Interspecific interactions between wild black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) and other mammals in Northeastern Argentina

FERNÁNDEZ VANINA A; PAVÉ, ROMINA; SILVANA PEKER; MARIA AMPARO PEREZ RUEDA

ACTA ETHOLOGICA

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Lugar: HEIDELBERG; Año: 2017 vol. 20 p. 17 - 26

0873-9749

We studied the interactions between wild black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) and other mammals in three sites with different human disturbance and forest structure in northeastern Argentina. The main goal was to evaluate the effect that the study site and type of interaction (agonistic or non-agonistic) can have on the rate of interaction. In addition, we also described the species involved, howler monkeys´activity, and seasonality associated with the interaction rate. We present 50 group years for 14 groups, collected between 2003 and 2012. We registered a total of 29 interactions (0.22 ± 0.26 interactions/100 h). Most interactions (56.7%) were agonistic (12% of high intensity and 88% of low intensity), 41.9% were neutral, and 1.5% affiliative. We found that both factors, site and type of interaction, have an effect on therate of interaction. Interspecific interactions were more frequent at the two sites without human settlement than in the rural site and agonistic interactions were more frequent than non-agonistic ones (neutral and affiliative). Interspecific interactions occurred during resting (46.73%), travelling (27.40%), and feeding (25.87%) and occurredthroughout the year but were mainly concentrated in August (late winter) and September (beginning of spring). Our results suggest that both analyzed factors -site and type of interaction- had an effect on the rate of interaction between howler monkeys and other mammals in northeastern Argentina. Agonistic interactions were more frequent that non-agonistic ones and monkeys reacted agonistically to several mammalian species, but these interactions were mainly of low intensity.