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Seasonal Differences in Activity Patterns of Geoffroyi´s Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) Living in Continuous and Fragmented Forests in Southern Mexico

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Abstract

Understanding how primates adjust their behavior in response to seasonality in both continuous and fragmented forests is a fundamental challenge for primatologists and conservation biologists. During a 15-mo period, we studied the activity patterns of 6 communities of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) living in continuous and fragmented forests in the Lacandona rain forest, Mexico. We tested the effects of forest type (continuous and fragmented), season (dry and rainy), and their interaction on spider monkey activity patterns. Overall, monkeys spent more time feeding and less time traveling in fragments than in continuous forest. A more leafy diet and the spatial limitations in fragments likely explain these results. Time spent feeding was greater in the rainy than in the dry season, whereas time spent resting followed the opposite pattern. The increase in percent leaves consumed, and higher temperatures during the dry season, may contribute to the observed increase in resting time because monkeys probably need to reduce energy expenditure. Forest type and seasonality did not interact with activity patterns, indicating that the effect of seasonality on activities was similar across all sites. Our findings confirm that spider monkeys are able to adjust their activity patterns to deal with food scarcity in forest fragments and during the dry season. However, further studies are necessary to assess if these shifts are adequate to ensure their health, fitness, and long-term persistence in fragmented habitats.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT grants CB2005-C01-51043 and CB2006-56799). Ó. M. Chaves obtained a scholarship from the Dirección General de Estudios de Posgrado, UNAM, as part of the Programa de Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas and from Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) of Mexico. A postdoctoral fellowship awarded to V. Arroyo-Rodríguez by the Consejo Técnico de la Investigación Científica (UNAM) is gratefully acknowledged. The Instituto para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible, Costa Rica (INCODESO) provided logistical support. This study would not have been possible without the collaboration of the local people in Loma Bonita, Chajul, Reforma Agraria, and Zamora Pico de Oro Ejidos. We thank C. Hauglustaine, C. Balderas, K. Amato, S. Martínez, J. Herrera, and R. Lombera for field assistance. A. Estrada and J. Benítez-Malvido made useful suggestions during the design of this research. J. M. Lobato, G. Sánchez, H. Ferreira, and A. Palencia provided technical support. We also thank J. Rothman, J. Setchell, and 2 anonymous reviewers for valuable criticisms and suggestions that improved the manuscript.

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  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 58190, Morelia, Michocán, Mexico

    Óscar M. Chaves, Kathryn E. Stoner & Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez

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  1. Óscar M. Chaves
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  2. Kathryn E. Stoner
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Correspondence to Óscar M. Chaves.

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Table SI

Importance value index (IVI) of the top food species for spider monkeys in the three study forest fragments within the Marqués de Comillas region, Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico (DOC 55.0 kb)

Table SII

Values of the general linear model either excluding or including the larger fragment inhabited by the spider monkeys in Lacandona, Southern Mexico (DOC 36.5 kb)

Fig. S1

Percent of focal observations discarded in each forest type according to the activity pattern. The number of discarded observations is indicated above the bars (DOC 27.5 kb)

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Chaves, Ó.M., Stoner, K.E. & Arroyo-Rodríguez, V. Seasonal Differences in Activity Patterns of Geoffroyi´s Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) Living in Continuous and Fragmented Forests in Southern Mexico. Int J Primatol 32, 960–973 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9515-x

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