Sleeping Sites of Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Logged and Unlogged Tropical Forests

摘要

Selective logging can have negative effects on biodiversity and on key ecological processes such as seed dispersal and forest regeneration. Yet, the effect that timber extraction has on animal behavior and habitat use is poorly known. We tested whether the density, distribution, and composition of sleeping sites used by spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) differed between two logged and two unlogged forest sites in the Calakmul region, southeastern Mexico. We recorded a total of 74 sleeping sites (0.11 sleeping sites/ha). The density of sleeping sites did not differ between forest conditions. Most (97%) sleeping sites were located in medium-stature semievergreen forest, and only 3% in low-stature seasonally inundated forest. In three of four sites, the number of sleeping sites in core areas was significantly greater than expected by chance, showing an aggregated spatial distribution, particularly in areas containing a greater density of feeding trees. About half (51%) of the sleeping sites were composed of a single large tree (mean +/- SD diameter at breast height, 42.2 +/- 21.9 cm) from a small number of tree species, such as Lonchocarpus castelloi, Bucida buceras, and Lysiloma latisiliquum. These results suggest that the current level of timber extraction seems to have no effect on the density, distribution, and composition of sleeping sites. Nevertheless, because the species that were selected as sleeping trees are subject to timber extraction, the availability of sleeping sites is expected to decrease in coming decades, potentially modifying the habitat use of this primate species.