Variação sazonal e longitudinal na ecologia alimentar de Chiropotes sagulatus Trail, 1821 na Amazônia brasileira

• Ano de defesa: 2016
• Autor(a) principal: Moura, Viviane Sodré
• Orientador(a): Ferrari, Stephen Francis
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Sergipe
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação
• País: Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Português: Ecologia animal; Dieta; Comportamento animal; Ecologia comportamental; Conservação
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Behavioral ecology; Diet; Conservation
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ECOLOGIA
• Link de acesso: https://ri.ufs.br/handle/riufs/4472

The present study investigated the seasonal and longitudinal variation in the feeding ecology of a group of cuxiús, Chiropotes sagulatus, in the Saracá-Taquera National Forest, in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Pará. For the collection of quantitative behavioral data, the habituated study group, denominated the Bacaba group, was monitored between July 2011 and March 2012 (in all months except September) and November 2014. Data on the behavior and diet of the study group were collected on three to five days per month, based on instantaneous scan sampling, with a two-minute scan being conducted at 10-minute intervals, during which the number of individuals present was counted and samples of food items were collected. The Bacaba group contained 67 members. A total of 35 complete days of observation were conducted, and the general activity budget was Locomotion (41.2%), Rest (30.2%), Foraging (13.5%), and Feeding (8.1%), social interactions and others (6.9%). The normality of the data was evaluated using the Shapiro-Wilk test, variation in the size of subgroups was assessed using Student’s t, seasonal and longitudinal variation in the activity budget and composition of the diet was evaluated using binomial z scores, as well as Jaccard’s similarity index, for the comparison of the taxonomic composition of the diet. There was a tendency for the formation of larger subgroups during the rainy season of 2011, although the difference was not significant. Locomotion increased significantly during the rainy season, when Feeding and Foraging decreased, while Rest and Social Interactions increased significantly in the dry season. The diet of the Bacaba group was dominated by seeds throughout the study period, with high rates of ingestion of immature seeds being recorded during both the dry (59.9%) and rainy (47.7%) seasons, with a significant seasonal difference for seed feeding. Flower parts and the seeds of dry fruit were consumed only during the dry season. Significant differences were found between years in all behavior categories, although the composition of the diet was maintained, despite major modifications in its taxonomic composition, reflecting the capability of the cuxiús to obtain a high quality diet despite seasonal fluctuations in resource availability. The most important plant families in the study group’s diet were the Sapotaceae, Moraceae, Fabaceae, Chrysobalanaceae and Lecythidaceae, which are known to be important for Chiropotes. This study reconfirms the behavioral patterns and diet found in the genus Chiropotes, emphasizing the flexibility of its feeding ecology and energy-maximizing foraging strategy.