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Fruits/seeds Consumption (seed + consumption)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Food choices and habitat use by the Tana River yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus): a preliminary report on five years of data

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Vicki K. Bentley-Condit
Abstract The Tana River Primate National Reserve, Kenya (TRPNR) yellow baboons' (Papio cynocephalus) long-term habitat usage and food preferences are relatively under-reported. The author presents a preliminary food catalog and analyses of 5 years of data (January 88,October 92; n=55 mo; 875 observation days; 4,893 hourly scans) for the Mchelelo troop (x,=75 individuals). The author predicted that the TRPNR baboons would spend more time on the much larger savanna, show a seasonal preference for fruits/seeds, and show rainfall-influenced food preferences. Although more time was spent on the proportionately larger savanna than in the forests, more than 42% of the observations occurred in forests that accounted for only 8.7% of the area regularly used by the baboons. Fruits/seeds consumption was high throughout the period and a significantly higher proportion of each month's observations reflected fruits/seeds rather than grasses/herbs/corms consumption. Two forest species' (Phoenix reclinata and Hyphaene compressa) were particularly important. Regression analysis showed fruits/seeds consumption predicted most of the grasses/herbs/corms consumption variance. There was no statistical difference in rainy vs. non-rainy season fruits/seeds or grasses/herbs/corms consumption. One implication of these data is the baboons' potential impact on the critically endangered Tana River mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus), which also rely heavily on P. reclinata and H. compressa. Another is what the "savanna" designation may or may not tell us about baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 71:432,436, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Disturbance and habitat use: is edge more important than area?

OIKOS, Issue 1 2006
Alissa E. Moenting
In their efforts to maximize fitness while reducing the probability of dying, animals must decide which patches to forage in, when to forage, and how long to forage in each patch. Each decision will be modified by habitat and habitat disturbance. We evaluate the effects of habitat disturbance on foraging behaviour by imagining an initially homogeneous environment that is altered to create patches of different sizes. Disturbance increases predation risk, or otherwise alters patch profitability. Foragers can respond by changing their pattern of foraging, or by reducing their activity. We develop predictions for each scenario. We then test the predictions with data on the abundance and foraging activity of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) in and around four sizes of circular disturbed patches. We created the patches by mowing vegetation in an abandoned hay field in northern Ontario, Canada. The treatments had no effect on vole density, and there was no consistent relationship between vole activity and distance from the edge of disturbed patches. Incidental predation of sunflower seeds, our measure of vole foraging behaviour, declined linearly with increasing patch circumference (edge). Seed consumption by meadow voles, and predation by voles on lower food levels, correlates with the length of edge habitat rather than with the area disturbed. Adaptive behaviour can thereby explain edge effects that, under current priorities emphasizing area, would appear at odds with conservation ecology. [source]

Food choices and habitat use by the Tana River yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus): a preliminary report on five years of data

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Vicki K. Bentley-Condit
Abstract The Tana River Primate National Reserve, Kenya (TRPNR) yellow baboons' (Papio cynocephalus) long-term habitat usage and food preferences are relatively under-reported. The author presents a preliminary food catalog and analyses of 5 years of data (January 88,October 92; n=55 mo; 875 observation days; 4,893 hourly scans) for the Mchelelo troop (x,=75 individuals). The author predicted that the TRPNR baboons would spend more time on the much larger savanna, show a seasonal preference for fruits/seeds, and show rainfall-influenced food preferences. Although more time was spent on the proportionately larger savanna than in the forests, more than 42% of the observations occurred in forests that accounted for only 8.7% of the area regularly used by the baboons. Fruits/seeds consumption was high throughout the period and a significantly higher proportion of each month's observations reflected fruits/seeds rather than grasses/herbs/corms consumption. Two forest species' (Phoenix reclinata and Hyphaene compressa) were particularly important. Regression analysis showed fruits/seeds consumption predicted most of the grasses/herbs/corms consumption variance. There was no statistical difference in rainy vs. non-rainy season fruits/seeds or grasses/herbs/corms consumption. One implication of these data is the baboons' potential impact on the critically endangered Tana River mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus), which also rely heavily on P. reclinata and H. compressa. Another is what the "savanna" designation may or may not tell us about baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 71:432,436, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

An inquiline fig wasp using seeds as a resource for small male production: a potential first step for the evolution of new feeding habits?

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2007
RODRIGO A. SANTINELO PEREIRA
The processes allowing evolutionary transitions in resources used by parasitic wasps are largely unknown. Microhymenopteran communities associated with figs could provide a model system to investigate such transitions. We investigate here a species of genus Idarnes. The larvae generally develop as inquilines of the pollinating wasp larvae. However, in figs where the parasitic pressure is high, eggs are laid in developing seeds. These eggs turn into small males. This is the first report of seed consumption by a fig wasp. Using an alternative resource to produce small males could provide a pathway to select for increased ability to use this resource and hence provide an intermediate step for evolving the capacity to use new resources. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 92, 9,17. [source]