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Food selection in relation to nutritional chemistry of Cao Vit gibbons in Jingxi, China

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Abstract

The Cao Vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus) has only one population with about 110 individuals living in a degraded karst forest along the China–Vietnam border. Investigation of food choice in relation to chemical nutrition will offer important insights into its conservation. We studied the food choice of two groups of Cao Vit gibbons using instantaneous scan sampling in Bangliang National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China, over 4 years, and analyzed the chemical components (total nitrogen, TN; water-soluble sugar, WSS; crude fat, CF; neutral detergent fiber, NDF; acid detergent fiber, ADF; acid detergent lignin, ADL; condensed tannin, CT; and ash) of 48 food plant parts and 22 non-food plant parts. Fruits and figs that are rich in sugar are important food resources for gibbons. For other food types, flowers are a good source of total nitrogen and carbohydrates, and leaves and buds provide sources of protein and minerals. Cao Vit gibbons selected fruits that contain less total nitrogen, less acid detergent fiber and more water-soluble sugar than non-food fruits. Several food species that were heavily consumed by Cao Vit gibbons are suggested as potential tree species for ongoing habitat restoration.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the People, Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (#30900169), and National Young Top-notch Talent Program of China. Idea Wild provided equipment for this research. We thank the Administrative Bureau of Bangliang National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China, for giving us permission to conduct the study. We appreciate the assistance of Mr. Huang Tao, Zhang Wen, Fei Hanlan, Li Bao and Wei Shaogan, who helped us to collect feeding data. Thanks are also given to Dr. Huang Bei from Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, for critical support. We also thank the field assistants, Mr. Huang Tianzhu and Liang Yaojie. The original manuscript has been significantly improved with Dr. Michelle Wong and Dr. Jessica Bryant’s editing and comments. The study was conducted in Bangliang Nature Reserve, Jingxi County, Guangxi Autonomous Region, China. All research reported in this manuscript has met the appropriate national and institutional guidelines for legal acquisition and was permitted by the Guangxi Provincial Wildlife Protection Office and the Bangliang Nature Reserve Administration Bureau. All research reported in this manuscript adhered to the legal requirements of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, 671003, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China

    Changyong Ma & Pengfei Fan

  2. Jingxi Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Nanning, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China

    Jiancun Liao

  3. School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, People’s Republic of China

    Pengfei Fan

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  1. Changyong Ma
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  2. Jiancun Liao
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  3. Pengfei Fan
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Correspondence to Pengfei Fan.

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Ma, C., Liao, J. & Fan, P. Food selection in relation to nutritional chemistry of Cao Vit gibbons in Jingxi, China. Primates 58, 63–74 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-016-0577-4

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