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Searching in heterogeneous and limiting environments: foraging strategies of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari)
- Source :
- Journal of Mammalogy. 93:124-133
- Publication Year :
- 2012
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press (OUP), 2012.
-
Abstract
- Searching for patchily distributed, highly localized, and seasonally variable resources in heterogeneous environments poses significant challenges for social species living in cohesive groups. Here, we studied the searching strategies of a highly social mammal, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is a seasonal tropical forest where important resources, such as water and food, are patchy distributed and temporarily scarce. We attempted to determine what theoretical searching model best explained the movement patterns of groups of white-lipped peccaries, including short-tailed, long-tailed, and scale-free distributions. We found that the only distribution that was well supported by the data was a zero-inflated lognormal distribution; this implies a general pattern of normally short-range intensive searching with occasional long-distance directed movements taking the animals away from previously searched areas. We also found that groups concentrated foraging activities around sources of water during the dry season, behaving as central-place foragers while occasionally searching distant areas. We discuss the potential adaptive values of such behavioral strategies for social species living in highly heterogeneous environments.
- Subjects :
- Seasonal tropical forest
Ecology
business.industry
Foraging
Biosphere
Distribution (economics)
Limiting
Biology
biology.organism_classification
Tayassu pecari
Dry season
Genetics
Animal Science and Zoology
Mammal
business
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15451542 and 00222372
- Volume :
- 93
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Mammalogy
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........5c971863ca98f9ce97c97d049b24461e