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Diet and activity budget of Rhinopithecus roxellana in the Qinling Mountains, China

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Abstract

We collected data on diet and daytime activity budget, and investigated the phenology of food trees and food abundance for a group of Rhinopithecus roxellana on the East Ridge of Yuhuangmiao in the Qinling Mountains from November 2001 to December 2003. We calculated the seasonal activity budget using data collected by scan sampling from 84 full-day observations (winter 16, spring 18, summer 28, autumn 22 days). During scan sampling we recorded behavioral states, and the food items and species consumed. The subjects consumed 84 plant species, including trees and shrubs of 29 families, and lichens. Food species varied seasonally. The overall diet of R. roxellana consisted of 29.4% fruit/seeds, 29.0% lichens, 24.0% leaves, 11.1% bark, 4.2% buds, 1.3% twigs and 1.0% unidentified items. Because the abundance of different food items varied seasonally, the monkeys had to shift their major food items seasonally. The annual activity budget of R. roxellana was 36.2% time spent resting, 35.8% feeding, 22.9% moving, and 5.1% other behavior. Seasonal changes in activity budget were observed. R. roxellana spent more time moving in autumn, when the quality of the food might be highest, and least time moving in winter when the food quality might be lowest. Thus, this type of monkey has a passive foraging strategy.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve for permission to conduct this study. We are most grateful to Wang QC and Liang YL, for their arduous efforts in tracking the monkey troop, Professor Yang PH of Northwest Agriculture and Forest University, for identifying plant specimens, and Wada K and several Northwest University students, for their assistance in the field work. We also thank Tan CL, Rogers ME, Phillips JA, and White D for providing helpful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. This study was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (30370202, 30570312 and 30630016), Primate Conservation, Inc., COSMO Oil Eco Card Foundation, and the Zoological Society of San Diego.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, and Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China of Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Songtao Guo & Baoguo Li

  2. Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Songtao Guo

  3. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, 484-8506, Japan

    Kunio Watanabe

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  1. Songtao Guo
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  2. Baoguo Li
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  3. Kunio Watanabe
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Correspondence to Baoguo Li.

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Guo, S., Li, B. & Watanabe, K. Diet and activity budget of Rhinopithecus roxellana in the Qinling Mountains, China. Primates 48, 268–276 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-007-0048-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-007-0048-z

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