Implications of habitat fragmentation on the diet of bearded saki monkeys in central Amazonian forest

Abstract

Abstract Forest fragmentation demonstrably alters plant species composition, distribution, and diversity, and, in turn, may affect the availability of food resources for primary consumers. We investigated to what extent fragmentation affected the diets of 6 groups of bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes chiropotes) living in two 10-ha fragments, two 100-ha “fragments” that were no longer fully isolated, and 2 areas of continuous forest in central Amazonia. When changes occurred we tested whether differences in diet were due to plant species availability by comparing the prevalence of consumed items against their relative abundance at the 6 sites. In total, the monkeys consumed fruits, seeds, flowers, and leaves of 244 plant species, of which less than 2% were shared among all 6 groups. Although there was a positive correlation between relative abundance of diet species and consumption frequency, monkeys did not eat all available potential resources, and groups inhabiting the 10-ha fragments consumed items tha...