Feeding habitat quality and behavioral trade-offs in chimpanzees: a case for species distribution models.

ABSTRACT: The distribution and abundance of food resources are among the most important factors that influence animal behavioral strategies. Yet, spatial variation in feeding habitat quality is often difficult to assess with traditional methods that rely on extrapolation from plot survey data or remote sensing. Here, we show that maximum entropy species distribution modeling can be used to successfully predict small-scale variation in the distribution of 24 important plant food species for chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. We combined model predictions with behavioral observations to quantify feeding habitat quality as the cumulative dietary proportion of the species predicted to occur in a given location. This measure exhibited considerable spatial heterogeneity with elevation and latit

SUBMITTER: Foerster S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4943107 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature