Dieta, padrão de atividades e area de vida de um grupo de bugios (Alouatta fusca) na reserva de Santa Genebra, Campinas, SP

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

1992

RESUMO

The behavior and ecology of a group of six brown howlers were studied weekly during 12 months in the Santa Genebra Reserve (22º49 45"S and 47º06 33"W), near the city of Campinas. The reserve has 250 ha of secondary, mesophitic, semi-deciduous forest. Simultaneously, the phenology of 186 trees of 72 species and 29 families was monitored. The "scan sampling method" was used to sample the activity pattern and the diet from dawn until dusk on each sample day with scans of three minutes of duration and 10-minutes intervals. Sixty complete days of observation were utilized, yielding 718 hours of animal-observer contact, and 2,943 feeding records. The group s home range was studied by plotting its daily range on a map. On average, the group rested for 64% of the daiIy period, and feeding and traveI1ing occupied 18% and 13% of this period, respectively. A significantly greater proportion of time was spent feeding during the dry season (24%) than in the wet season (15%), and the reverse of this pattern was observed for the time spent resting (59% and 69% of the daily time in the dry and wet seasons, respectively). The group s home range (4.13 ha) was partially shared by five neighbour groups, and it was slightly greater during the wet season (3.63 ha>than in the dry season (3.13 ha). The diet was composed of leaves (73%), flowers (12%) and fruits (5%), from 67 identified plant species. Celtis iguanae, Cassia ferruginea and lnga spp. were the most important plant species for the howlers, accounting for approximately 50 % of its diet. Young leaves (59%) were prefered to mature leaves (31%). Tree species contributed to 56% of the ingested leaves, and liana species to 41% of the leaf diet. The ingestion of young leaves, flowers and fruits was positively correlated to the availability of these items in the forest; however, the correlations were not significant for flowers and fruits. In comparison to other works, the diet of the study group was poorer in fruits and richer in young leaves of lianas, and its home range was rather small. These results are probable consequences of the proliferation of lianas and the high number of howlers existing in the reserve.

ASSUNTO(S)

ecologia animal ecologia primatas

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