A comparison of the home range sizes of mainland and island populations of black‐faced lion tamarins (Leontopithecus caissara) using different spatial analysis

Abstract

The critically endangered black-faced lion tamarin, Leontopithecus caissara, has a restricted geographical distribution consisting of small mainland and island populations, each with distinct habitats in coastal southeastern Brazil. Necessary conservation management actions require an assessment of whether differences in habitats are reflected in use of space by the species. We studied two tamarin groups on the mainland at São Paulo state between August 2005 and March 2007, and compared the results with data from Superagui Island. Three home range estimators were used: minimum convex polygon (MCP), Kernel, and the new technique presented dissolved monthly polygons (DMP). These resulted, respectively, in home ranges of 345, 297, and 282 ha for the 12-month duration of the study. Spatial overlap of mainland groups was extensive, whereas temporal overlap was not, a pattern that indicates resource partitioning is an important strategy to avoid intraspecific competition. L. caissara large home ranges seem to be dynamic, with constant incorporation of new areas and abandonment of others through time. The main difference between mainland and island groups is the amount and variety of sleeping sites. A better understanding of the home range sizes, day range lengths, and territorial behavior of this species will aid in developing better management strategies for its protection. Additionally, the presented DMP protocol is a useful improvement over the MCP method as it results in more realistic home range sizes for wildlife species.

Consistency in Verreaux's sifaka home range and core area size despite seasonal variation in resource availability as assessed by Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)

“…In addition to a limited understanding of foliar resource availability, a key gap in knowledge that prevents effective wildlife management policy is how primate foraging and ranging strategies respond to long‐term patterns of fluctuating food resources. Primate foraging and ranging patterns generally are characterized only over relatively short durations of a few months to 1–2 years (Harris et al, 2009; Nagy‐Reis & Setz, 2017; Nascimento et al, 2011; but see Scarry et al, 2023). While these short‐term studies are informative, their utility is limited for evaluating movements that characterize species' seasonal space use patterns because of the interannual variability in food resources and inherent differences within and between groups.…”

Evaluating methods for estimating home ranges using GPS collars: A comparison using proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus)

“…Other approaches based upon parametric kernel density estimators are also used (e.g. [19–22]). Although GCM is useful in showing hot spots in utilisation patterns, its main disadvantage is in measuring overall home range size, as well as estimating range boundaries, i.e.…”

Dispersal, Group Formation and Kinship in the Black-Faced Lion Tamarin <b><i>(Leontopithecus caissara)</i></b>

“…1 ). The 4 populations are restricted to lowland mature and continuous forest [Lorini and Persson, 1994;Schmidlin, 2004;Nascimento and Schmidlin, 2011;Nascimento et al, 2011b].…”