–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strier, K. B. (1990). New world primates, new frontiers: Insights from the woolly spider monkey, or muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides). International Journal of Primatology, 11, 7–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strier, K. B. (1991). Diet in one group of woolly spider monkeys, or muriquis, (Brachyteles arachnoides). American Journal of Primatology, 23, 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Struhsaker, T. T. (1967). Ecology of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) in the Masai-Amboseli game reserve, Kenya. Ecology, 48, 891–904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Struhsaker, T. T., & Oates, J. F. (1975). Comparison of the behavior and ecology of red colobus and black-and-white colobus monkeys in Uganda: A summary. In R. H. Tuttle, (Ed), Socioecology and Psychology of Primates (pp. 102–123). The Hague: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, A. (1979). The variation and adaptation of social groups of chimpanzees. In I. S. Bernstein, & E. O. Smith, (Eds.), Primate ecology and human origins (pp. 153–173). New York: Garland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichroeb, J. A., Saj, T. L., Paterson, J. D., & Sicotte, P. (2003). Effect of group size on activity budgets of Colobus vellerosus in Ghana. International Journal of Primatology, 24, 743–758.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, S. C. (1991). Population densities and patterns of habitat use among anthropoid primates of the Ituri Forest, Zaire. Biotropica 23, 68–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tutin, C. E. G. (1999). Fragmented living: Behavioral ecology of primates in a forest fragment in the Lope Reserve, Gabon. Primates, 40, 249–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik, C. P. (1989). The ecology of social relationships amongst female primates. In V. Standen, & R. A. Foley, (Eds.), Comparative socioecology: The behavioural ecology of humans and other mammals (pp. 195–218). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik, C. P., & van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1983). On the ultimate causes of primate social systems. Behaviour, 85, 91–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik, C. P., & van Noordwijk, M. A. (1988). Scramble and contest in feeding competition among female long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Behaviour, 105, 77–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik, C. P., van Noordwijk, M. A., de Boer, R. J., & den Tonkelaar, I. (1983). The effect of group size on time budgets and social behavior in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 13, 173–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts, D. P. (1998). Long-term habitat use by mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) I. Consistency, variation, and home range size and stability. International Journal of Primatology, 19, 651–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, F. J., & Wrangham, R. W. (1988). Feeding competition and patch size in the chimpanzee species Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes. Behaviour, 105, 148–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitten, P. L. (1983). Diet and dominance among female vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). American Journal of Primatology, 5, 139–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, S. N. P., & Sicotte, P. (2005). Population size and density of Colobus vellerosus at the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary and surrounding forest fragments in Ghana. American Journal of Primatology, 68, 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeager, C. P., & Kirkpatrick, R. C. (1998). Asian colobine social structure: Ecological and evolutionary constraints. Primates, 39, 147–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the Ghana Wildlife Division and the BFMS Management Committee for permission to work at BFMS, and Mr. Anthony Dassah (Senior Wildlife Officer at BFMS), Julie Teichroeb, Andrew MacIntosh, Constance Serwaa, and Moses Ampofo for assistance in the field. We thank 2 reviewers for their valuable contributions and Mary Pavelka, Scott McGraw, Robert Longair, and Warren Wilson, who provided helpful comments on an earlier version of the article. We thank Dr. T. Fung, Information Technologies, University of Calgary, for his assistance with statistical analyses. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, an Izaak Walton Killam Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the University of Calgary, the Calgary Institute for the Humanities, an ASP conservation grant, Primate Conservation Inc., and the Calgary Zoo Conservation Fund funded our research, which was approved by the Animal Care Certification Committee of the University of Calgary.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, McGill University, 855 Sherbrooke St., W. Montreal, QC, Canada, H3A 2T7

    T. L. Saj

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4

    T. L. Saj & P. Sicotte

Authors
  1. T. L. Saj
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. Sicotte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. L. Saj.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Saj, T.L., Sicotte, P. Scramble Competition Among Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema, Ghana. Int J Primatol 28, 337–355 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007-9125-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007-9125-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation