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Changes in Demographic Parameters of Macaca fuscata at Takasakiyama in Relation to Decrease of Provisioned Foods

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Abstract

Though researchers have studied population dynamics extensively in many free-ranging primate populations, information on the relationship between food abundance and demographic parameters based on long-term data is sparse. We examined changes in demographic parameters in relation to decreased provisioning of foods based on data gathered for >50 yr in a provisioned, free-ranging Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) population at Takasakiyama, Oita Prefecture, in the southern region of Japan. At Takasakiyama, population size increased linearly because of heavy provisioning in the 1950s and 1960s. The provisioning of food to macaques decreased from 1965. We examined changes in the physique index of full adult females, primiparous age, birth percentage, infant mortality rate, population density, and annual population growth rate relative to the decrease of provisioned foods between the 1970s and 1990s. As a result of the drastic decrease in the amount of foods provisioned, the physique index of full adult females decreased, primiparous age increased, birth percentage decreased, and infant mortality rate increased, such that annual population growth rate diminished substantially. Ours is the first study to demonstrate quantitatively the relationship between provisioned food abundance and demographic parameters based on long-term data.

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Acknowledgments

We conducted the long-term population census with the staff of the Takasakiyama Natural Zoo and many researchers. Mr. Takeshi Matsui permitted us use of the unpublished infant mortality data. Oita City cooperated in the long-term population census. Prof. Kunio Watanabe, Dr. Vanessa Hayes, Prof. Keiko Shimizu, Prof. Toshitaka Iwamoto, and anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on an earlier draft and Prof. Koichi Kaji directed us to valuable references.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cultural Property, Board of Education, Oita City, 2-31, Niage-machi, Oita, Oita, 870-8504, Japan

    Hiroyuki Kurita

  2. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kanrin, Inuyama City, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Yukimaru Sugiyama, Hideyuki Ohsawa & Yuzuru Hamada

  3. Sugiyama Jogakuen University, Nisshin City, Aichi, 470-0100, Japan

    Tsuyoshi Watanabe

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  1. Hiroyuki Kurita
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  2. Yukimaru Sugiyama
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  3. Hideyuki Ohsawa
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  4. Yuzuru Hamada
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  5. Tsuyoshi Watanabe
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Correspondence to Hiroyuki Kurita.

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Kurita, H., Sugiyama, Y., Ohsawa, H. et al. Changes in Demographic Parameters of Macaca fuscata at Takasakiyama in Relation to Decrease of Provisioned Foods. Int J Primatol 29, 1189–1202 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-008-9296-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-008-9296-z

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