Population ecology of vervet monkeys in a high latitude, semi-arid riparian woodland
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Date
2013
Authors
Pasternak, Graham M.
Brown, Leslie R.
Kienzle, Stefan W.
Fuller, Andrea
Barrett, Louise
Henzi, Peter
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
South African National Parks, Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Parke
Abstract
Narrow riparian woodlands along non-perennial streams have made it possible for vervet
monkeys to penetrate the semi-arid karoo ecosystem of South Africa, whilst artificial water
points have more recently allowed these populations to colonize much more marginal habitat
away from natural water sources. In order to better understand the sequelae of life in these
narrow, linear woodlands for historically ‘natural’ populations and to test the prediction that
they are ecologically stressed, we determined the size of troops in relation to their reliance
on natural and artificial water sources and collected detailed data from two river-centred
troops on activity, diet and ranging behaviour over an annual cycle. In comparison to other
populations, our data indicate that river-centred troops in the karoo were distinctive primarily
both for their large group sizes and, consequently, their large adult cohorts, and in the extent of
home range overlap in what is regarded as a territorial species. Whilst large group size carried
the corollary of increased day journey length and longer estimated interbirth intervals, there
was little other indication of the effects of ecological stress on factors such as body weight
and foraging effort. We argue that this was a consequence of the high density of Acacia karroo,
which accounted for a third of annual foraging effort in what was a relatively depauperate
floristic habitat. We ascribed the large group size and home range overlap to constraints on
group fission.
Conservation implications: The distribution of group sizes, sampled appropriately across
habitats within a conservation area, will be of more relevance to management than average
values, which may be nothing more than a statistical artefact, especially when troop sizes are
bimodally distributed.
Description
Sherpa Romeo green journal: open access
Keywords
Vervet monkeys , Semi-arid , Riparian woodlands , Migration pathways , Ecological stress , Population ecology
Citation
Pasternak, G., Brown, L.R., Kienzle, S., Fuller, A., Barrett, L., & Henzi, S.P. (2013). Population ecology of vervet monkeys in a high latitude, semi-arid riparian woodland. Kodoe, 55(1): 1078. doi:10.4102/koedoe.v55i1.1078