Padrões ecológicos do sagui-do-nordeste Callithrix jacchus (Primates, Callitrichidae) em uma área de caatinga no alto sertão sergipano

• Ano de defesa: 2013
• Autor(a) principal: Amora, Tacyana Duarte
• Orientador(a): Ferrari, Stephen Francis
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação
• Palavras-chave em Português: Caatinga; Ecologia animal; Animais - Comportamento; Callithrix jacchus
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Animal behavior; Animal ecology
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::OUTROS
• Link de acesso: https://ri.ufs.br/handle/riufs/4422

The common marmoset, Callithrix jacchus, is endemic to the Brazilian Northeast, where it is found in the humid Atlantic Forest and the more arid Caatinga. While there have been numerous studies in the Atlantic Forest, the ecology of the species in the Caatinga is poorly known. The present study aimed to provide a systematic data base on the ecology of the species in this semiarid environment, and contribute to the understanding of its specializations for survival under extreme conditions. Three groups (G1, G2, and G3) were monitored in the Grota do Angico Natural Monument (Sergipe, Brazil) between October, 2001, and September, 2012. Data were collected on the behaviour and feeding ecology of G1 and the home ranges of all three groups. Quantitative behavioural data were collected in focal animal samples (adults only), with 5-minute samples being collected at 5-minute intervals throughout the daily activity period. The position of the group during each sample was recorded with a GPS, and mapped on a virtual 50 m x 50 m grid for the measurement of the home range. The members of group G1 spent most of their time at rest (36.26%), foraging (29.26%), and moving (17.17%), and much less time engaging in social activities (1.81%). Considerable variation was observed during the course of the year in the duration of the daily activity period, but an adjusted time budget revealed only slight variation in behavioural pattern over the course of the year. Up to a point, the diet of the study group was typical of C. jacchus, being based primarily on the consumption of plant exudates and insects, but the consumption of unusual alternative resources peaked in some months, with leaves contributing up to 39.74% of the diet in December, nectar 30.81% in November, and toxic fruit 23.08% in August. Terrestrial bromeliads and cacti were other also included in the diet. The groups were relatively small in size, with between two and eight members, but occupied unexpectedly large home ranges 14.94 hectares for G1, 41.16 ha for G2, and 26.15 ha for G3, many times larger than those recorded in other environments. Overall, the results of the present study re-emphasise the adaptive potential of C. jacchus for survival in extreme conditions of climate and resource availability, with clear evidence of the adoption of alternative ecological strategies in the Caatinga in comparison with the Atlantic Forest.