Influence of climatic variables, forest type, and condition on activity patterns of Geoffroyi's spider monkeys throughout Mesoamerica.
Am J Primatol
; 73(12): 1189-98, 2011 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21898512
Understanding how species cope with variations in climatic conditions, forest types and habitat amount is a fundamental challenge for ecologists and conservation biologists. We used data from 18 communities of Mesoamerican spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) throughout their range to determine whether their activity patterns are affected by climatic variables (temperature and rainfall), forest types (seasonal and nonseasonal forests), and forest condition (continuous and fragmented). Data were derived from 15 published and unpublished studies carried out in four countries (Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama), cumulatively representing more than 18 years (221 months, >3,645 hr) of behavioral observations. Overall, A. geoffroyi spent most of their time feeding (38.4 ± 14.0%, mean ± SD) and resting (36.6 ± 12.8%) and less time traveling (19.8 ± 11.3%). Resting and feeding were mainly affected by rainfall: resting time increased with decreasing rainfall, whereas feeding time increased with rainfall. Traveling time was negatively related to both rainfall and maximum temperature. In addition, both resting and traveling time were higher in seasonal forests (tropical dry forest and tropical moist forest) than in nonseasonal forests (tropical wet forest), but feeding time followed the opposite pattern. Furthermore, spider monkeys spent more time feeding and less time resting (i.e., higher feeding effort) in forest fragments than in continuous forest. These findings suggest that global climate changes and habitat deforestation and fragmentation in Mesoamerica will threaten the survival of spider monkeys and reduce the distributional range of the species in the coming decades.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Comportamento Animal
/
Clima
/
Ecossistema
/
Atelinae
Tipo de estudo:
Systematic_reviews
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
America central
/
Mexico
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Primatol
Ano de publicação:
2011
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de publicação:
Estados Unidos