Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hanya, Goro
• Yoshihiro, Shin‐ichi
• Hayaishi, Shuhei
• Takahata, Yukio

Titel

Ranging patterns of Japanese macaques in the coniferous forest of Yakushima: Home range shift and travel rate

Ist Teil von

• American journal of primatology, 2020-10, Vol.82 (10), p.e23185-n/a

Ort / Verlag

United States: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Ranging is one of the most important behavioral adaptations for coping with seasonally fluctuating food and thermal conditions. We studied the ranging patterns, in particular home range shift and travel rate of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in the coniferous forest of Yakushima by tracking a group for 17 months. We also supplemented our data with records collected every August over a 5‐year annual census. The macaque group used the eastern part of their home range from May to September and the western part during the rest of the year. The eastern part of the home range was largely primary forest in the national park, and the altitude was higher than in the western part. When they used the western part, the macaques ate more herbs and fruits from small‐sized trees, the availability of which was higher in the logged forest. This east–west home range shift occurred repeatedly over multiple years. A neighboring group occupied the western part of the focal group's home range in summer, which the focal group did not use in that season. Both temperature and diet affected seasonal changes in the monthly average travel rate. Animals need more energy for thermoregulation when the temperature is low, so the macaques decreased their ranging efforts to save energy at times of low temperature. They increased their ranging distance to eat fungi, since their encounters with this food would increase with the total distance walked. They also increased their travel rate when eating flowers, which had lower food patch (tree) density than other foods such as fruits. The data supported the hypothesis that the macaques capitalize on habitat heterogeneity in a seasonally fluctuating habitat by shifting their home range and modifying their travel rate. A group of Japanese macaques shifted their home range eastward (open circles) in summer and westward (closed circles) in other months. Research Highlights We studied the ranging behavior of a group of Japanese macaques for 17 months. The group shifted their home range seasonally to capitalize on the habitat heterogeneity induced by past logging and elevation. The macaque group modified the travel rate in response to thermal conditions and the distributional properties of the main food in that season.