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High population density of black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Costa Rican lowland wet forest

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to estimate the population density and demographic structure of spider monkeys living in wet forest in the vicinity of Sirena Biological Station, Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. Results of a 14-month line-transect survey showed that spider monkeys of Sirena have one of the highest population densities ever recorded for this genus. Density estimates varied, however, depending on the method chosen to estimate transect width. Data from behavioral monitoring were available to compare density estimates derived from the survey, providing a check of the survey’s accuracy. A combination of factors has most probably contributed to the high density of Ateles, including habitat protection within a national park and high diversity of trees of the fig family, Moraceae. Although natural densities of spider monkeys at Sirena are substantially higher than those recorded at most other sites and in previous studies at this site, mean subgroup size and age ratios were similar to those determined in previous studies. Sex ratios were similar to those of other sites with high productivity. Although high densities of preferred fruit trees in the wet, productive forests of Sirena may support a dense population of spider monkeys, other demographic traits recorded at Sirena fall well within the range of values recorded elsewhere for the species.

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Acknowledgments

I thank the staff of Sirena station, particularly Paulino Valverde, and the administration of ACOSA and MINAE, particularly Javier Guevara and Eliecer Arce. I thank Sabrina Adleman, Delanie Hurst, Robert Lessnau and his team of assistants, Andres Vega, Larry Gilbert, Erika Deinert, and Reinaldo Aguilar. This project was supported by NSF award #0233248 (with Robert Sussman), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists, and Washington University. Funds were provided to L.E. Gilbert (University of Texas at Austin) for Sirena’s field laboratory facility by NSF BSR 8315399 and a matching WWF grant, and for updating Sirena’s trail system and installation of spatial reference system by the Mellon Foundation through the Institute of Latin American Studies at UT Austin. I thank Robert Sussman, Larry Gilbert, Alejandro Estrada, Paul Garber, the KU mammalogy discussion group, Frances White, and an anonymous reviewer for providing comments on this manuscript. I thank Rafe Brown for much helpful criticism on various drafts of this manuscript and for his support and encouragement throughout.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63130-4899, USA

    Jennifer A. Weghorst

  2. Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7163, USA

    Jennifer A. Weghorst

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Correspondence to Jennifer A. Weghorst.

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Weghorst, J.A. High population density of black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Costa Rican lowland wet forest. Primates 48, 108–116 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-006-0025-y

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