Primate population assessments provide the basis for comparative studies and are necessary prerequisites in determining conservation status. The most widely used assessment method is line transect sampling, which generates systematic data quickly and comparatively inexpensively. In contrast, the presumably most reliable method is long-term monitoring of known groups, which is both slow and costly. To assess the reliability of various analytical methods, we compared group and population densities for white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar carpenteri) and Phayre's leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) derived from transect walks with those from long-term group follows at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Our assistants and we regularly walked a 4-km transect over 30 mo (480 km total), resulting in 155 gibbon sightings and 125 leaf monkey sightings. We then estimated densities via 1) DISTANCE and 2) the Kelker method based on perpendicular distances (PD) or animal-to-observer distances (AOD). We compared the 3 estimates to values based on known home ranges (95% kernels), accounting for home range overlap, combined with group size data. Analyses of line transect data consistently overestimated group densities for both species, while underestimating group size for leaf monkeys. Quality of results varied according to the group size and spread of each species. However, we found, in accordance with previous studies, Int J Primatol (

The copper rockfish is a benthic, nonmigratory, temperate rocky reef marine species with pelagic larvae and juveniles. A previous range-wide study of the population-genetic structure of copper rockfish revealed a pattern consistent with isolation-by-distance. This could arise from an intrinsically limited dispersal capability in the species or from regularly-spaced extrinsic barriers that restrict gene flow (offshore jets that advect larvae offshore and/or habitat patchiness). Tissue samples were collected along the West Coast of the contiguous USA between Neah Bay, WA and San Diego, CA, with dense sampling along Oregon. At the whole-coast scale (approximately 2200 km), significant population subdivision (F(ST) = 0.0042), and a significant correlation between genetic and geographical distance were observed based on 11 microsatellite DNA loci. Population divergence was also significant among Oregon collections (approximately 450 km, F(ST) = 0.001). Hierarchical amova identified a weak but significant 130-km habitat break as a possible barrier to gene flow within Oregon, across which we estimated that dispersal (N(e)m) is half that of the coast-wide average. However, individual-based Bayesian analyses failed to identify more than a single population along the Oregon coast. In addition, no correlation between pairwise population genetic and geographical distances was detected at this scale. The offshore jet at Cape Blanco was not a significant barrier to gene flow in this species. These findings are consistent with low larval dispersal distances calculated in previous studies on this species, support a mesoscale dispersal model, and highlight the importance of continuity of habitat and adult population size in maintaining gene flow.

Behavioral studies of white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) often assign mother‐offspring relationships based on common capture of juveniles with adult deer, assuming that fawns associate closely with mothers. We tested this assumption using genetic parentage to assess mother‐offspring relationships within capture groups based on data from 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci. At the 80% confidence level, we assigned maternity to 43% and 51% of juveniles captured with an adult female in 2 respective study areas. Capture with their mother did not differ by sex of juveniles in either study area, and limiting our analysis to capture groups that most represent family groups (i.e., one ad F with 1–3 juv) did not increase maternity assignment (35%). Our results indicate that common capture may be a poor indicator of mother‐offspring relationships in many field settings. We recommend genetic verification of family relationships.

We examined historical and ecological factors affecting current primate biodiversity in Southeast Asia. In Africa, Madagascar and South America, but not Southeast Asia, primate species richness is positively associated with average rainfall and distance from the equator (latitude). We predicted that Southeast Asia's non-conformance may be due to the effect of dispersed Pleistocene refuges (locations of constricted tropical forests during glacial maxima which today are at least 305 m in altitude). Based on 45 forested sites (13 on large islands; 32 on the mainland) of at least 100 km(2) to minimize recent human impact, we determined correlations between extant primate species richness and rainfall, latitude and supplementary ecological variables, while controlling for refuges and islands. We found that refuge sites had significantly higher primate species richness than non-refuges (t = -2.76, P < 0.05), and distance from the nearest Pleistocene refuge was negatively correlated with species richness for non-refuge sites (r = -0.51, P < 0.05). There was no difference in species richness between sites on large islands and the mainland (t = -1.4, P = 0.16). The expected positive relationship between rainfall and species richness was not found (r = 0.17, P = 0.28). As predicted, primate species richness was negatively correlated with latitude (r = -0.39, P < 0.05) and positively correlated with mean temperature (r = 0.45, P < 0.05). General linear models indicated that a site's latitude (F1,38 = 6.18, P < 0.05) and Pleistocene refuge classification (F1,42 = 5.96, P < 0.05) were the best predictors of species richness. Both ecological and historical factors contribute to present day primate species richness in Southeast Asia, making its biodiversity less of an outlier than previously believed.