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Predicting the Competitive Regime of Female Colobus vellerosus from the Distribution of Food Resources

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Abstract

We examined the spatial and temporal distribution of the foods of ursine colobus (Colobus vellerosus) at Boabeng-Fiema, Ghana as a means to predict the monopolizablity and usurpability of their food resources. Recent evidence suggests that food may not be limiting for folivorous primates, and that male sexual coercion may be a more important influence on folivore social organization. To address the question, we collected focal data on the feeding behavior of adult females and males over 11 mo (September 2000-August 2001) on 2 groups: WW (n = 31–33 individuals) and B (n = 8–16 individuals). We also conducted phenological monitoring and a tree survey of the two-group home ranges to establish food availability and distribution. We used 2 behavioral or organism-defined indicators of feeding behavior to assess potential resource contestability: food site residence time and distance moved between food sites. The colobus fed on a high diversity of species, most of their food trees were not clumped in distribution, within-tree interfood distances were short, and food trees were large. The only condition associated with the potential for monopolization was low food tree density. However, low food tree density may be offset by the colobus’ use of large trees. Taken together, the ecological and behavioral indicators suggest the food resources of Colobus vellerosus had a low potential for monopolization. Our results also indicate mature leaves had the longest food site residence time, which may suggest they should be the most usurpable plant part, though their presumed low quality and high abundance probably counteracted the effect. The pattern implied the potential for direct feeding competition among Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema was low and agonistic interactions over food are not expected. Instead, a group size effect on feeding efficiency should be a more predominant influence on feeding efficiency, if food is limiting for the species.

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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.

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

    T. L. Saj

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

    T. L. Saj & P. Sicotte

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Saj, T.L., Sicotte, P. Predicting the Competitive Regime of Female Colobus vellerosus from the Distribution of Food Resources. Int J Primatol 28, 315–336 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007-9124-x

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