Diet and dietary-niche breadth of diurnal rain forest primates in the central western ghats, India

Roy, K. and Singh, M. and Singh, M. (2011) Diet and dietary-niche breadth of diurnal rain forest primates in the central western ghats, India. FOLIA PRIMATOLOGICA, 82 (6). pp. 283-298. ISSN 0015-5713

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1159/000336964

Abstract

We studied the feeding ecology of 3 sympatric primate species, the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) and Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus), in a tropical rain forest of the Central Western Ghats, India. Since the availability of leaves is much higher than that of fruits, we expected that the primarily folivorous langurs would use a larger number of resources than the primarily frugivorous macaques. Since fruits are a relatively total resource, unlike leaves, of which only selected parts are consumed, we expected that the primarily frugivorous macaques would use resources more proportionately than the folivorous langurs, resulting in a wider food niche breadth in macaques. We collected data on these primate species over a period of 2 years using scan sampling in a contiguous rain forest. We calculated Levin's standardised food niche breadth for each species. Langurs used a larger number of tree species than macaques, but their niche breadth was narrower than that of macaques. The majority of their diet (over 50%) came from only a few trees in the case of all three primate species. Long-term data are provided herein for the first time on the feeding ecology of bonnet macaques and Hanuman langurs in a tropical rain forest. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Western Ghats; Feeding ecology; Niche breadth; Lion-tailed macaques; Bonnet macaques; Hanuman langurs
Subjects: A Arts and Humanities > Psychology
Divisions: Department of > Psychology
Depositing User: Users 23 not found.
Date Deposited: 14 Jun 2019 11:33
Last Modified: 14 Jun 2019 11:33
URI: http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/id/eprint/2588

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