Effect of temperature on activity budgets of free ranging Dusky Toque Macaques (<em>Macaca sinica aurifrons</em>): A case study from Peradeniya University premises, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Macaca sinica is the smallest of all 22 extant macaque species in the world. There are three geographically isolated endemic sub-species of M. sinica: M. s. sinica, M. s. aurifrons and M. s. opisthomelas in Sri Lanka. Macaques adjust their activities to deal with changeable environments like weather changes and food availability fluctuations, proving their plasticity nature. Current study focused on assessing the temporal variation of activity budgets and effects of temperature on their activity pattern. Behavioral data were collected using scan sampling method. Overall activity budget analysis found that they allocate more time on resting (32.60 ± 4.97%), whereas less time spent for moving (26.30 ± 3.15%) and feeding (19.60 ± 2.97%). Moving was negatively correlated with monthly average temperature (r= -0.489 p= 0.029). The study found that time allocation for moving was reduced to compensate their thermoregulatory cost in terms of energy. This suggests that changes in movements of M. s. aurifrons are a useful indicator in assessing environmental changes such as temperature alterations.

A Behavioural Study of Free Ranging Ceylon Spotted Deer (Axis axis ceylonensis) in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka

“…A study on primate species in the dry zone of Sri Lanka reports resting in the afternoon and feeding during the morning and late evening (Riyas Ahamed and Dharmaretnam 2003). In another study on primates in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, reports a between ambient temperature and movement, indicating a thermoregulatory function (Weerasekara and Ranawana 2018).…”

Seasonal Variation in the Activity Budget and Daily Path Length of Semi-Provisioned Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) in Daunne Forest, Nawalpur, Nepal

“…Others, however, have reported much longer DPLs for wild rhesus macaques, such as those at Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park in Nepal, with a DPL of 4000 m (Khatiwada et al 2020). These variations may occur for various ecological reasons, such as food availability and distribution, seasonal differences in observation, rainfall, and other intergroup interactions like competition, territoriality, and group size variations (Weerasekara & Ranawana 2017). Anthropogenic factors like habitat modification and provisioning also impact macaque movement (Santhosh et al 2015) and activity budgets (Adhikari et al 2018).…”

Influence of food availability and climate on behavior patterns of western black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor) at Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, China

“…How animals allocate time to activities is one of the most important questions in animal ecology (Dunbar et al, ). Behavior patterns reflect how animals cope with seasonal environmental variation, revealing how energy intake and expenditure are balanced to meet the needs of survival and reproduction (Chaves, Stoner, & Arroyo‐Rodríguez, ; Hanya, ; Korstjens, Lehmann, & Dunbar, ; Sayers & Norconk, ; Vasey, ; Weerasekara & Ranawana, ). The amount of time that animals devote to different activities may be affected by many factors, such as spatiotemporal heterogeneity of food resources (Fan, Fei, & Ma, ; Paim, Chapman, Queiroz, & Paglia, ), climate (Bach, Chen, Hoang, Beng, & Nguyen, ; Fan, Ai, Fei, Zhang, & Yuan, ; Fan et al, ), group size and composition (Agostini, Holzmann, & Di Bitetti, ), and reproductive status (Lappan, ).…”