Fragments and food red-tailed monkey abundance in privately owned forest fragments of central Uganda
Understanding the strategies that primates use to survive in fragmented forest landscapes is vital for constructing informed management plans for specifi c regions and to enable researchers to start to make generalizations. In a 15-month study, we investigated factors that infl uenced the status of red-tailed monkeys ( Cercopithecus ascanius ) and their plant food resources in 20 of the few remaining privately owned forest fragments in Central Uganda. We employed transect methods for vegetation assessments and censuses with a short stop upon sighting redtails to establish demographics and food plants consumed. While the sample involved forests of very different successional stages, forest size was the most important factor infl uencing both red-tail population size and the number of groups per fragment. Number of food tree species infl uenced only the number of red-tail groups per fragment. Basal area of food tree species and food tree abundance per fragment were not related to red-tail population size or the number of groups per fragment. Food tree species richness, total number of trees, and basal area of food trees increased signifi cantly with fragment size. Availability of food resources was affected by various factors including habitat area, the nature and intensity of human exploitation, and how fragments were managed. The number of groups and abundance of red-tail monkeys declined when anthropogenic consumptive activities increased. In the future, as these forests are further degraded, the availability of food resources will continue to decline, and thus, the probability that these red-tail populations will survive much longer seems unlikely.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | Cercopithecus ascanius, Primates, Paisajes fragmentados, Recursos alimenticios, Degradación ambiental, |
| Online Access: | http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/840/bok%253A978-1-4614-8839-2.pdf?auth66=1390514641_e73fadee14fdb44e8d1a47cba7c87d4d&ext=.pdf |
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