Forest Fragmentation and Its Effects on the Feeding Ecology of Black Howlers (Alouatta pigra) from the Calakmul Area in Mexico

Rivera, A.M.; Calmé, Sophie

doi:10.1007/0-387-25872-8_9

Cited by 41 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(38 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Feeding stress may be evidenced by the dietary shift observed in Monkey River. Rivera and Calme (2006) found that howlers living in fragmented forests were forced to consume alternate plant species due to a lower availability of Ficus spp. We also found that A. pigra in Monkey River switched to a primarily folivorous diet due to a lack of fruiting trees .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Size and Characteristics of Alouatta pigra Before and After a Major Hurricane

2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although some environmental risks and resources are known to affect the evolution of primate social groups, we know little about the effect of major natural disturbances on primate populations. Hurricane Iris hit the Monkey River watershed in southern Belize in October 2001, presenting a unique opportunity to document the effects of a natural disaster under circumstances wherein some pre-hurricane data were available. We measured the characteristics of the population of black howlers in the affected forest 3.5 years after the storm and compared the population data with pre-hurricane data from a 52-ha study area, that may represent the larger continuous riverine forest and from which all monkeys were known. From February to May 2004, we sampled 28.77 km 2 of the 96-km 2 forest fragment via five transects walked 12 times each. From these data we estimate that the population in the watershed has dropped from 9784 to 1181 monkeys, a reduction of 88%, reflected by both a 79% drop in the number of social groups and a 38% reduction in group size. Before the storm, 75% of the social groups were multimale; after the storm, 74% of the groups were unimale. While the ratio of adult females to males improved slightly, the ratio of adults to immatures, and adult females to immatures more than doubled, indicating a much lower potential for growth. These data provide a quantitative assessment of how a major natural disturbance can affect a primate population.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Size and Characteristics of Alouatta pigra Before and After a Major Hurricane

2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Alouatta pigra from continuous forests inhabited ≥1 km 2 of unbroken woodlands with no man-made physical barrier, e.g., roads, clearings, structures, preventing troops from moving into other areas of the forest. Fragment sizes ranged from 0.01 to 0.8 km 2 at the Baboon Sanctuary in Belize (Marsh and Loiselle 2003), to 0.1 km 2 at the Calakmul Colon site (Rivera and Calme, 2006) and 0.2 km 2 at the Palenque Hotel site in Mexico.…”

Section: Ecological Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Ecology on the Gastrointestinal Parasites of Alouatta pigra

Vitazkova

Wade

2007

Int J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We examined the effects of demographic and ecological variables on the prevalence of intestinal parasites in free-ranging black howlers, Alouatta pigra, from Belize and Mexico. We collected 253 fecal samples from 50 individually identified monkeys during 2003. We processed all samples via standard centrifugation concentration techniques with sugar and zinc sulfate as flotation media. We used antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to detect protozoa. We analyzed data for each season separately. The most important factor in predicting whether an Alouatta pigra would be infected with a parasite was its membership in a particular social troop. It was not possible to isolate the effects of human presence, forest fragmentation, primate density, and the absence of Ateles geoffroyi on the prevalence of parasites in Alouatta pigra because the factors covaried. We detected few species of gastrointestinal parasites, possibly due to Alouatta pigra's arboreal and herbivorous lifestyle and small geographic range. The prevalence of each parasite had a different pattern, with Controrchis sp. (presumed to be C. biliophilus), a fluke, tending to be more prevalent in Alouatta pigra that inhabited disturbed habitats, and Trypanoxyuris minutus, a pinworm, tending to be more prevalent in primates from undisturbed habitats. Giardia sp. tended to be more prevalent in primates at high densities. These results indicated that it is important to examine each parasite's infection pattern separately to obtain a more accurate representation of the dynamics among the host, parasites, and ecology.

show abstract

“…In this highly fragmented context, arboreal primates such as Alouatta pigra are likely to be vulnerable, responding with changes in activity patterns, feeding, and other behaviors [Clarke et al, 2002;Johns, 1986;Johns & Skorupa, 1987;Marsh, 1981;Rivera & Calmé, 2006]. Subsequently, we might predict changes in demography and distribution, including troop fission, troop migrations, expulsions of both sexes, death of both adults and immature individuals, and eventually a decrease in overall abundance [Brockett et al, 2000;Crockett & Eisenberg, 1987;Ostro et al, 2001;Pavelka et al, 2003Pavelka et al, , 2007.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current status of the habitat and population of the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) in Balancán, Tabasco, Mexico

Pozo-Montuy

Serio-Silva

Bonilla-Sánchez

et al. 2008

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We evaluated the habitat and populations of the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) in the municipality of Balancán, Tabasco, southeastern Mexico, using a combination of field surveys and remotely sensed data. We identified 21,937 ha of remnant vegetation composed of 1,348 fragments. Fragments separated by up to 200 m were grouped into "clusters" of fragments in accordance with the maximum observed open distance crossed by A. pigra. A total of 11% or 84 of the 772 clusters identified through remote sensing were selected at random, and for these we determined the vegetation type, canopy height, area, and distance to the closest human settlement. In these same 84 clusters, which included a total area of 9,817 ha, from October to June of 2006 we located a total of 1,064 black howler monkeys, including 228 troops and 49 solitary monkeys. A. pigra was found in 62 (74.7%) of all clusters visited, with a cumulative area of 6,032 ha. Troops varied in size from 2 to 15 individuals (average 6.0+/-2.9 ind/troop). Adults were 67% (n=716) of detected individuals, whereas juveniles were 20.5% (n=218) and infants were 12.5% (n=133). We found black howlers to occur at an ecological density of 10.8 ind/km(2), which is low in comparison with A. pigra in other fragmented and conserved sites. We found a statistically significant relationship between the area of clusters and the abundance of howler monkeys (r(2)=0.2, F=10.47, gl=3, P=0.002). In addition, the probability of finding A. pigra was greater in secondary vegetation, riparian vegetation, tropical dry forest, undisturbed tropical oak forest, and palm forest (F=12, gl=3, P<0.0001), as compared with disturbed tropical oak forest. Our results provide data on the distribution, abundance, and population structure of black howler monkeys in a fragmented landscape in the southeast of Mexico. These data are a necessary prerequisite for conservation planning for this species.

show abstract

Forest Fragmentation and Its Effects on the Feeding Ecology of Black Howlers (Alouatta pigra) from the Calakmul Area in Mexico

Cited by 41 publications

References 33 publications

Population Size and Characteristics of Alouatta pigra Before and After a Major Hurricane

Population Size and Characteristics of Alouatta pigra Before and After a Major Hurricane

Effects of Ecology on the Gastrointestinal Parasites of Alouatta pigra

Current status of the habitat and population of the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) in Balancán, Tabasco, Mexico

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About