Howlers Are Able to Survive in Eucalyptus Plantations Where Remnant and Regenerating Vegetation Is Available

Abstract

Reversing forest loss through reforestation has become a critical strategy to decrease global climate change, and such programs are more likely to be initiated if they can produce a subsequent monetary gain for the host country. As a result, the planting of monocultures of harvestable trees has become widespread and the practice is accelerating. However, little is known about the effect of such reforestation strategies on biodiversity. Here we quantify the demographic patterns of a population of black howlers (Alouatta pigra) living in a 200-ha eucalyptus plantation with connected remnant forests in southeastern Mexico. We compare our results to data from the literature from forest fragments, extensive forest tracts, and different agrosystems. The howler population inhabiting the plantation grew from 69 individuals in 2007 to 77 in 2008 (11.6% growth) and to 84 in 2009 (9.1% growth). During this time the howlers fed extensively on the native vegetation that was growing under the eucalyptus, vines that grew on the plantation trees, and adjacent areas of native secondary growth, but they almost never fed on eucalyptus. Howler Int J Primatol (2012) 33:233-245 density in the plantation was greater than in extensive forest tracts or forest fragments, whereas mean group size was similar to that in the forest tracts and greater than in the fragments and agrosystems. There was no apparent difference in the adult female-to-immature ratio among sites. Our results indicate that plantations that have associated native vegetation can play a positive role in the conservation of this species, but suggest that harvesting regimens must be carefully orchestrated to prevent associated food scarcity.

Ecological Flexibility as Measured by the Use of Pioneer and Exotic Plants by Two Lemurids: Eulemur collaris and Hapalemur meridionalis

“…In terms of activity, slow-growing trees were particularly important for E. collaris resting, in line with our prediction, while H. meridionalis used a similarly large amount of slow-growing trees for resting. As expected, fast-growing plants (comprising mostly herbs and scrubs) seem to be preferred by H. meridionalis which exhibited greater ability to include pioneer species in its diet, a finding that is consistent with other studies of folivorous primates (Bicca-Marques and Calegaro-Marques 1994;Bonilla-Sánchez et al 2012;Ganzhorn et al 1999b). However, the use of exotic (non-endemic) plant species for feeding by H. meridionalis did not support our prediction, as these small-bodied folivores consumed items from these non-native plants nearly every month.…”

“…Secondary growth may produce foods of higher dietary quality compared to foods available in mature forests, thus making folivorous (i.e., leaf-eating) primates less affected by habitat degradation (Chapman et al 2002;Ganzhorn 1995;Ganzhorn et al 1999b;Plumptre and Reynolds 1994). For example, populations of folivorous black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya and A. pigra), have been documented to use and rely heavily on fast-growing, exotic plant species (e.g., Eucalyptus and shaded cocoa plantations) for both occasional food and resting/sleeping within fragmented, anthropogenic landscapes (Bicca-Marques and Calegaro-Marques 1994;Bonilla-Sánchez et al 2012;Zárate et al 2014). Similarly, black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) appear to do well in some disturbed (i.e., previously logged) habitats Tutin et al 1997b).…”

Howler monkey tolerance to habitat shrinking: Lifetime warranty or death sentence?

“… Sources : 1 Fortes et al (), 2 Cristóbal‐Azkarate and Arroyo‐Rodríguez (), 3 Bicca‐Marques (), 4 Di Fiore et al (), 5 Bonilla‐Sánchez et al (), 6 Chaves and Bicca‐Marques (), 7 Dias and Rangel‐Negrín (), 8 Prates and Bicca‐Marques (), 9 Neville et al (), 10 Bicca‐Marques and Calegaro‐Marques (), 11 Chaves and Bicca‐Marques (), 12 Chaves and Bicca‐Marques (), 13 Pozo‐Montuy et al (), 14 Bicca‐Marques (), 15 Pozo‐Montuy and Serio‐Silva (), 16 Boyle and Smith (), 17 Estrada and Coates‐Estrada (), 18 Mandujano et al (), 19 Mandujano & Estrada (), 20 Pozo‐Montuy et al (), 21 Anzures‐Dadda and Manson (), 22 Arroyo‐Rodríguez et al (), 23 Arroyo‐Rodríguez et al (), 24 Cristóbal‐Azkarate et al (), 25 Ribeiro and Bicca‐Marques (), 26 Silva and Bicca‐Marques (), 27 Zunino et al (), 28 Chiarello (), 29 Estrada et al (), 30 Kowalewski and Zunino (), 31 Arroyo‐Rodríguez and Dias (), 32 Benchimol and Peres (), 33 Benchimol and Venticinque (), 34 Gilbert (), 35 Michalski and Peres (), 36 Jerusalinsky et al (), 37 Lokschin et al (), 38 Almeida et al (), 39 Almeida, Santos, Cardoso, Silva, et al (), 40 Bicca‐Marques et al (), 41 Bicca‐Marques and Freitas (), 42 Freitas and Bicca‐Marques (), 43 Holzmann et al (), 44 Possamai et al (), 45 Veiga et al ().…”

Dietary Flexibility of the Brown Howler Monkey Throughout Its Geographic Distribution

“…report the exploitation of a wide range of vegetal food types and a large number of plant species, an ability that has been considered critical for their survival in small and disturbed habitat patches. However, these studies were biased toward a small number of taxa, particularly Alouatta palliata [Arroyo‐Rodríguez et al, ; Cristóbal‐Azkarate & Arroyo‐Rodríguez, ; Dunn et al, , A. pigra [Bonilla‐Sánchez et al, ; Pozo‐Montuy & Serio‐Silva, , Rivera & Calmé, , and A. caraya [Bravo & Sallenave, ; Ludwig et al, , of 14 howler species [Rylands & Mittermeier, . Additionally, a comprehensive review of the feeding ecology of any howler species across a gradient of habitat quality and latitude is missing, hampering our ability to assess the influence of these factors on the degree of dietary flexibility.…”