Abstract
Field observations of the feeding behaviour of Japanese monkeys were carried out from autumn to winter on Kinkazan Island which is covered with cool temperate forest. As a result, the following two points became clear: (1) the available food items were fixed for a long time; and (2) the habitat quality deteriorated monotonously because the monkeys themselves or their competitors, such as wild mice, utilized the food resources. Against the decrease in food intake caused by this deterioration of the habitat quality, the monkeys controlled the decrease in food intake by employing the following strategies: (1) they recovered their feeding speed by exploiting new food patches (patch-increase strategy); (2) they extended the time spent on feeding (time-extension strategy); and (3) they changed their food (food-change strategy). The former two strategies operated earlier than the third one.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Altmann, J., 1974. Observational study of behavior: Sampling method.Behaviour, 49: 227–265.
Azuma, S., K. Hayashi, & M. Kawai, 1967.1966nen Miyagi-ken Kinkazanto ni okeru Dai-honyudobutsu no Chosa: Nihonzaru (Large mammal survey on Kinkazan Island, Miyagi Prefecture in 1966: Japanese monkeys).Ann. Rep. JIBP-CT (5): 197–203. (in Japanese)
Hashizume, H. &S. Yamamoto, 1974. Seed bearing of beech trees (Fagus crenata Blume) in the Chugoku District of Japan (II): The fertility and character of seeds.J. Jap. For. Soc., 56: 393–398. (in Japanese with English abstract)
Izawa, K., 1963a. The nomadic life of a troop of Japanese monkeys living in Kinkazan.Primates, 4: 119. (abstract only)
————, 1963b. Japanese monkeys on Kinkazan Island.Yaen, 14: 5–11. (in Japanese)
————, 1983. The ecological study of wild Japanese monkeys living in Kinkazan Island, Miyagi Prefecture: A preliminary report.Bull. Miyagi Univ. Educ., 18: 24–46. (in Japanese with English summary)
————, 1985a. The ecological study of wild Japanese monkeys living in Kinkazan Island, Miyagi Prefecture: On the seasonal change of vocalization in troops.Bull. Miyagi Univ. Educ., 19: 1–9. (in Japanese with English summary)
————, 1985b. The ecological study of wild Japanese monkeys living in Kinkazan Island, Miyagi Prefecture: On the vocalization of the mating season.Bull. Miyagi Univ. Educ., 20: 7–18. (in Japanese with English summary)
———— &T. Nishida, 1963. Monkeys living in the northern limits of their distribution.Primates, 4: 67–88.
Kuroki, K., 1975. A quantitative study of the daily activity patterns of wild Japanese monkeys,Macaca fuscata fuscata, at Koshima Islet. Master's thesis of Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka.
Maruhashi, T., 1981. Activity patterns of a troop of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata yakui) on Yakushima Island, Japan.Primates, 22: 1–14.
Miguchi, H., 1983. Population dynamics of murid rodents in the next year of the beechnuts mastyear.Nihon-Ringakkai-Kantoshibu-Happyo-Ronbunshu, 35: 187–188. (in Japanese)
———— &K. Maruyama, 1984. Ecological studies on a natural beech forest (XXXVI): Development and dynamics of beechnuts in a mastyear.J. Jap. For. Soc., 66: 320–327. (in Japanese with English abstract)
Ohta, K., 1967.1966nen Miyagi-ken Kinkazanto ni okeru Sho-honyurui no Chosa (Small mammal survey on Kinkazan Island, Miyagi Prefecture in 1966).Ann. Rep. JIBP-CT(5): 184–188. (in Japanese)
Suzuki, A., 1965. An ecological study of wild Japanese monkeys in snowy areas: Focused on their food habits.Primates, 6: 31–72.
Takatsuki, S., 1980. Food habits of Sika deer on Kinkazan Island.Sci. Rep. Tohoku Univ. Ser. IV (Biol.), 38: 7–31.
Tokura, H., N. Tanaka, S. Nakagawa, &W. Ohsawa, 1981. Thermal and metabolic responses in the Japanese macaque,Macaca fuscata, acclimated to an ambient temperature of 5°C.Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 69: 591–594.
Wada, K., 1975. Ecology of wintering among Japanese monkeys in Shiga Heights and its adaptive significance.Physiol. Ecol., 16: 9–14. (in Japanese with English abstract)
————, 1979.Yasei Nihonzaru no Sekai (The World of Wild Japanese Monkeys). Kodansha, Tokyo. (in Japanese)
————,K. Moriya, F. Hara, &W. Ohsawa, 1975. On the body fat of Japanese monkeys inhabiting the Shiga Heights.Physiol. Ecol., 16: 104–107. (in Japanese with English abstract)
———— &E. Tokida, 1981. Habitat utilization by wintering Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata) in the Shiga Heights.Primates, 22: 330–348.
Watanabe, T., 1975. Some features of the Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) of Shiga A troop from viewpoint of somatometry.Physiol. Ecol., 16: 55–63. (in Japanese with English abstract)
Wilson, E. O., 1975.Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Belknap Press, Harvard.
Yoshiba, K., 1959. Ecological survey of Japanese monkeys in the Tohoku district.Yaen, 5: 15–23. (in Japanese)
Yoshihiro, S., 1980. Peculiar food habits of the Japanese monkey in Kinkazan.Monkey, 24: 14–15. (in Japanese)
Yoshii, Y. &K. Yoshioka, 1949. Plant communities of Kinkazan Island.Ecol. Rev. (Sendai), 12: 84–105. (in Japanese)
Yoshioka, K., 1960. Effect of deer grazing and browsing upon the forest vegetation on Kinkazan Island.Sci. Rep. Fac. Art. & Sci. (Fukushima Univ.), 9: 7–27.
Yotsumoto, N., 1976. The daily activity rhythm in a troop of wild Japanese monkeys.Primates, 17: 183–204.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Nakagawa, N. Feeding strategies of Japanese monkeys against deterioration of habitat quality. Primates 30, 1–16 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381206
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381206