Title
ECOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF SPECIES SUCCESS IN MODIFIED HABITATS MAY BE DISTURBANCE-SPECIFIC AND SITE-SPECIFIC - THE PRIMATES OF TIWAI ISLAND
Author(s)
FIMBEL, C
Published
1994
Publisher
Conservation Biology
Abstract
I compared primate abundances in an old forest and in adjacent regenerating farm clearings abandoned by slash-and-burn agriculturalists in Sierra Leone, West Africa Univariate correlation procedures were used to identify socioecological characteristics of primate species that best explained success (abundance) of primates in regenerating farm clearings adjacent to old forest. A highly frugivorous diet was the single most significant primate characteristic correlated with use of abandoned farms (r(s) = 0.886 p = 0.019). In contrast, other studies of primates in disturbed habitats determined that a frugivorous diet was strongly negatively correlated with primate use of selectively logged forest and other disturbed habitats. These contrasting results expose the hazard of generalizing about ecological correlates of primate success in disturbed habitats, which may be site or disturbance specific. Although this warning is derived from studies of primates, it may apply to other taxa as well.
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PUB11846