The Effects of Habitat Disturbance on the Populations of Geoffroy's Spider Monkeys in the Yucatan Peninsula
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The Effects of Habitat Disturbance on the Populations of Geoffroy’s Spider Monkeys in the Yucatan Peninsula PhD thesis Denise Spaan Supervisor: Filippo Aureli Co-supervisor: Gabriel Ramos-Fernández August 2017 Instituto de Neuroetología Universidad Veracruzana 1 For the spider monkeys of the Yucatan Peninsula, and all those dedicated to their conservation. 2 Acknowledgements This thesis turned into the biggest project I have ever attempted and it could not have been completed without the invaluable help and support of countless people and organizations. A huge thank you goes out to my supervisors Drs. Filippo Aureli and Gabriel Ramos- Fernández. Thank you for your guidance, friendship and encouragement, I have learnt so much and truly enjoyed this experience. This thesis would not have been possible without you and I am extremely proud of the results. Additionally, I would like to thank Filippo Aureli for all his help in organizing the logistics of field work. Your constant help and dedication to this project has been inspiring, and kept me pushing forward even when it was not always easy to do so, so thank you very much. I would like to thank Dr. Martha Bonilla for offering me an amazing estancia at the INECOL. Your kind words have encouraged and inspired me throughout the past three years, and have especially helped me to get through the last few months. Thank you! A big thank you to Drs. Colleen Schaffner and Jorge Morales Mavil for all your feedback and ideas over the past three years. Colleen, thank you for helping me to feel at home in Mexico and for all your support! I very much look forward to continue working with all of you in the future! I would like to thank the CONACYT for my PhD scholarship and the Instituto de Neuroetología for logistical, administrative and financial support. I would like to thank the Instituto de Ecologia, A.C. for the facilities provided. My field research was kindly funded by the National Geographic Society Young Explorers Grant and the PROCER grant of the CONANP. Additionally, I would like to thank National Geographic Society for inviting me to be part of the Young Explorers Meet-Up and introducing me to an amazing community of researchers and storytellers. I thank the European Federation of Primatology for the travel grant that enabled me to present my research at the European Federation of Primatology Conference in Rome in 2015. I also thank the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation for the student scholarship to attend the annual meeting to be held in Merida in 2017. I would like to thank the CONANP for allowing me to conduct field research in three protected areas. I would additionally like to thank Sandra Flores for all her encouragement and enthusiasm in this project. A huge thank you to Kathy Slater, Operation Wallacea and the team of Pronatura Peninsula Yucatan for logistical help in Calakmul and Santa Clara. I thank the residents of Los Arboles Tulum for allowing me to perform surveys and I hope they will continue to conserve the spider monkeys living there. I would like to thank Drs. Vinicio Sosa Fernández, Roger Guevara Hernández, Salvador Mandujano Rodríguez, Sonia Antonieta Gallina Tessaro and Victor Arroyo Rodríguez for 3 invaluable advice and feedback on statistical and population analyses. I learnt a great deal from our conservations. Karla Hernández Hernández without your hard work and dedication I would still be measuring trees today. Thank you for your friendship and all the great memories in the forest! Braulio Pinacho Guendulain, thank you for introducing me to line transect surveys, accompanying me into the field, and helping me to train field asistants. I learnt so much! Alfredo Dorantes Euán, thank you for your invaluable help in identifying tree species and answering my endless questions. This project would not have been possible without the immense help and dedication of my field assistants. I would like to thank Juan Can Yam, Jorge Can Yam, Don Nemencio, Don Cirilo, Juan, Agusto, Eulogio and Macedonio Canul, and Anthony Denice for their help in Otoch M’aax yetel Kooh. In particular, I would like to thank Juan Can Yam for accompanying me on countless surveys. Thank you to Esteban Domínguez Bonilla and his family for accompanying me into the forest and opening their home up to me in Calakmul. Thank you to Adrian, Ricardo, Don Eutimio, Don Adumauro, Don Lorenzo Franco, Don Javier, Don Loretto, Manuel and Manuel for all your help in Bala’an K’aax and your continued commitment to conservation. It was extremely inspiring and a real joy to work there. I would especially like to thank Don Eutimio and Don Lorenzo Franco for allowing me to stay in their homes and to Doña Amalia for all the delicious meals. In Santa Clara I would like to thank Marcos and his family for helping me in the field. A huge thank you goes to my family and friends for supporting me these past three years. Thanks to Amor Saldaña, Tania Palacios, Fay Moorland, Anthony Denice and Coral Rangel for all the laughs and good times in the field. A big thanks to my friends and lab mates in Xalapa for making my final year extremely memorable. In particular I want to thank Gonzalo Pinilla Buitrago for all your love and support these past two years. I hope we continue to create lots of great memories together. 4 Table of Contents Table of Tables ....................................................................................................................7 Table of Figures ...................................................................................................................7 Abstract ................................................................................................................................9 Chapter 1: General introduction ....................................................................................12 1.1 Habitat disturbance ..................................................................................................13 1.2 Flexibility in response to habitat change .................................................................17 1.3 Spider monkey susceptibility to habitat disturbance ...............................................22 1.4 Primate conservation in Mexico..............................................................................23 1.5 Surveying spider monkeys ......................................................................................27 1.6 General objective ....................................................................................................27 Chapter 2: General methods ...........................................................................................29 2.1 Study sites ....................................................................................................................29 2.1.1 Otoch Ma’ax yetel Kooh ......................................................................................30 2.1.2 Calakmul ..............................................................................................................33 2.1.3 Los Arboles ..........................................................................................................34 2.1.4 Bala’an K’aax.......................................................................................................35 2.1.5 Santa Clara ...........................................................................................................36 2.2 Data collection .............................................................................................................38 2.2.1 Study design .........................................................................................................38 2.2.2 Line transects .......................................................................................................39 2.3 Data analysis ................................................................................................................42 2.3.1 Generalized linear mixed models .........................................................................42 2.3.2 Estimating population density ..............................................................................43 Chapter 3: Testing line transect surveys for fast-moving primates with high levels of fission-fusion dynamics ....................................................................................................46 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................46 3.1.1 Line transect assumptions ....................................................................................49 3.1.2 Estimating population density ..............................................................................52 3.1.3 Aims and objectives .............................................................................................54 3.1.2 Hypotheses and predictions ......................................................................................55 3.2 Method .........................................................................................................................56 3.2.1 Study site and subjects .........................................................................................56 3.2.2 Study design .........................................................................................................57 3.2.3 Data analysis ........................................................................................................60 3.2.3.1 Spider monkey counts ..................................................................................60