Activity Patterns of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachyteles arachnoides</Emphasis> in the Largest Remaining Fragment of Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Time is an important currency for primate energetics, reproduction, and survival. Here, we describe the activity budgets of a group of southern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) inhabiting the largest continuous fragment of Brazilian Atlantic Forest (210,000 ha) in Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho (24°44´–15´S, 47´46–10 W), in the southern region of São Paulo State. We collected instantaneous scan sampling data to assess monthly, seasonal, and between-year differences in time allocation for the different activities for 2 complete, nonconsecutive years—1995 and 2002—and compare these with measures of food availability. Over the 2 yr, the group rested on average for 48%, fed for 28%, traveled for 22.5%, and socialized for 1.5% of daylight hours. On a monthly basis, resting correlated negatively with traveling in 1995, and strongly negatively correlated with feeding for both years. Feeding correlated negatively with traveling in 2002, with significantly more time spent traveling during periods of higher young leaf availability. Season was a major influence on activity: the group rested more during the hotter, rainy austral summer season, whereas feeding occurred more frequently in the cooler, drier winter season. We found no consistent associations between food availability and the time that southern muriquis spent in most activities. We suggest that these southern muriquis, like many other large-bodied and atelin primates, minimize energy expenditure while maximizing energy intake, which may be associated with their ability to be folivorous when their preferred fruit foods are less available. They thus adopt a flexible energetic strategy for coping with variable climatic conditions rather than being constrained by food availability.     

Fruit diet of Alouatta guariba and Brachyteles arachnoides in Southeastern Brazil: comparison of fruit type, color, and seed size

Fruit is an important food resource for neotropical primates. In this study I compare the fruit diet of sympatric brown howlers (Alouatta guariba) and southern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides). Feeding behavior was studied over 12 months and fruit species consumed were identified and assigned to the categories fruit type, fruit color, and seed size. Observed-fruit feeding records were compared with expected records determined from local availability of the fruit of the tree species. I also determined dietary overlap. Fruit consumption occupied 8 and 12% of the feeding time of A. guariba and B. arachnoides, respectively. Fruit from eight tree species were consumed by the former and fruit from twenty-two species by the latter. Patterns of fruit selection of A. guariba and B. arachnoides varied widely. Although howlers and muriquis converge behaviorally by selecting fruit with common attributes (fleshy/unprotected, violet and brown/black-colored), unlike A. guariba, B. arachnoides fed on immature seeds of fleshy/protected and dry fruit. Large seeds were ingested, and defecated intact, by B. arachnoides only. There was little overlap of fruit diet even within categories that had been selected by both, suggesting that dietary divergence is occurring at the interspecific level. Different resource exploitation probably mediates the coexistence of A. guariba and B. arachnoides in low diversity, semideciduous forests, where the environment imposes narrow limits on primate food choices.     

Diet of a muriqui group (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachyteles arachnoides</Emphasis>) in continuous primary forest

The feeding behaviour of a group of free-ranging muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) was monitored in the 380 km² Carlos Botelho State Park (PECB), between February 1992 and November 1993. Scan sample data indicated that 59.1% of feeding time was devoted to fruit, 33.2% to leaves, 4.1% to flowers, and 3.6% to other items (twigs, stem and bark). Little seasonal variation was recorded. These results contrast with those of all previous studies of Brachyteles, in which the consumption of leaves was generally double that of fruit. One key difference in comparison with previous studies is that the PECB is part of the largest remaining continuous area of primary Atlantic forest, in the Serra do Mar coastal range. Such intraspecific differences in ecology may have important implications for the conservation of the species.     

Feeding and Resting Postures of Wild Northern Muriquis (Brachyteles hypoxanthus)

Increased body size in Brachyteles has been regarded as an important evolutionary adaptation that allowed a greater reliance on leaves compared to other more frugivorous Atelidae, but its association with muriqui positional behavior and substrate use is still unknown. Here, we present original data on the feeding and resting postures of the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) and evaluate predictions about the relationships between body size, postural behavior, and substrate use derived from previously published data for other atelids (e.g. Alouatta, Ateles, and Lagothrix). The study was undertaken from August 2002 to July 2003 on a large group of well‐habituated muriquis inhabiting the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural – Felíciano Miguel Abdala in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Consistent with our predictions, we found that B. hypoxanthus was highly suspensory during postural feeding (60.9%) and commonly used tail–hind limb suspension/horizontal tripod (38.0%) or tail–forelimb/hind limb suspension (21.4%). However, although tail‐suspensory postures permitted the muriquis to use the terminal canopy and small‐sized substrates, these areas were also accessed via tail‐assisted above‐branch postural behaviors involving multiple substrates. Unexpectedly, tail‐suspensory postures were found to be frequently associated with large substrates, tree trunks, and the understory. We suggest that Brachyteles’ ability to access food resources from all areas of a feeding tree and from tree crowns at different canopy levels may account for their ability to efficiently exploit food resources in seasonal disturbed forest fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest today. Am. J. Primatol. 75:74‐87, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Diet of Grauer's Gorillas in the Montane Forest of Kahuzi,Democratic Republic of Congo

We describe the diet of a semihabituated group of Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) inhabiting the montane forest of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, based on direct observations, feeding remains in their fresh trails, and fecal samples collected over 9 yr. We examined fruit availability in their habitat; consumption of fruit, vegetative, and animal food; and daily intake of vegetative plant food using a transect, fruit monitoring trails, fecal analysis, and tracing of the animal's daily trails between consecutive nest sites. The fruit food repertoire of Kahuzi gorillas resembles that of western and eastern lowland gorillas inhabiting lowland tropical forests, while their vegetative food repertoire resembles that of mountain gorillas inhabiting montane forests. Among 236 plant foods (116 species), leaves, pith, and barks constitute the major parts (70.2%), with fruit making up the minor part (19.7%). About half (53.2%) of the total fecal samples included fruit remains. The gorillas used leaves, stems and other vegetative plant parts as staples. Their fruit intake was similar to that reported for mountain gorillas in Bwindi. They ate animal foods, including earthworms, on rare occasions. Variation in fruit consumption was positively associated with variation in fruit production. The gorillas ate fig fruits frequently; fig intake is positively correlated with that of other fruits, and figs were not fallback foods. They relied heavily on bamboo shoots on a seasonal basis; however, no bamboo shoots were available for several years after a major flowering event. Our results support the argument that variation in gorilla diets mostly reflects variation in vegetational composition of their habitats.     

Feeding Strategies of Brown Howler Monkeys in Response to Variations in Food Availability

Primates display varying degrees of behavioral flexibility that allow them to adjust their diet to temporal changes in food availability. This trait might be critical for the survival of folivorous-frugivorous species inhabiting small forest fragments, where the availability of food resources tends to be lower than in large fragments and continuous forests. However, the scarcity of studies addressing this issue hampers our understanding of the adaptive behaviors that favor the survival of these primates in low-quality habitats. We conducted a 36-mo study testing the hypothesis that brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) are able to adjust their diet in response to local and seasonal changes in resource availability. We compared the diet of six free-ranging groups inhabiting three small (<10 ha) and three large (>90 ha) Atlantic forest fragments in southern Brazil and estimated the temporal availability of their top food species (i.e., those species that together contribute ≥80% of total feeding records). We found that brown howlers exploited similarly rich diets in small (45, 54, and 57 plant species) and large (48, 51, and 56 species) fragments. However, intermonth diet similarity was higher for groups in small fragments, where howlers also fed on plant items from nine alien species. Fruits and leaves were the most consumed plant items in both small (42% and 49% of feeding records, respectively) and large (51% and 41%, respectively) fragments. The consumption of young leaves was higher in small than in large fragments, whereas the consumption of other plant items did not show a pattern related to fragment size. Regarding the contribution of growth forms as food sources, only the exploitation of palms showed a pattern related to fragment size. Palms contributed more to the diet of groups inhabiting large fragments. The availability of seasonal food items–ripe fruits and young leaves–influenced their consumption in both habitat types. Therefore, brown howlers cope with local and seasonal fluctuations in food availability by opportunistically exploiting resources. We believe that this feeding flexibility is a key component of the phenotypic plasticity that enables howlers to thrive in disturbed habitat patches, where periods of scarcity of preferred foods shall be more common.     

Fission–Fusion Dynamics in Southern Muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) in Continuous Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Fission–fusion social dynamics, the spatiotemporal variance in subunit size, composition, and cohesion, are the subject of considerable interest owing to their complex nature and widespread appearance in the primate order. We here aim to describe the nature of fission–fusion dynamics in a population of egalitarian southern muriquis inhabiting a relatively undisturbed extension of mildly seasonal Brazilian Atlantic forest to provide insights into the functions of fission–fusion dynamics and to examine the constraints on and opportunities for associations among individuals. We collected instantaneous scan samples and ad libitum data over a total of 13 mo in 2 yr (1599 observation hours) on subunit size at 2 spatiotemporal scales (party and nomadic party), party composition, spatial cohesion, and the behavioral context of fission–fusion events. These southern muriquis exhibited high levels of fission–fusion with significant variation in party size, cohesion, and composition. The group was weakly cohesive with a small mean party size (3.74 adults, 5.32 all individuals) and nomadic party size (13.73 adults, 19.38 all individuals). Mixed parties were the most frequently observed party type, although the high frequency of all-male parties suggests strong relationships based on philopatry and a mating strategy under scramble competition. We compare fission–fusion dynamics across populations of Brachyteles and highlight the striking continuum of these dynamics in the genus. We make interspecific comparisons with Ateles and Pan, with well documented high levels of fission–fusion, and demonstrate interspecific variation and convergence in grouping patterns.     

喀斯特石山生境中熊猴的雨季食物组成

开展食物组成研究为人们了解灵长类对栖息地的反应提供了很好的途径,对深刻理解动物的行为可塑性及适应性具有重要意义。猕猴属(Macaca)为果食性灵长类,但是不同种类的食性差异很大;即使便同一物种,其不同地理种群也因其栖息环境不同,食物组成存在差异。一般说来,热带地区的种类比生活在较高纬度的种类采食更多的果实。于2012年7—9月,采用瞬时扫描法对广西弄岗自然保护区石山中的两群熊猴(Macaca assamensis)进行了跟踪和观察,对猴群的雨季食物组成及其日时段变化规律进行了研究。结果表明:研究期间熊猴共采食45种植物,其中乔木30种,灌木3种,藤本11种,草本1种。平均每月采食植物22.3种。嫩叶和果实是熊猴的主要食物,分别占食物组成的52.4%和46.1%(其中未成熟果实占21.3%,成熟果实占24.8%)。另外,花占食物组成的0.9%,成熟叶和其它部位分别占0.3%。石山特有植物芸香竹(Bonia saxatilis)的嫩叶提供了43.8%的食物。9种主要植物分别占食物组成的2%,共为猴群提供了85.5%的食物。分析还发现熊猴并不是严格按照环境中的植物生物量来选择食物。嫩叶在弄岗熊猴的食物中的比例高于其他地理种群,而果实低于其他地理种群,这可能与喀斯特石山中果实的丰富度和可利用性较低有关。熊猴一天中不同时间段的食物组成并不相同,主要表现在:熊猴上午时间段对成熟果实和总果实的采食比例高于下午时间段,而嫩叶的采食比例低于下午时间段。另外,不同时间段的食物组成受外界温度的影响,表现为温度与嫩叶的觅食比例成正比,与成熟果实和总果实的觅食比例成反比。这可能与猴群采取的能量平衡策略有关。对熊猴的食物组成的日时段变化规律进行首次报道,研究结果将有助于深入理解熊猴对喀斯特石山生境的适应策略。     

Phylogeographic evidence for two species of muriqui (genus Brachyteles)

The taxonomy of muriquis, the largest extant primates in the New World, is controversial. While some specialists argue for a monotypic genus (Brachyteles arachnoides), others favor a two‐species classification, splitting northern muriquis (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) from southern muriquis (B. arachnoides). This uncertainty affects how we study the differences between these highly endangered and charismatic primates, as well as the design of more effective conservation programs. To address this issue, between 2003 and 2017 we collected over 230 muriqui fecal samples across the genus’ distribution in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, extracted DNA from these samples, and sequenced 423 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region. Phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses of our sequence dataset robustly support two reciprocally monophyletic groups corresponding to northern and southern muriquis separated by an average 12.7% genetic distance. The phylogeographic break between these lineages seems to be associated with the Paraíba do Sul River and coincides with the transition between the north and south Atlantic Forest biogeographic zones. Published divergence estimates from whole mitochondrial genomes and nuclear loci date the split between northern and southern muriquis to the Early Pleistocene (ca. 2.0 mya), and our new mtDNA dataset places the coalescence time for each of these two clades near the last interglacial (ca. 120–80 kya). Our results, together with both phenotypic and ecological differences, support recognizing northern and southern muriquis as sister species that should be managed as distinct evolutionarily significant units. Given that only a few thousand muriquis remain in nature, it is imperative that conservation strategies are tailored to protect both species from extinction.     

Population Variation in Patch and Party Size in Muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides)

We examined the relationship between food patch size and feeding party size with comparative data from two populations of muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) in the 37,797-ha forest at the Parque Estadual de Carlos Botelho (PECB), São Paulo, and the 800-ha forest at the Estação Biológica de Caratinga (EBC), Minas Gerais. Precipitation was more abundant and less seasonal at PECB than EBC, and the density of large trees (>25.0 cm) was higher at PECB (206 ha ^–1 ) than at EBC (132 ha ^–1 ). At both sites, the size of feeding parties is positively related to the size of food patches. As predicted, food patches at PECB are significantly larger than those at EBC for both fruit and leaf sources. Contrary to expectations, feeding parties were larger at EBC than PECB. The higher population density of muriquis and sympatric primates at EBC may make large associations more advantageous to these muriquis than to muriquis living at lower population densities in PECB.     

Intra‐community coalitionary lethal attack of an adult male southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides)

We report on the first evidence of intra‐community coalitionary lethal aggression in muriquis (Brachyteles). The event occurred in southern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) during a long‐term study (>15 years) of two social groups inhabiting mostly pristine Atlantic forest habitat in the Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho, southern São Paulo State, Brazil. The attack took place deep in the core area of the Group Caetê home range. Tense agonistic behaviors and vocalizations preceded the lethal coalitionary attack, and the tension increased over a 36–48 hr period. One adult female and two unidentified individuals also took part in a coalition led by six adult males. The members of the coalition collectively approached, embraced, immobilized and repeatedly bit the entire body of an adult male, resulting in severe bleeding injuries and the victim's death in less than 1 hr after the attack commenced. Combined ecological, behavioral and spatial data related to the event indicate that this was an intra‐community attack and suggest social tensions related to mating competition as the proximate trigger of the coalitionary killing. The attack resembled those reported for chimpanzees, with clear numeric superiority and a low risk of injury to aggressors, resulting in the death of a lone conspecific victim. This observation (n=1) is suggestive of a capacity for escalated aggression in muriquis and reinforces arguments for the potential adaptive significance of intra‐community aggression in male philopatric societies, as reported for spider monkeys and chimpanzees. These characteristics challenge the view of the muriquis as a peaceful primate and support the general hypothesis that imbalances of power contribute to intra‐specific killing in primates, such as chimpanzees and humans. Am. J. Primatol. 71:860–867, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Diet and activity in black howler monkeys (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alouatta pigra</Emphasis>) in southern Belize: does degree of frugivory influence activity level?

This study reports on the diet and activity budgets of Central American black howling monkeys (Alouatta pigra) at Monkey River, Belize. This is a previously unstudied population, close to the southern boundary of the species range, and it provides comparative data on A. pigra from a new study site. Both diet and activity are within the ranges reported for other A.pigra sites and for mantled howlers (A. palliata). No age-sex differences could be discerned in either diet or activity, though monthly variation was apparent. The monkeys switch from consuming leaves 86% of the time in January to March to consuming 67% fruit in April to July. This difference was statistically significant, and provided the opportunity to compare activity levels of the monkeys over two dietary periods, one characterized primarily by folivory, the other by frugivory. Howlers are often seen as a relatively inactive species, something that is associated with a low quality, folivorous diet. However, A. pigra have been described as being as frugivorous as possible and as folivorous as necessary. Yet, despite the opportunistic consumption of large quantities of high-energy foods, A. pigra has been observed as conforming to the howler lifestyle, resting as much as 80% of the day. The data in this paper support both of these reports. Black howlers at Monkey River Belize are typically inactive, maintaining high levels of inactivity even during months characterized by frugivory, suggesting that diet is more flexible and varied than is behavior and calling into question the assumption that howler inactivity is due to the digestion of large quantities of leaves.     

Functional Redundancy and Complementarities of Seed Dispersal by the Last Neotropical Megafrugivores

Background

Functional redundancy has been debated largely in ecology and conservation, yet we lack detailed empirical studies on the roles of functionally similar species in ecosystem function. Large bodied frugivores may disperse similar plant species and have strong impact on plant recruitment in tropical forests. The two largest frugivores in the neotropics, tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) and muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) are potential candidates for functional redundancy on seed dispersal effectiveness. Here we provide a comparison of the quantitative, qualitative and spatial effects on seed dispersal by these megafrugivores in a continuous Brazilian Atlantic forest.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We found a low overlap of plant species dispersed by both muriquis and tapirs. A group of 35 muriquis occupied an area of 850 ha and dispersed 5 times more plant species, and 13 times more seeds than 22 tapirs living in the same area. Muriquis dispersed 2.4 times more seeds in any random position than tapirs. This can be explained mainly because seed deposition by muriquis leaves less empty space than tapirs. However, tapirs are able to disperse larger seeds than muriquis and move them into sites not reached by primates, such as large forest gaps, open areas and fragments nearby. Based on published information we found 302 plant species that are dispersed by at least one of these megafrugivores in the Brazilian Atlantic forest.

Conclusions/Significance

Our study showed that both megafrugivores play complementary rather than redundant roles as seed dispersers. Although tapirs disperse fewer seeds and species than muriquis, they disperse larger-seeded species and in places not used by primates. The selective extinction of these megafrugivores will change the spatial seed rain they generate and may have negative effects on the recruitment of several plant species, particularly those with large seeds that have muriquis and tapirs as the last living seed dispersers.     

Nutrient contents predict the bamboo‐leaf‐based diet of Assamese macaques living in limestone forests of southwest Guangxi,China

Determining the nutrient factors influencing food choice provides important insight into the feeding strategy of animals, which is crucial for understanding their behavioral response to environmental changes. A bamboo‐leaf‐based diet is rare among mammals. Animals’ food choice and nutritional goals have been explained by several frameworks; however, the influence of nutrients on food choice in bamboo‐leaf‐based macaques is not yet available. Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis) inhabiting limestone forests are characterized by such a bamboo‐leaf‐based diet, predominantly consuming young leaves of Bonia saxatilis, a shrubby, karst‐endemic bamboo. We studied the feeding behavior of one group of Assamese macaques using instantaneous scan sampling in limestone forests of the Guangxi Nonggang National Nature Reserve in southwest Guangxi, China. We compared the nutrient content of staple food and nonfood items and examine the role of key nutrients in the food selection of macaques. Our results showed that young leaves of bamboo B. saxatilis contained more water, crude protein, phosphorus, and less tannin than nonfood items. Furthermore, staple foods contained a higher content of water and less content of calcium than nonfood items. More specifically, quantities of water, crude protein, calcium, and phosphorus in food items were critical factors affecting feeding time on a specific plant item. Our results suggest that young bamboo leaves could meet macaques’ required protein and water intake, while enabling them to maintain their mineral balance, consequently facilitating to maintain the primates’ bamboo‐leaf‐diet in the limestone forest. Our findings confirm the effects of nutrient contents in food choice of Assamese macaques, highlighting the importance of the nutrient contents in maintaining their bamboo‐based diet and the need to increase the knowledge on their nutritional strategy adapted to the bamboo‐dominated diet inhabiting the unique limestone habitat.     

Timing of births in sympatric brown howler monkeys (Alouatta fusca clamitans) and northern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides hypoxanthus).

We monitored the birth patterns of sympatric brown howler monkeys (Alouatta fusca clamitans) and northern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides hypoxanthus) during a 4‐yr period from October 1996 to August 2000 at the Estação Biológica de Caratinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Brown howler monkey births (n = 34) occurred throughout the year, and birth frequencies did not differ between rainy and dry season months. The aseasonal birth patterns of the howler monkeys differed significantly from the dry season concentration and dry month peak in muriqui births (n = 23). We found no effects of infant sex or the number of females on interbirth intervals (IBIs) in our 10 howler monkey study troops. IBIs of brown howler monkeys averaged 21.2 ± 2.5 mo (n = 8, median = 21.0 mo), and were significantly shorter following dry season births than rainy season births. Their IBIs and yearling survivorship (74%) were similar to those reported for other species of howler monkeys, but yearling survivorship was much lower than that of muriquis (94%), whose IBIs were more than 12 mo longer than those of the howler monkeys. Our study extends comparative knowledge of birth patterns in Alouatta to a poorly known species, and provides insights into the different ways in which diet and life history may affect the timing of births in large‐bodied platyrrhines under the same seasonal ecological conditions. Am. J. Primatol. 55:87–100, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Diet in one group of woolly spider monkeys,or muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides)

Data on feeding behavior in one group of muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) were collected during a 14 month study at Fazenda Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Muriquis devoted an average of 51% of their annual feeding time to leaves, 32% to fruits, and 11% to flowers. The high proportion of leaves in their diet is consistent with predictions from the energetics of body size. However, they devoted a greater proportion of their feeding time to patchy fruit and flower resources than was expected from comparisons with smaller, sympatric howler monkeys. Muriqui diet varied with the availability of preferred food types across sample months. Fruit and flower consumption corresponded to the availability and abundance of these food resources in the forest. Leaves contributed substantially to muriqui diet throughout the year but appeared to be eaten primarily to provide necessary protein and/or necessary bulk. Male and female diets differed only in the greater proportion of feeding time females devoted to flowers.     

Supplemented howler monkeys eat less wild fruits,but do not change their activity budgets

Research on the influence of food supplementation on primate behavior has focused on terrestrial and semiterrestrial species. Its effects on highly arboreal species are poorly known. We assessed the influence of food supplementation on the feeding behavior and activity budget of four adult female and two adult male brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) belonging to two groups (JA and RO) that inhabited periurban forest fragments in southern Brazil. We used the “focal‐animal” method during 6–8 full days per month from March to August 2017 (916 h of observation) to record the behavior of the study subjects. The feeding events of the focal individual were recorded using the “all occurrences” method. The supplementation was unevenly distributed during the day and accounted for 5–6% of all feeding events of male and female howlers, respectively. JA always received fruit in a platform, whereas RO had access to fruits and processed foods on roofs and directly from humans. The mean biomass of wild foods ingested by each adult per day was >300% higher than the ingested biomass of supplemented foods (females: 395 vs. 109 g/day; males: 377 vs. 120 g/day), but the ingestion rate of supplemented foods was ca. 400% higher than that of wild foods (females: 17 vs. 4 g/min; males: 19 vs. 5 g/min). The activity budgets of females and males were dominated by resting (66–72%) followed by feeding (18–14%), moving (12–11%), and socializing (2%). We found that food supplementation reduced the ingestion of wild fruits, but it did not affect the howlers’ need to ingest a given amount of leaves per day and the time spent resting, feeding, moving, and socializing.     

Food habits of sika deer on the Boso Peninsula,central japan

The rumen contents of sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) on the Boso Peninsula, central Japan, were analyzed to identify local, sexual and age-specific differences in food habits. Graminoids and woody plants were the primary foods throughout the year. In winter, the use of evergreen broad leaves increased. The food habits of sika deer on Boso Peninsula were intermediate between those of populations inhabiting northern and southern Japan. Acorns, mainlyLithocarpus edulis Nakai, were consumed in fall and winter with a peak in October. Since the availability of acorns is not influenced by foraging in previous years, it can be regarded as a stable food supply and hence may be important for deer on the Boso Peninsula. The local difference between the Amatsukominato (AT) area, having a large plantation ofLithocarpus producing acrons, and the Kamogawa-Katsuura (KK) area, having a small plantation ofLithocarpus, was recognized; seeds and fruit were consumed more in AT than in KK in fall and winter. Males consumed more seeds and fruit than females at both sites in fall. This can be attributed to sexual differences in nutritional requirement.     

Crop Feeding by Brown Howlers (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alouatta guariba clamitans</Emphasis>) in Forest Fragments: The Conservation Value of Cultivated Species

Primates inhabiting human-modified habitats often complement their diets with cultivated species. Although this flexible foraging behavior reduces feeding stress in animals inhabiting small or low-quality habitats, its potential economic costs may promote negative human–nonhuman primate interactions. It is critical to assess the importance of cultivated species to primate diets, the factors influencing their exploitation, and their associated economic costs to evaluate the conservation value of cultivated species and the impact of crop feeding on human–nonhuman primate coexistence. Based on a 30-months study of three groups of brown howlers (Alouatta guariba clamitans) inhabiting <10-ha forest fragments in Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil, and semistructured interviews with landowners, we assessed 1) the cultivated species used as food sources, 2) the relationship between food availability and crop feeding, and 3) the potential economic costs of crop feeding and their impact on landowner–howler coexistence. Brown howlers exploited six cultivated species as fruit or seed sources. This exploitation was concentrated on ripe fruit of Psidium guajava, Citrus reticulata, Diospyros kaki, and Eriobotrya japonica, which together accounted for up to 32% of total feeding records during some months. Availability predicted fruit consumption for three of these species. The overall availability of cultivated fruit also predicted its consumption, whereas overall wild fruit availability did not. Despite potential economic costs of crop feeding (US$320–US$1141 per year), landowners reported no conflict with howlers arising from their behavior, an amicable response that supports the conservation value of cultivated plants in different landscape elements of the anthropogenic matrix.