Seasonal Change in Activity Rhythms and Time Budgets of Tibetan Macaques

Abstract

Activity rhythms and time budgets are important to understand behavioral variability and adaptation in primates because animals normally use a behavioral adjustment as a preferential choice in response to environmental changes. Therefore, we observed a group of un-provisioned Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in Tianhu Mountain County Nature Reserve, Mount Huangshan, Southern Anhui, China. We used the instantaneous scan sampling method to collect behavioral data on their activity rhythms and time budget. The results showed that Tibetan macaques have two foraging peaks (9:00–10:00 and 14:00–15:00) and a resting peak at 12:00–13:00. They spent 31.96% resting, 28.59% foraging, 26.96% moving, 6.90% grooming, and 5.59% other. The total time of foraging and moving per month significantly and positively correlated with fruits and buds and negatively correlated with leaves. Different sexes and age groups demonstrated different activity time budgets, with adult males, adult females, and young macaques spending most of their time resting, grooming, and playing, respectively. We elucidated the effects of different environmental conditions on Tibetan macaques and their behavioral adaptation strategies.

Sleeping sites provide new insight into multiple central place foraging strategies of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana)

“…et al, 2020). In Tibetan macaques, the time for foraging and resting accounts for >70% of their total time allocation (Zhou et al, 2022). This pattern of sleeping site selection near foraging patches in Tibetan macaques can reduce foraging costs and increase the time spent foraging and resting, which may reflect their adaptation to uneven resource distribution.…”

“…Species richness and food availability were higher at lower altitudes than at higher altitudes, with spring and autumn being the most productive seasons for food (Korner, 2007). Tibetan macaques may spend more time at lower altitudes to satisfy their food needs (Zhou et al, 2022). However, in winter, Tibetan macaques rely on the fruits of Pinus massoniana and Fagaceae when other food resources are relatively scarce (Zhao, 1996).…”

All Together Now: Activity Synchrony and Social Cohesion in Group-Living Animals

“…Following the same line as before, in Figure 5, we consider 50 males and 50 females, with Males assigned to spend 400 units of time eating, 600 resting, 300 traveling, 200 grooming, and 100 socializing; and Females to spend 300 eating, 700 resting, 400 traveling, 300 grooming, and 200 socializing, and K 2 set to a high value of 2 (agents care a great deal about the group of agents they are around). It should be noted that the times we have assigned to each activity were inspired by the literature of activity budget studies on a wide range of animals, see for example [19].…”