Ranging Behaviour, Daily Path Lengths, Diet and Habitat Use of Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix flavicauda) at La Esperanza, Peru

Abstract

The yellow-tailed woolly monkey ( Lagothrix flavicauda) is Critically Endangered and endemic to a small area of the Andean forest in northern Peru. I collected data on the home ranges, daily path lengths, diet and habitat use of two groups of L. flavicauda. Group follows took place at La Esperanza, Amazonas department, for 15 months between October 2009 and February 2011. The study site comprised a matrix of disturbed primary and regenerating secondary cloud forest. Home ranges were between 95 and 147 ha using 95 % minimum convex polygons, and home range overlap between the two groups was 1.6 ha. The range used by both groups varied between the wet and dry seasons. Daily path lengths were between 1.03 and 1.2 km. Fruit was the most commonly consumed dietary item followed by leaves and insects; a total of 16 plant resources were identified. There was a significant increase in consumption of leaves and insects during the dry seasons. Both groups used a variety of habitats but were only occasionally observed to use areas of white-sand forest. Home range and daily path length estimates are similar to results from studies of other woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix spp.), although home ranges were among the smallest recorded for woolly monkeys. L. flavicauda at La Esperanza are less frugivorous than Lagothrix spp., and the estimates here are lower than those from the previous preliminary work at this site. My results suggest that L. flavicauda are able to survive in disturbed habitat with small home ranges and at high group densities. More research is urgently needed at other sites with different ecological conditions to enable proper conservation planning and actions.

Measuring Success in a Community Conservation Project: Local Population Increase in a Critically Endangered Primate, the Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix Flavicauda) at La Esperanza, Northeastern Peru

“…Using a maximum home range estimate of 174 ha from published estimates from our survey site [41], we generated a buffer of ~ 10 home range diameters (10,000 m), giving a 37,860 ha polygon around the survey site, an area of ~ 218 home ranges (Fig. 3).…”

“…Pope [1989, cited in Di Fiore et al [40] recorded un-equal dispersal distances for male and female Alouatta seniculus of between one and six home range diameters. We calculated the area of low possible influence using a 10 km circular buffer around all transects, based on ~ 7 home range diameters of L. flavicauda groups from published data recorded at the study site [41]. Similarly, we calculated an area of probable influence of 800 m, ~ 2 home range diameters.…”

“…Statistically significant differences were observed in group size, number of juveniles, and number of infants ( Table 2). The difference in increase between group and individual densities was also significant (χ² = 5.35, df = 1, p = 0.02) Using a maximum home range estimate of 174 ha from published estimates from our survey site [41], we generated a buffer of ~ 10 home range diameters (10,000 m), giving a 37,860 ha polygon around the survey site, an area of ~ 218 home ranges (Fig. 3).…”

Seed-dispersal ecology of tropical montane forests

“…Large-mammal assemblages are less species rich and have lower densities with increasing altitude. Elephants and tapirs drop out of TMF with altitude (Steinmetz et al 2008), there are fewer primate species at upper elevations in African (Goodman & Rasolonandrasana 2001, Marshall et al 2005, Asian (Caldecott 1980, Grow et al 2013 and South American TMF (Almeida-Neto et al 2008, Geise et al 2004, Shanee 2009, 2014, and fewer fruit bats in TMF in the Philippines , Peruvian Andes (Patterson et al 1996) and oceanic Africa (Goodman & Rasolonandrasana 2001). Primates (Grow et al 2013), fruit bats and birds (Figure 4) are all generally smaller bodied at high altitudes.…”

Diversidad y abundancia de primates en bosques de baja y alta perturbación humana de Los Chilchos, Amazonas, Perú

“…En bosques montanos, aun conociendo la existencia de otras especies de primates, los estudios fueron orientadas a L. flavicauda (Leo Luna 1980, 1982, 1984, 1987, Butchart et al 1995, Cornejo 2007, Shanee et al 2007a, Shanee 2011, 2014, Shanee & Shanee 2011a) y A. miconax (Butchart et al 1995, Cornejo et al 2008, Shanee & Shanee 2011b, 2013a, Shanee et al 2013b), la mayoría de ellos conducidos en las regiones de Amazonas y San Martín, y están referidos principalmente a aspectos ecológicos, tamaño de grupo, distribución geográfica, entre otros; para el resto de especies, no existe información sobre los aspectos mencionados, salvo los registros de su presencia, en particular de A. belzebuth en la Cordillera de Colán (Mittermeier et al 1975), Santa Rosa cerca al Abra Patricia (Shanee et al 2007b), Yambrasbamba, Copallin y Paujil (Shanee et al (2013a) y recientemente los reportes sobre diversidad y abundancia de primates en Huánuco (Aquino et al 2015(Aquino et al , 2017 y San Martín (Aquino et al 2017).…”