Behie Alison M, Pavelka Mary S M
Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Folia Primatol (Basel). 2005 Jan-Feb;76(1):1-9. doi: 10.1159/000082450.
The diet and activity of a population of Alouatta pigra were compared before and immediately after a major hurricane to begin to explore how the monkeys cope with severe habitat destruction. Focal animal data were collected from January to April (dry season) for two seasons before (368 h) and one season after the storm (149 h) on a population of black howlers in Monkey River, Belize. During the first dry season after the storm, the monkeys changed their diet in direct accordance with the availability of food. The absence of fruit and flower production and the increase in new leaf availability forced the monkeys to adopt a completely folivorous diet. The activity budget of the monkeys also changed, and they spent more time inactive, which may be linked to the change in the distribution and type of food available. They also spent less time in social interactions, which may be due to the lower number of juveniles in the population or to the formation of new groups between unfamiliar individuals following the hurricane. The ability to live for long periods of time on leaves alone has allowed the remaining population to survive in the short term.
对一群中美蛛猴在一场重大飓风前后的饮食和活动进行了比较，以开始探索这些猴子如何应对严重的栖息地破坏。在伯利兹猴河的一群黑吼猴中，于风暴来临前的两个季节（368小时）和风暴后的一个季节（149小时），从1月至4月（旱季）收集了焦点动物数据。在风暴后的第一个旱季，猴子们根据食物的可获得性直接改变了它们的饮食。水果和花朵产量的缺失以及新叶可获得性的增加迫使猴子们采用完全以树叶为食的饮食方式。猴子们的活动预算也发生了变化，它们花费更多时间不活动，这可能与可获得食物的分布和类型的变化有关。它们用于社交互动的时间也减少了，这可能是由于种群中幼猴数量减少，或者是由于飓风后不熟悉的个体之间形成了新的群体。仅靠树叶就能长期生存的能力使剩余的种群在短期内得以存活。
