Cristóbal-Azkarate Jurgi, Arroyo-Rodríguez Víctor
Centre Special en Primats, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Am J Primatol. 2007 Sep;69(9):1013-29. doi: 10.1002/ajp.20420.
Accelerated deforestation is causing the rapid loss and fragmentation of primary habitat for primates. Although the genus Alouatta is one of the most studied primate taxa under these circumstances, some results are contradictory and responses of howlers to habitat fragmentation are not yet clear. In this paper, we conduct a cross-study of the available researches on mantled howlers (Alouatta palliata) in forest fragments in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, to (1) describe the diet and activity pattern of howlers; (2) analyze the similarity in the diet across studies; and (3) relate both fragment size and howler population density with different characteristics of their diet, home range size, and activity pattern. Howlers consumed 181 plant species belonging to 54 families. Ficus was the most important taxa in the howlers' diet, followed by primary species such as Pterocarpus rohrii, Nectandra ambigens, Poulsenia armata, and Brosimum alicastrum. Secondary and non-secondary light-demanding plant species, which are representatives of disturbed habitat, contributed with a high percentage of their feeding time. Only 23% of the species consumed were the same across all the studies, suggesting that howlers adapt their diet to the food availability of their respective habitats. Population density is the best predictor of howlers' ecological and behavioral changes in response to forest fragmentation, probably owing to its relationship with food availability. Howlers respond to the increase in population densities by increasing the (1) diversity of food species in the diet; (2) consumption of non-tree growth forms; and (3) consumption of new plant items. Home range size is also predicted by population density, but fragment size is a better predictor, probably owing to the fact that howler groups can overlap their home ranges. Our results emphasize the importance of conserving the larger fragments and increasing the size of small and medium-sized ones.
森林砍伐加速正导致灵长类动物的主要栖息地迅速丧失和碎片化。尽管蛛猴属是在这种情况下研究最多的灵长类分类群之一，但一些结果相互矛盾，吼猴对栖息地碎片化的反应尚不清楚。在本文中，我们对墨西哥洛斯图斯特拉斯森林碎片中披毛吼猴（Alouatta palliata）的现有研究进行了交叉研究，以（1）描述吼猴的饮食和活动模式；（2）分析各项研究中饮食的相似性；（3）将碎片大小和吼猴种群密度与它们饮食、家域大小和活动模式的不同特征联系起来。吼猴食用了属于54个科的181种植物。榕属植物是吼猴饮食中最重要的分类群，其次是主要物种，如大叶紫檀、多花楠、巴拿马桑和面包树。作为受干扰栖息地代表的次生和非次生喜光植物物种，在它们的进食时间中占比很高。在所有研究中，只有23%的食用物种是相同的，这表明吼猴会根据各自栖息地的食物供应情况调整饮食。种群密度是吼猴对森林碎片化做出生态和行为变化的最佳预测指标，这可能是由于其与食物供应的关系。吼猴通过增加（1）饮食中食物种类的多样性；（2）对非树木生长形式的消耗；（3）对新植物种类的消耗来应对种群密度的增加。家域大小也可由种群密度预测，但碎片大小是更好的预测指标，这可能是因为吼猴群体的家域可以重叠。我们的研究结果强调了保护较大碎片以及增加中小型碎片面积的重要性。
