Resource availability and habitat use by mantled howling monkeys in a Nicaraguan coffee plantation: can agroforests serve as core habitat for a forest mammal?

Abstract

Although shade coffee plantations are potentially valuable habitats for wildlife conservation, little information exists on the extent to which they provide resident wildlife populations with resources necessary for survival and reproduction. A 14-month study of the ecology of mantled howling monkeys Alouatta palliata living in a Nicaraguan shade coffee plantation was therefore conducted. Trees were surveyed at randomly located enumeration points in the coffee plantation and monitored for phenophase production to characterize resource availability. Day-long focal animal follows were used to characterize the ranging and habitat preferences of the howlers. The study site had a diverse canopy, with over 60 tree species providing shade for coffee cultivation; high tree diversity ensured yearround availability of the howlers' preferred foods. Howlers did not avoid feeding or ranging in areas of shade coffee cultivation. However, when foraging in coffee they favored large shade trees for feeding and were less likely to use areas of shade coffee with small trees and fewer arboreal pathways. Results suggest, in conjunction with controls on hunting and protection of nearby forests, that shade coffee can serve as alternate wildlife habitat and corridors between forest fragments for howling monkeys and possibly other forest mammals. Specific management recommendations to improve the conservation value of shade coffee for primates are made and the potential role of coffee plantations in primate conservation at a regional scale are discussed.

Predictive model for sustaining biodiversity in tropical countryside

“…To be useful in studying other ecosystems where countryside forest elements are not the determining landscape feature, such as European grasslands, our approach will require modification and testing. Opportunities for further study include assessing how species that are dispersal-limited or require extensive areas of habitat use human-dominated ecosystems (23,24), investigating how human land use influences population patterns and source-sink dynamics of countryside biota (25,26), and quantifying yield tradeoffs (27). We believe careful integration of these factors into our general approach for predicting biodiversity on farmland can inform regional decisions to meet human demands and manage natural capital sustainably.…”

Conserving social–ecological systems in Indonesia: human–nonhuman primate interconnections in Bali and Sulawesi

“…The high tree species diversity and multilayered forest structure of many agroforestry systems serve to preserve ecosystem functions and processes such as maintaining soil organic matter levels, retaining soil productivity, decreasing run-off and soil loss, and providing connectivity between isolated primary forest fragments [Donald, 2004;Greenberg, 1998;Siebert, 2002]. The conservation value of such human-constructed niches for primates and other wildlife has been appreciated in the Neotropics [e.g., birds; Greenberg et al, 2000;howler monkeys;Williams-Guillén et al, 2006;tamarins;Raboy et al, 2004], and increasingly so in other areas such as South Asia [Bali et al, 2007]. Research focused not just on whether primates are present in agroforests, but how they use agroforest habitat can help inform how to ultimately manage such landscapes [e.g., preserving particular tree species, such as figs (Ficus spp.…”

“…Research focused not just on whether primates are present in agroforests, but how they use agroforest habitat can help inform how to ultimately manage such landscapes [e.g., preserving particular tree species, such as figs (Ficus spp. ), that are important to resident fauna; Williams-Guillén et al, 2006].…”

Local People’s Perceptions of Crop Damage by Common Langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) and Human-langur Conflict in Keshabpur of Bangladesh

“…This type of vegetation will also be useful for locals as an extractive resource reserve. The conservation value of such human-constructed niches for primates has been observed in the Neotropics, for instance, tamarins (Raboy, Christman, & Dietz, 2004) and howler monkeys (Williams-Guillén, McCann, Martinez Sanchez, & Koontz, 2006), and such niches are increasingly emerging in South Asia (Bali, Kumar & Krishnaswamy, 2007).…”