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Estimation of abundance and distribution of Japanese macaques using track counts in snow

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Abstract

We introduced a technique based on ground-based track counts in snow for simultaneously estimating the abundance and distribution of Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata (Blyth, 1875) and evaluated its efficiency by conducting a field trial in northern Japan. Within the 50-km2 area, we selected five transects with consideration of the spatial distribution of vegetation, local climate, and geographical conditions contained in the entire area. Five trained researchers recorded the track counts three times in those geolocations that intersected with each transect. We estimated the macaque abundance by the line-intercept sampling (LIS) technique using the number of tracks and predicted its distribution by ecological-niche factor analysis (ENFA) using the tracks as a proof of macaques’ presence. We confirmed that the LIS-based technique could yield reasonably accurate estimates of the number of individuals and troops, compared with the population estimates of macaques based on the home-range method. We successfully used ENFA in constructing a macaque distribution model that had a high predictive performance; this was verified by comparing the predicted macaque distribution with the actual use of habitat obtained by tracking radio-tagged troops in the study area.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Prof. Kunio Watanabe for valuable suggestions and comments. We are also grateful to several of our field-research assistants, particularly Issei Nakahara, Takafumi Kanno, and Hiromi Kamigaichi. We wish to thank Earthwatch Japan and Mitsui & Co. Ltd., for their cooperation in building our research team. We deeply appreciate the comments and suggestions by two anonymous referees. All research reported in this manuscript strictly adhered to current laws of Japan, and Guideline for Field Research of Non-human Primates (formulated by the Field Research Committee, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University). This research was supported by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS (Grant-in-aid for JSPS Fellows; 19–5374).

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  1. Hiroto Enari

    Present address: Satoyama Science Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Minemachi 350, Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, 321-8505, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Ecology and Conservation, Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, 484-8506, Japan

    Hiroto Enari

  2. The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, 020-8550, Japan

    Haruka Sakamaki

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  1. Hiroto Enari
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Correspondence to Hiroto Enari.

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Communicated by: Jan M. Wójcik

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Enari, H., Sakamaki, H. Estimation of abundance and distribution of Japanese macaques using track counts in snow. Acta Theriol 56, 255–265 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-011-0025-1

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