The Japanese macaques in a potential natural vegetation: Case studies in the Hyogo prefectural area, Japan

Risk of agricultural and property damage associated with the recovery of Japanese monkey populations

“…The factors limiting the monkey distribution have been broadly discussed; these include alpine regions, cold climates, large-scale conifer plantations, subarctic forests, and flat land with no cover (Iwano, 1980;Mitani and Ikeguchi, 1997;Iwasaki and Sprague, 2005). Our findings, as indicated in the composite factors produced via ENFA, empirically support these geography-related limiting factors.…”

“…Specifically, Iwano (1980) examines historical changes in the distribution of monkey populations and argues that heavy snowfall regions, high-elevation environments, and steep terrain conditions have the most negative influence on species habitat occupation. Meanwhile, Mitani and Ikeguchi (1997) repeatedly conduct univariate analyses to quantify the influence of various environmental factors on the monkey distribution; they assert that breeding populations of the species in cool-temperate zones are likely to cover lower parts of the broad-leaved forests, thus avoiding human activities. With the exception of these studies, there are few studies concerning landscape-scale evaluations of monkey-habitat relationship; therefore, in light of these limited developments, we used all the possible environmental variables for the present ENFA (Table 1).…”

Estimation of abundance and distribution of Japanese macaques using track counts in snow

“…The same consideration holds true of macaques, because the additional factors that were not considered in the modeling (such as past catastrophes, e.g., heavy snow; historical human influences, e.g., overhunting; and geographic barriers, e.g., high mountains) have historically limited the occupation of macaques in the geographical space (Iwano 1980;Koganezawa 1991;Mito 1992;Mitani and Ikeguchi 1997;Enari and Suzuki 2010). The researcher who refers this model must therefore carefully interpret the output of niche-based distribution models with due consideration of possible limiting factors of habitat occupation in a subject area (Pearson et al 2007).…”

“…The distribution of macaques is primarily regulated by food resources and their refuge, which are defined by the conditions of vegetation, land use, climate, and topography (Iwamoto 1978;Iwano 1980;Mitani and Ikeguchi 1997;Hanya et al 2004;Enari and Suzuki 2010). In particular, in snowy areas, the climate conditions and the amount of snow in the winter limits macaques' activities (Wada and Tokida 1981;Watanuki and Nakayama 1993).…”