文章基本信息

标题：Quadratic relationships between group size and foraging efficiency in a herbivorous primate
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作者：Cyril C. Grueter ; Andrew M. Robbins ; Didier Abavandimwe 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2018
卷号：8
期号：1
页码：16718
DOI：10.1038/s41598-018-35255-0
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：The effect of feeding competition on foraging efficiency is an important link between ecological factors and the social organization of gregarious species. We examined the effects of group size on daily travel distances, activity budgets, and energy intake of mountain gorillas in Rwanda. We measured daily travel distances of five groups, activity budgets of 79 gorillas in nine groups, and energy intake data for 23 adult females in three groups over a 16-month period. Travel distances and the proportion of time spent traveling increased with size for most groups, which would be expected if their foraging efficiency is limited by intragroup feeding competition. However, travel distances and times decreased for the largest group, which also had higher energy intake rates than intermediate sized groups. The improved foraging efficiency of the largest group may be explained by advantages in intergroup contest competition. The largest group had much lower home range overlap than the other study groups which may be due to groups avoiding one another as a result of male mating competition. Collectively, our results indicate that intermediate sized groups had the lowest foraging efficiency and provide a new twist on the growing evidence of non-linear relationships between group size and foraging efficiency in primates.