Order Number 9401818 Ecology and conservation of the endangered lion-tailed macaque (Maeaea silcnus) in the landscape mosaic of the Western Ghats Menon, Shaily A., Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1993 Copyright ©1998 by Menon, Shaily A. All rights reserved. UMI 300N. ZeebRd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE ENDANGERED LION­ TAILED MACAQUE (MACACA SILENUS) IN THE LANDSCAPE MOSAIC OF THE WESTERN GHATS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Shaily A. Menon, B.Sc., M.Sc., M.S. ****** The Ohio State University 1993 Dissertation Committee: Approved by F. E. Poirier, Dept, of Anthropology C. Davis, School of Natural Resources B. Anderson, Center for Mapping (Co-Advisors) T. Bookhout, Dept, of Zoology Interdisciplinary Program Copyright by Shaily A. Menon 1993 For Santosh and Arvind Menon With Love and Gratitude And For The Lion-tailed Macaques W ith Hope ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express gratitude to Dr. Frank E. Poirier for his encouragement throughout my doctoral program and for patient tolerance of my 'independent streak.1 I am deeply indebted to Dr. Craig Davis for his support of the interdisciplinary nature of this project since its inception. H. S. Panwar and A. J. T. Johnsingh, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, provided invaluable administrative support as host-country collaborators. I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Ajith Kumar's guidance during field research, Dr. Ravi Chellam's help with preliminary field surveys, and R. Gopalan’s help with plant identification. The director of the Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore, graciously allowed me access to their herbarium. I acknowledge the support of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, the Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu, and P. C. Tyagi (Wildlife Warden, Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park) and his family. Much of the success of the project is due to the dedication of my tracker, Thangavelu. I am grateful to Dr. David Cunningham, Center for Mapping, for assistance with image analysis and to Dr. Prem Goel and Cathie Hannon, Department of Statistics, for their advice on data analysis. This research received funding from the National Science Foundation, L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, World Wildlife Fund-US, and The Ohio State University Graduate School Alumni Research Award. It is my pleasure to acknowledge their support. I owe deep gratitude to K. K. and Sharada Menon for their gracious hospitality, S. Satish for his encouragement, and the people of Valparai for their warm acceptance of my presence in their midst. I am beholden to Lori Sheeran and James Stewart for their humor, empathy, and constructive input during the writing of this manuscript. For their inexorable confidence in me, I shall remain forever grateful to Catita Williams and David Butler. VITA 1986 ...................... M.S. Animal Behavior and Ecology, University of South Carolina, Columbia. 1984 ....................... M.Sc. Animal Physiology, Bombay University, Bombay, India. 1982 ....................... B.Sc. Biology, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay University, Bombay, India. PUBLICATIONS Menon, S. 1992. Significance of Forest Fragments in the Landscape Mosaic of the Western Ghats. Smithsonian Symposium on Forest Remnants in the Tropical Landscape p. 36 (Abstract). Menon, S. 1992. Conservation of the endangered lion-tailed macaque (M . silenus) in the landscape mosaic of the Western Ghats. American Journal of Primatology 27(1):47 (Abstract). DeCoursey, P. and S. Menon. 1991. Circadian photo-entrainment in a nocturnal rodent: quantitative measurement of light-sampling activity. Animal Behavior 41:781 -785. Menon, S., P. DeCoursey, and D. Bruce. 1988. Frequency modulation of a circadian pacemaker during photoentrainment. Physiological Zoology 61(2): 186-196. Menon, S., Poirier, F.E., and W.R. Dukelow. History of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) and International Primatological Society (IPS). In “History o f American Anthropology ’ F. Spencer ed. Garland Press. In press. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Interdisciplinary Program Studies in Conservation Biology, Ecology, Primatology TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................ Hi VITA ................................................................................................................................................ v TABLES OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER PAGE I. IN TRODUCTION..................................................................................................1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................6 Anthropogenic Disturbance in the Western Ghats and its Effects on Rainforest Vegetation........................................................................ 6 Nonhuman Primate Survival in Disturbed Forests ......................... 14 Behavioral and Life-History Characteristics of the Lion-tailed M acaque ...................................................................................................17 III. STUDY SITES AND METHODS...................................................................... 27 Study S ite ................................................................................................27 M eth o d s.................................................................................................. 37 Vegetation Structure and Composition .......................................37 Activity Pattern and Feeding Ecology of the Lion-tailed Macaque ..........................................................................................39 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................... 45 Vegetation Structure and Composition......................................45 Regeneration of Vegetation.......................................................... 55 Habitat Use by the Lion-tailed Macaques at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest..........................................................................62 Activity Patterns of Lion-tailed Macaques at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest..........................................................................65 Diet and Feeding Ecology of the Lion-tailed Macaques at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest .................................................73 V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................83 APPENDICES.......................................................................................................................... 93 A. Plant Species at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest and Varagaliar B. Notes on Methodology C. Spatial Analyses REFERENCES CITED........................................................................................................112 LIST O F TABLES TABLE.................................................................................................................................. PAGE 1. General characteristics of primary and pioneer plant species........................13 2. List of fauna observed at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest .......................... 34 3. Summary of instantaneous scan sampling data collected at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest............................................................................................43 4. Data recorded for each individual in scans ..................................................... 43 5. Instantaneous scan sampling codes and definitions ....................................... 44 6. Comparison of vegetation characteristics of three forests in the Western G hats..................................................................................................................47 7. Number of seedlings, saplings, and trees of plant species in 20 plots of 100 m^ each at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest .............................................. 56 8. Number of species in 10 frequently disturbed plots and 10 less frequently disturbed plots of 100 each at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest 59 9. Time budgets of lion-tailed macaque groups in three forests ........................66 10. List of plant species in the diet of lion-tailed macaques at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest............................................................................................75 11. Plant species at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest and Varagaliar ranked according to percent of lion-tailed macaque diet ....................................... 78 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE I. Rainforest distribution along the Western Ghats ........................................ 28 2 Some rainforest fragments in and around the Anaimalai Sanctuary .........30 3. Monthly rainfall in Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest and Varagaliar ....35 4. Schematic diagram of Puthotottam Cardamom Forest .............................36 5. Species-area curve for three 400 x 5 m transects at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest...........................................................................................46 6. Vertical profile of trees at Puthuthotam Cardamom Forest .....................49 7. Girth distribution of plants in a 400