Abstract
Woolly monkeys have been considered vulnerable to forest fragmentation. However, we found a population of woolly monkeys that has been living in a small forest remnant in Colombian Amazonia, raising questions about which factors determine the persistence or extinction of woolly monkeys in fragmented forests. The main purpose of this investigation was to describe the behavioral ecology of woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha) in a 136-ha forest fragment in Guaviare, Colombia. We recorded activity patterns, diet, and use of space for three monkey troops by instantaneous sampling on focal animals, and we quantified interindividual distance, between January and December 2008. This group of woolly monkeys spent on average 31.7 % of their time feeding, 32.4 % resting, 34.2 % moving, and 1.8 % in social interactions. Their main feeding items were fruits (57.2 %), followed by leaves (15.5 %), arthropods (15.8 %), seeds (5.2 %), flowers (5.1 %), and others (1.2 %). The three most used plant families for fruit consumption were Moraceae (23.4 %), Fabaceae (16.3 %), and Ulmaceae (8.3 %), and the most important species was Ampelocera edentula (Ulmaceae). We estimated an average daily travel distance of 2,339 m and a home range of 126 ha. We found a negative relationship between the degree of interindividual distance and group size. Most of the studied ecological parameters were within the reported ranges for woolly monkeys in undisturbed habitats. Thus, our evidence indicates that their persistence in fragments does not require drastic behavioral changes. We suggest that fragmentation represents a threat to woolly monkeys when (1) fragments are not productive enough to sustain the population and/or (2) when it leads to a higher hunting pressure on the population.
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Acknowledgments
This study was possible thanks to the collaboration during the fieldwork of Maria Carolina Santos-Heredia and Manuel Zabala. We thank the Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI, for their collaboration in the field phase of the project, especially to Dr. Mauricio Zubieta, and to Mr. Milton Oidor. We also thank Drs. Brent White, Daniel Cadena, Ellen Andresen, and Victor Arroyo-Rodríguez for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was funded by the Woolly Monkey Preservation Foundation, Primate Conservation Inc, and Universidad de Los Andes.
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Appendix 13.1
Appendix 13.1
Statistical comparisons of activity (a), and diet (b), between different age/sex classes in three groups of woolly monkeys inhabiting a fragment in Colombian Amazonia. The monthly variation in diet is also shown (c; adult male = AM; adult female = AF; adult female dependent infant = AFI)
L group | M group | S group | |
|---|---|---|---|
Activity budgets among age/sex classes (Z test for two proportions: ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis test) | |||
Feeding | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = 0.657; P = 0.453 | Z = 0.495; P = 0.582 | Z = − 0.207; P = 0.802 |
AM vs. AFI | Z = 2.689; P = 0.006* | Z = 0.385; P = 0.652 | Z = 0.129; P = 0.880 |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 2.085; P = 0.031* | Z = 0.892; P = 0.395 | Z = 0.369; P = 0.652 |
Resting | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = − 0.061; P = 0.960 | Z = 0.644; P = 0.515 | Z = 0.866; P = 0.342 |
AM vs. AFI | Z = 1.857; P = 0.062 | Z = − 0.178 P = 0.802 | Z = 0.173; P = 0.802 |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 1.86; P = 0.051 | Z = 0.46; P = 0.582 | Z = 0.424; P = 0.652 |
Moving | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = 0.657; P = 0.453 | Z = 0.579; P = 0.515 | Z = 0.489; P = 0.582 |
AM vs. AFI | Z = − 0.076; P = 0.960 | Z = − 0.429; P = 0.0.652 | Z = 0.138; P = 0.880 |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 0.514; P = 0.582 | Z = − 0.116; P = 0.880 | Z = 0.138; P = 0.880 |
I. Socials | F = 0.26; df = 2; P = 0.26 | F = 1.13; df = 2; P = 0.36 | X2 = 1.50; df = 2; P = 0.17 |
Diet composition between the age/sex classes (Z test for two proportions) | |||
Mature fruits | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = 0.416; P = 0.652 | Z = 0.396; P = 0.652 | Z = 0.730; P = 0.453 |
AM vs. AFI | Z = 1.32; P = 0.177 | Z = 0.261; P = 0.726 | Z = 0.591; P = 0.582 |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 1.759; P = 0.080 | Z = − 0.166; P = 0.802 | Z = − 0.139; P = 0.880 |
Seeds | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = 0.626; P = 0.515 | – | – |
AM vs. AFI | Z = 0.844; P = 0.359 | – | – |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 0.301; P = 0.726 | – | – |
Young leaves | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = 0.147; P = 0.880 | Z = − 0.339; P = 0.726 | Z = 0.148; P = 0.880 |
AM vs. AFI | Z = 1.112; P = 0.250 | Z = − 0.198; P = 0.802 | Z = 0.460; P = 0.582 |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 1.436; P = 0.147 | Z = − 0.259; P = 0.726 | Z = 0.075; P = 0.880 |
Arthropods | |||
AM vs. AF | Z = − 0.293; P = 0.802 | Z = 0.199; P = 0.802 | Z = − 0.187; P = 0.802 |
AM vs. AFI | Z = 0.185; P = 0.802 | Z = 0.075; P = 0.880 | Z = − 0.144; P = 0.880 |
AF vs. AFI | Z = 0.2; P = 0.802 | Z = − 0.262; P = 0.726 | Z = − 0.366; P = 0.652 |
Flowers | |||
MA vs. FA | Z = 0.207; P = 0.802 | – | Z = − 0.380; P = 0.652 |
MA vs. FAI | Z = 0.123; P = 0.0.880 | – | Z = − 0.545; P = 0.582 |
FA vs. FAI | Z = − 0.382; P = 0.726 | – | Z = − 0.435; P = 0.652 |
Temporal variation in diet composition (ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis test) | |||
Mature fruits | F = 4.678; df = 11; P = 0.001* | F = 2.778; df = 3; P = 0.075 | F = 4.351; df = 7; P = 0.002* |
Seeds | F = 4.703; df = 11; P > 0.001* | – | X2 = 11.865; df = 7; P = 0.105 |
Young leaves | F = 2.351; df = 11; P = 0.021* | F = 1.232; df = 3; P = 0.331 | F = 1.679; df = 7; P = 0.150 |
Arthropods | F = 3.418; df = 11; P = 0.001* | F = 1.039; df = 3; P = 0.402 | F = 0.580; df = 7; P = 0.767 |
Flowers | F = 4.309; df = 11; P > 0.001* | – | F = 2.956; df = 7; P = 0.017* |
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Zárate, D., Stevenson, P. (2014). Behavioral Ecology and Interindividual Distance of Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha) in a Rainforest Fragment in Colombia. In: Defler, T., Stevenson, P. (eds) The Woolly Monkey. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects, vol 39. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0697-0_13
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