科研之友
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摘要
Francois langur Trachypitheus francoisi is a threatened monkey species whose populations have been declining rapidly during the last four decades, and at the same time, there has been a servere fragmentation of the species' habitat. Using focal animal sampling and continuous recording, we studied food selection of a group fo Francois langur in a small fragmented habitat in the county of Fusui, Guangxi Province, China. we also analysed the vegetation data obtained within their home range using quadrant sampling. The langurs consumed a higher proportion of leaves but from a smaller number of plant species than their conspecifics in continuous habitats. They selectively utilised specific species as food sources, and they spent 61.6% of theirr feeding time on four staple species, whilst only 38.4% of their feeding time was spent on the 36 plant species that were either seasonally or rarely consumeed food items. Although our sample sizes were small and from a single group, our results suggest that, similar to other colobine species, Francois langurs in a fragmented habiat are highly selective feeders. Although the langurs appeared reasonably tolerant and well adapted to cope with habitat fragmentation in the short-term, they are still to be considered as highly vulnerable as their survival depends on a small number of food plants, which themselves could be threatened by other factors.
