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Primates (2010) 51:307314 DOI 10.1007/s10329-010-0203-9
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Polyspecic associations of Cercopithecus campbelliand C. petaurista with C. diana: what are the costs and benets?
Paul J. Buzzard
Received: 18 September 2009 / Accepted: 19 May 2010 / Published online: 10 June 2010 Japan Monkey Centre and Springer 2010
Abstract Polyspecic associations (PSA) are common in many African primate communities, including the diurnal primates at Ta Forest, Cte dIvoire. In this paper I use data on the PSA of two forest guenons, Campbells (Cercopithecus campbelli) and lesser spot-nosed monkeys (C. petaurista), with Diana monkeys (C. diana) and other primates to clarify interspecic relationships during 17 months including a 3-month low-fruit period. I analyzed association in relation to fruit availability and measured forest strata use for C. campbelli and C. petaurista when alone and in associations with and without C. diana. I also measured predator risk and reactions to potential predators.C. campbelli and C. petaurista had high association rates with C. diana monkeys, and fruit availability did not inuence association rates. C. campbelli and C. petaurista used higher strata when in association with C. diana than when alone, but they used even higher strata when associated with other primates without C. diana. This suggested that C. diana competitively exclude C. campbelli and C. petaurista from higher strata. There were relatively large numbers of potential predators, and C. diana were usually the rst callers to threatening stimuli, suggesting that antipredator benets of association with C. diana outweighed the competitive costs. C. campbelli spent more
time in association with C. diana than C. petaurista did and appeared to be more reliant on C. diana for antipredator benets. C. petaurista were less reliant on C. diana because of a cryptic strategy and may have associated less in some months because of high chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) presence.
Keywords Mixed-species associations Forest guenons
Cercopithecus campbelli Cercopithecus petaurista
Cercopithecus diana
Introduction
Mixed-species or polyspecic associations (PSA) of two or more species occur in a wide variety of vertebrates such as birds, sh, and mammals such as cetaceans, ungulates, and primates (Itzkowitz 1977; Greenberg 2000; Stensland et al. 2003). Bird species that promote the formation and maintenance of mixed ocks are often termed nuclear species, and associating species are termed satellite species (Moynihan 1962). Nuclear...