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Tracking Neotropical Monkeys in Santa Rosa: Lessons from a Regenerating Costa Rican Dry Forest

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Long-Term Field Studies of Primates

Abstract

The Santa Rosa primate project began in 1983 and we have studied the behavioral ecology of the resident primate species (Cebus capucinus, Alouatta palliata and Ateles geoffroyi) continuously since then. Most of our research has concentrated on the behavior, ecology, and life history of multiple groups of capuchins and on documenting the effects of forest protection and regeneration on the howler and capuchin populations. Our examination of capuchin life histories has shown that they lead complex and intriguing lives, many aspects of which are affected by the frequent movement of adult males between social groups throughout the course of their lives. Over the past 28 years, we have documented increases in both the capuchin and howler populations. However, the howler population apparently reached carrying capacity in 1999, whereas the capuchin population continues to grow, probably because of their ability to occupy early-regeneration habitats. Our long-term examination of the population structure and life history of these two species clearly demonstrate that many species-specific aspects of biology and behavioral ecology differentially influence patterns of primate population recovery. It is only after decades of research that we can begin to understand the underlying constraints and variability in the lives of these animals.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Costa Rican National Park Service for permission to work in SRNP from 1983 to 1989 and the administrators of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (especially Roger Blanco Segura) for allowing us to continue research in the park through the present day. Many people contributed to the census and life history database on the Santa Rosa monkeys and we are grateful to all of them. John Addicott developed the database and helped with the figures. Greg Bridgett maintains the database and helped with editorial matters. Research protocols reported in this paper complied with all institutional and government regulations regarding ethical treatment of our study subjects. L.M. Fedigan’s research is supported by NSERC and the Canada Research Chairs Program. K.M. Jack’s research is supported by grants from Tulane Unversity’s Research Enhancement Fund and Committee on Research. We also thank the Zemurray Foundation for support of our project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Linda M. Fedigan

  2. Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Katharine M. Jack

Authors
  1. Linda M. Fedigan
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Correspondence to Linda M. Fedigan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept. of Behavioral Ecology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Peter M. Kappeler

  2. Dept. Anthropology, Yale University, Sachem Street 10, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    David P. Watts

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Fedigan, L.M., Jack, K.M. (2012). Tracking Neotropical Monkeys in Santa Rosa: Lessons from a Regenerating Costa Rican Dry Forest. In: Kappeler, P., Watts, D. (eds) Long-Term Field Studies of Primates. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22514-7_8

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