When top-down becomes bottom up: behaviour of hyperdense howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) trapped on a 0.6 ha island.

dc.contributor.author

Orihuela, Gabriela

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Terborgh, John

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Ceballos, Natalia

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Glander, Kenneth

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Nascimento, Fabio S

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United States

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2018-03-01T20:17:13Z

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2018-03-01T20:17:13Z

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2014

dc.description.abstract

Predators are a ubiquitous presence in most natural environments. Opportunities to contrast the behaviour of a species in the presence and absence of predators are thus rare. Here we report on the behaviour of howler monkey groups living under radically different conditions on two land-bridge islands in Lago Guri, Venezuela. One group of 6 adults inhabited a 190-ha island (Danto) where they were exposed to multiple potential predators. This group, the control, occupied a home range of 23 ha and contested access to food resources with neighbouring groups in typical fashion. The second group, containing 6 adults, was isolated on a remote, predator-free 0.6 ha islet (Iguana) offering limited food resources. Howlers living on the large island moved, fed and rested in a coherent group, frequently engaged in affiliative activities, rarely displayed agonistic behaviour and maintained intergroup spacing through howling. In contrast, the howlers on Iguana showed repulsion, as individuals spent most of their time spaced widely around the perimeter of the island. Iguana howlers rarely engaged in affiliative behaviour, often chased or fought with one another and were not observed to howl. These behaviors are interpreted as adjustments to the unrelenting deprivation associated with bottom-up limitation in a predator-free environment.

dc.identifier

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24743575

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PONE-D-13-20428

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1932-6203

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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16153

dc.language

eng

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Public Library of Science (PLoS)

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PLoS One

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10.1371/journal.pone.0082197

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Aggression

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Alouatta

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Animals

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Behavior, Animal

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Body Weight

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Diet

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Female

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Homing Behavior

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Islands

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Male

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Population Density

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When top-down becomes bottom up: behaviour of hyperdense howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) trapped on a 0.6 ha island.

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Journal article

duke.contributor.orcid

Terborgh, John|0000-0002-8238-4583

duke.contributor.orcid

Glander, Kenneth|0000-0001-9563-4660

pubs.author-url

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24743575

pubs.begin-page

e82197

pubs.issue

4

pubs.organisational-group

Duke

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Environmental Sciences and Policy

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Evolutionary Anthropology

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Nicholas School of the Environment

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Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

pubs.publication-status

Published online

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9

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