Affiliation:
1. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology University of Calgary Calgary Alberta Canada
2. Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica Heredia Costa Rica
3. Área de Conservación Guanacaste La Cruz Costa Rica
4. Nature Conservancy of Canada Toronto Ontario Canada
5. Department of Anthropology CUNY Hunter College New York New York USA
6. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany
7. Institute of Biodiversity Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena Germany
8. Department of Medical Genetics University of Calgary Calgary Alberta Canada
9. Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute University of Calgary Calgary Alberta Canada
Abstract
AbstractUnderstanding diet selectivity is a longstanding goal in primate ecology. Deciphering when and why primates consume different resources can provide insights into their nutritional ecology as well as adaptations to food scarcity. Plant pith, the spongy interior of plant stems, is occasionally eaten by primates, but the context is poorly understood. We examine the ecological, mechanical, chemical, and nutritional basis of plant pith selection by a wild, frugivorous‐omnivorous primate (Cebus imitator). We test the hypothesis that pith is a fallback food, that is, consumed when fruit is less abundant, and test for differences between plant species from which pith is eaten versus avoided. We collected 3.5 years of capuchin pith consumption data to document dietary species and analyzed “pith patch visits” in relation to fruit availability, visits to fruit patches, and climatic seasonality. We analyzed dietary and non‐dietary species for relative pith quantity, mechanical hardness, odor composition, and macronutrient concentrations. Capuchins ate pith from 11 of ~300 plant species common in the dry forest, most commonly Bursera simaruba. We find that pith consumption is not directly related to fruit availability or fruit foraging but occurs most frequently (84% of patch visits) during the months of seasonal transition. Relative to common non‐dietary species, dietary pith species have relatively higher pith quantity, have softer outer branches and pith, and contain more terpenoids, a class of bioactive compounds notable for their widespread medicinal properties. Our results suggest that greater pith quantity, lower hardness, and a more complex, terpenoid‐rich odor profile contribute to species selectivity; further, as pith is likely to be consistently available throughout the year, the seasonality of pith foraging may point to zoopharmacognosy, as seasonal transitions typically introduce new parasites or pathogens. Our study furthers our understanding of how climatic seasonality impacts primate behavior and sheds new light on food choice by an omnivorous primate.
Funder
National Geographic Society
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Canada Research Chairs
Subject
Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics