title: Dietary adaptations of Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis) in limestone forests in Southwest China.
abstract: Limestone hills are an unusual habitat for primates, prompting them to evolve specific behavioral adaptations to the component karst habitat. From September 2012 to August 2013, we collected data on the diet of one group of Assamese macaques living in limestone forests at Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Guangxi Province, China, using instantaneous scan sampling. Assamese macaques were primarily folivorous, young leaves accounting for 75.5% and mature leaves an additional 1.8% of their diet. In contrast, fruit accounted for only 20.1%. The young leaves of Bonia saxatilis, a shrubby, karst-endemic bamboo that is superabundant in limestone hills, comprised the bulk of the average monthly diet. Moreover, macaques consumed significantly more bamboo leaves during the season when the availability of fruit declined, suggesting that bamboo leaves are an important fallback food for Assamese macaques in limestone forests. In addition, diet composition varied seasonally. The monkeys consumed significantly more fruit and fewer young leaves in the fruit-rich season than in the fruit-lean season. Fruit consumption was positively correlated with fruit availability, indicating that fruit is a preferred food for Assamese macaques. Of seventy-eight food species, only nine contributed >0.5% of the annual diet, and together these nine foods accounted for 90.7% of the annual diet. Our results suggest that bamboo consumption represents a key factor in the Assamese macaque's dietary adaptation to limestone habitat.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Rare and Endangered Animal Ecology, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chengming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chuangbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Libin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Huaxing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Guangzhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Qihai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate; D002681:China; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005518:Food Preferences; D065928:Forests; D005638:Fruit; D008251:Macaca / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D002119:Calcium Carbonate
keywords: Assamese macaque; Macaca assamensis; dietary adaptations; limestone forests