Title
Towards an ecological solution to the folivore paradox: Patch depletion as an indicator of within-group scramble competition in red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles)
Author(s)
Snaith T.V., Chapman C.A.
Published
2005
Publisher
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Abstract
A number of socioecological models assume that within-group food competition is either weak or absent among folivorous primates. This assumption is made because their food resources are presumed to be superabundant and evenly dispersed. However, recent evidence increasingly suggests that folivore group size is food-limited, that the primates prefer patchily distributed high-quality foods, and display some of the expected responses to within-group scramble competition. To investigate this apparent contradiction between theoretical models and recent empirical data, we examined the foraging behaviour of red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We found that red colobus monkeys foraged in a manner that suggests they deplete patches of preferred foods: intake rate slowed significantly during patch occupancy while movement rate, an index of foraging effort, increased. Furthermore, patch occupancy was related to the size of the feeding group and the size of the patch. These results suggest that within-group scramble competition occurs, may limit folivore group size, and should be considered in models of folivore behavioural ecology. © Springer-Verlag 2005.
Keywords
food availability; intraspecific competition; primate; scramble competition; social behavior; Africa; East Africa; Eastern Hemisphere; Kibale National Park; Sub-Saharan Africa; Uganda; World; Colobinae; Colobus sp.; Piliocolobus; Primates; Procolobus badius
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the WCS Library to request.
![]()
Back
PUB12287