Effects of provisioning on the activity budget and foraging strategies of black‐and‐white snub‐nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) in the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China

Abstract

Provisioning can significantly affect the ranging patterns, foraging strategies, and time budget of wild primates. In this study, we document for the first time, the effects of provisioning on the activity budget and foraging effort in an Asian colobine. Over 3‐years, we used an instantaneous scanning method at 10‐min intervals to collect data on the activity budget of a semiprovisioned breeding band (SPB) of black‐and‐white snub‐nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) (42–70 individuals) at Xiangguqing (Tacheng), Yunnan, China. We then compared the effects of provisioning in our study band with published data on a sympatric wild nonprovisioned breeding band (NPB) of R. bieti (ca. 360 monkeys) at the same field site. The SPB spent 25.6% of their daytime feeding, 17.1% traveling, 46.9% resting, and 10.3% socializing. In comparison, the NPB devoted more time to feeding (34.9%) and socializing (14.1%), less time to resting (31.3%), and was characterized by a greater foraging effort (1.74 versus 0.96, foraging effort = (feeding + traveling)/resting; see Methods). There was no difference between bands in the proportion of their activity budget devoted to traveling (15.7% vs. 17.1%). In addition, the SPB exhibited a more consistent activity budget and foraging effort across all seasons of the year compared to the NPB. These findings suggest that the distribution, availability, and productivity of naturally occurring feeding sites is a major determinant of the behavioral strategies and activity budget of R. bieti. Finally, a comparison of our results with data on six nonprovisioned R. bieti bands indicates that caution must be raised in meta‐analyses or intraspecific comparisons of primate behavioral ecology that contain data generated from both provisioned and nonprovisioned groups.

The effects of food provisioning on the gut microbiota community and antibiotic resistance genes of Yunnan snub-nosed monkey

“…The reserve has an annual average daily temperature of 9.4°C, ranging from a minimum of 2.7°C in January to a maximum of 16.2°C in June. The annual rainfall of the reserve is 1,371 mm, with 70% concentrated between June and October ( Li et al, 2023 ). The typical vegetation is coniferous forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest (2,500–3,600 m), and subalpine fir forest ( Zhu et al, 2016 ).…”