Diet and feeding behavior data are crucial to a deep understanding of the behavioral response and adaptation of primates to a high-altitude environment.From August 2019 to June 2021,we collected data on the feeding be...Diet and feeding behavior data are crucial to a deep understanding of the behavioral response and adaptation of primates to a high-altitude environment.From August 2019 to June 2021,we collected data on the feeding behavior of a high-altitude rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta group from Yajiang County,Western Sichuan Plateau,which has an altitude of over 3,500 m.The results showed that feeding(33.0±1.8%)and moving(28.3±2.6%)were the dominant behavior of rhesus macaques.Macaques ate 193 food items,comprising 11 food categories from 90 species.Our study found that plant roots(30.9±30.1%)and young leaves(28.0±33.1%)were the main foods eaten by macaques.The preferred foods of rhesus macaques were young leaves,fruits,and seeds,and the consumption of these items was positively correlated with its food availability.When the availability of preferred foods was low,macaques took plant roots,barks,and fallen leaves as fallback foods.In particular,roots were a dominant food item in winter,and this way of feeding became a key survival strategy.Our results suggest that,facing the relative scarcity and strong seasonal fluctuations of food resources in high-altitude habitat,macaques adopt active foraging strategies,relying on a variety of food species and adjusting flexibly their food choices based on food availability,which may help to maximize the energy efficiency of high-altitude macaques.展开更多
To enhance our understanding of dietary adaptations in macaques we studied the diet of the Assamese macaque Macaca assamensis in limestone seasonal rain forests at Nonggang Nature Reserve, China from September 2005 to...To enhance our understanding of dietary adaptations in macaques we studied the diet of the Assamese macaque Macaca assamensis in limestone seasonal rain forests at Nonggang Nature Reserve, China from September 2005 to August 2006. Our results show that although macaques fed on many plant species, 85.2% of the diet came from only 12 species, of which a bamboo species, Indocalamus calcicolus contributed to 62% of the diet. Young leaves were staple food items （74.1% of the diet） for Assamese macaques at Nonggang, and constituted the bulk of monthly diets almost year-round, ranging from 44.9% （July） to 92.9% （May）. Young parts of Indocalamus calcicolus unexpanded leaves contributed to a large proportion of the young leaf diet in most months. Fruit accounted for only 17.4% of the diet, with a peak of consumption in July. We suggest that this highly fo- livorous diet may be related to the long lean season of fruit availability in limestone habitats as well as the utilization of cliffs of low fruit availability展开更多
基金This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31870355,31960106).
文摘Diet and feeding behavior data are crucial to a deep understanding of the behavioral response and adaptation of primates to a high-altitude environment.From August 2019 to June 2021,we collected data on the feeding behavior of a high-altitude rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta group from Yajiang County,Western Sichuan Plateau,which has an altitude of over 3,500 m.The results showed that feeding(33.0±1.8%)and moving(28.3±2.6%)were the dominant behavior of rhesus macaques.Macaques ate 193 food items,comprising 11 food categories from 90 species.Our study found that plant roots(30.9±30.1%)and young leaves(28.0±33.1%)were the main foods eaten by macaques.The preferred foods of rhesus macaques were young leaves,fruits,and seeds,and the consumption of these items was positively correlated with its food availability.When the availability of preferred foods was low,macaques took plant roots,barks,and fallen leaves as fallback foods.In particular,roots were a dominant food item in winter,and this way of feeding became a key survival strategy.Our results suggest that,facing the relative scarcity and strong seasonal fluctuations of food resources in high-altitude habitat,macaques adopt active foraging strategies,relying on a variety of food species and adjusting flexibly their food choices based on food availability,which may help to maximize the energy efficiency of high-altitude macaques.
基金Acknowledgements This study was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China （No 30860050）, Guangxi Science Foundation （0991095）, Monitoring and Conservation of Assamese macaques Project of National Forestry Administration of China, Guangxi Beibu Gulf Serious Specialization of Guangxi Natural Sciences Foundation （2010GXNSFE013004）, and Project of Creative Team from Colleges and Universities in Guangxi. We thank the Guangxi Forestry Bureau and Nonggang National Nature Reserve. We also acknowledge the critical comments of two anonymous reviewers.
文摘To enhance our understanding of dietary adaptations in macaques we studied the diet of the Assamese macaque Macaca assamensis in limestone seasonal rain forests at Nonggang Nature Reserve, China from September 2005 to August 2006. Our results show that although macaques fed on many plant species, 85.2% of the diet came from only 12 species, of which a bamboo species, Indocalamus calcicolus contributed to 62% of the diet. Young leaves were staple food items （74.1% of the diet） for Assamese macaques at Nonggang, and constituted the bulk of monthly diets almost year-round, ranging from 44.9% （July） to 92.9% （May）. Young parts of Indocalamus calcicolus unexpanded leaves contributed to a large proportion of the young leaf diet in most months. Fruit accounted for only 17.4% of the diet, with a peak of consumption in July. We suggest that this highly fo- livorous diet may be related to the long lean season of fruit availability in limestone habitats as well as the utilization of cliffs of low fruit availability
