Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:10:31.066Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Movement Ecology of Siamang in a Degraded Dipterocarp Forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2023

By
Christopher D. Marsh ,
Stephanie A. Poindexter ,
Ross A. Hill ,
Matthew G. Nowak ,
Abdullah Abdullah  and
Amanda H. Korstjens
Edited by
Susan M. Cheyne ,
Carolyn Thompson ,
Peng-Fei Fan  and
Helen J. Chatterjee
Susan M. Cheyne
Affiliation:
Borneo Nature Foundation
Carolyn Thompson
Affiliation:
University College London
Peng-Fei Fan
Affiliation:
Sun Yat-Sen University, China
Helen J. Chatterjee
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

Globally, primates are experiencing the pressures of anthropogenic influences altering natural landscapes. Given the interconnectedness of land use and species conservation, it is vital to understand how primates move within their environments and how they may respond to future land-use changes. Herein, we used unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) vegetation surveys and direct behavioural observations to determine how living in a degraded forest has influenced a wild siamang group in northern Sumatra. Within this population, we found a high level of folivory, relatively infrequent territorial long calls, reused routes, and a preference for areas that corresponded with canopy topography high in elevation. These results show that forest degradation can affect the ranging patterns and land-use behaviour of siamangs. To conserve this species and others that display a comparable response to changes in their environment, we need to prevent further degradation before populations are separated and unable to adapt to the limitations that come with human-mediated landscape changes.

Keywords

movement ecologyanimal behaviourUAVremote sensingcanopy structureforest degradationrainforestIndonesia
Type
Chapter
Information
Gibbon Conservation in the Anthropocene , pp. 188 - 205
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdulhadi, R., Mirmanto, E. and Kartawinata, K. (1987). A lowland dipterocarp forest in Sekundur, north Sumatra, Indonesia: five years after mechanized logging. In Kostermans, A.J.G.H. (ed.), Proceedings of the Third Round Table Conference on Dipterocarps. Unesco Regional Office for Science and Technology for Southeast Asia, Jakarta: 255–273.Google Scholar
Aldrich‐Blake, F.P.G. and Chivers, D.J. (1973). On the genesis of a group of siamang. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 38(2): 631–636.Google Scholar
Alexander, C., Korstjens, A.H. and Hill, R.A. (2017). Structural attributes of individual trees for identifying homogeneous patches in a tropical rainforest. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 55: 68–72.Google Scholar
Alroy, J. (2017). Effects of habitat disturbance on tropical forest biodiversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 114(23): 6056–6061.Google Scholar
Altmann, J. (1974). Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour, 49(3–4): 227–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, K. and Gaston, K.J. (2013). Lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles will revolutionize spatial ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 11(3): 138–146.Google Scholar
Asensio, N., Brockelman, W.Y., Malaivijitnond, S. and Reichard, U.H. (2011). Gibbon travel paths are goal oriented. Animal Cognition, 14(3): 395–405.Google Scholar
Barlow, J., Peres, C.A., Henriques, L.M.P., Stouffer, P.C. and Wunderle, J.M. (2006). The responses of understorey birds to forest fragmentation, logging and wildfires: an Amazonian synthesis. Biological Conservation, 128(2): 182–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlett, T.Q. (2007). The Hylobatidae: small apes of Asia. In Campbell, C.J., Fuentes, A., MacKinnon, K.C., Panger, M. and Bearder, S.K. (eds.), Primates in Perspective. Oxford University Press, New York: 274–289.Google Scholar
Bauer, S. and Klaassen, M. (2013). Mechanistic models of animal migration behaviour: their diversity, structure and use. Journal of Animal Ecology, 82(3): 498–508.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, N.J., Phillips, O.L., Lewis, S.L., et al. (2010). The high value of logged tropical forests: lessons from northern Borneo. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(4): 985–997.Google Scholar
Born, J., Bagchi, R., Burslem, D., et al. (2015). Differential responses of dipterocarp seedlings to soil moisture and microtopography. Biotropica, 47(1): 49–58.Google Scholar
Chapman, C.A. and Reyna-Hurtado, R. (2019). Why movement ecology matters. In Reyna-Hurtado, R. and Chapman, C.A. (eds.), Movement Ecology of Neotropical Forest Mammals: Focus on Social Animals. Springer, Cham, Switzerland: 1–3.Google Scholar
Chapman, C.A. and Rothman, J.M. (2009). Within-species differences in primate social structure: evolution of plasticity and phylogenetic constraints. Primates, 50(1): 12–22.Google Scholar
Chapman, C.A., Chapman, L.J. and Gillespie, T.R. (2002). Scale issues in the study of primate foraging: red colobus of Kibale National Park. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 117: 849–868.Google Scholar
Chaves, O.M., Stoner, K.E. and Arroyo‐Rodríguez, V. (2012). Differences in diet between spider monkey groups living in forest fragments and continuous forest in Mexico. Biotropica, 44(1): 105–113.Google Scholar
Cheyne, S.M. (2010). Behavioural ecology of gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis) in a degraded peat-swamp forest. In Gursky-Doyen, S. and Supriatna, J. (eds.), Indonesian Primates. Springer, New York: 121–156.Google Scholar
Chivers, D.J. (1974). The Siamang in Malaya: A Field Study of a Primate in Tropical Rain Forest. Contributions to Primatology, Vol. 4. Karger, Basel.Google Scholar
Chivers, D.J. (1976). Communication within and between family groups of siamang Symphalangus syndactylus. Behaviour, 57(1–2): 116–135.Google Scholar
Chivers, D.J. and Chivers, S.T. (1975). Events preceding and following the birth of a wild siamang. Primates, 16(2): 227–230.Google Scholar
Chivers, D.J. and Raemaekers, J.J. (1986). Natural and synthetic diets of Malayan gibbons. In Else, J.G. and Lee, P.C. (eds.), Primate Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 39–56.Google Scholar
Chivers, D.J., Raemaekers, J.J. and Aldrich-Blake, F.P.G. (1975). Long-term observations of siamang behaviour. Folia Primatologica, 23(1–2): 1–49.Google Scholar
Cristóbal-Azkarate, J. and Arroyo‐Rodríguez, V. (2007). Diet and activity pattern of howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico: effects of habitat fragmentation and implications for conservation. American Journal of Primatology, 69(9): 1013–1029.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, A.M., Brazier, R.E. and Anderson, K. (2016). Ultra-fine grain landscape-scale quantification of dryland vegetation structure with drone-acquired structure-from-motion photogrammetry. Remote Sensing of Environment, 183: 129–143.Google Scholar
Di Fiore, A. and Suarez, S.A. (2007). Route-based travel and shared routes in sympatric spider and woolly monkeys: cognitive and evolutionary implications. Animal Cognition, 10(3): 317–329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donati, G., Ricci, E., Baldi, N., Morelli, V. and Borgognini‐Tarli, S.M. (2011). Behavioral thermoregulation in a gregarious lemur, Eulemur collaris: effects of climatic and dietary‐related factors. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 144(3): 355–364.Google Scholar
Elder, A.A. (2009). Hylobatid diets revisited: the importance of body mass, fruit availability, and interspecific competition. In Whittaker, D. and Lappan, S. (eds.), The Gibbons: New Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology. Springer, New York: 133–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, M., Coulson, R., Lawing, A.M., Matsuzawa, T. and Koops, K. (2018). Modeling habitat suitability for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Greater Nimba Landscape, Guinea, West Africa. Primates, 59(4): 361–375.Google Scholar
Garber, P.A. (1987). Foraging strategies among living primates. Annual Review of Anthropology, 16(1): 339–364.Google Scholar
Gillespie, T.R. and Chapman, C.A. (2008). Forest fragmentation, the decline of an endangered primate, and changes in host–parasite interactions relative to an unfragmented forest. American Journal of Primatology, 70(3): 222–230.Google Scholar
Green, S.J., Boruff, B.J. and Grueter, C.C. (2020). From ridge tops to ravines: landscape drivers of chimpanzee ranging patterns. Animal Behaviour, 163: 51–60.Google Scholar
Gregory, S.D., Brook, B.W., Goossens, B., et al. (2012). Long-term field data and climate-habitat models show that orangutan persistence depends on effective forest management and greenhouse gas mitigation. PLoS ONE, 7(9): e43846.Google Scholar
Hamard, M., Cheyne, S.M. and Nijman, V. (2010). Vegetation correlates of gibbon density in the peat‐swamp forest of the Sabangau catchment, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. American Journal of Primatology, 72(7): 607–616.Google Scholar
Harel, R., Loftus, J.C. and Crofoot, M.C. (2021). Locomotor compromises maintain group cohesion in baboon troops on the move. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288(1955), 20210839.Google Scholar
Hill, R.A. and Hinsley, S.A. (2015). Airborne LiDAR for woodland habitat quality monitoring: exploring the significance of LiDAR data characteristics when modelling organism–habitat relationships. Remote Sensing, 7(4): 3446–3466.Google Scholar
Hummel, S., Hudak, A.T., Uebler, E.H., Falkowski, M.J. and Megown, K.A. (2011). A comparison of accuracy and cost of LiDAR versus stand exam data for landscape management on the Malheur National Forest. Journal of Forestry, 109(5): 267–273.Google Scholar
Irwin, M.T. (2008a). Feeding ecology of diademed sifakas (Propithecus diadema) in forest fragments and continuous forest. International Journal of Primatology, 29: 95–115.Google Scholar
Irwin, M.T. (2008b). Diademed sifaka (Propithecus diadema) ranging and habitat use in continuous and fragmented forest: higher density but lower viability in fragments? Biotropica, 40: 231–240.Google Scholar
Jungers, W.L. and Stern, J.T. (1984). Kinesiological aspects of brachiation in lar gibbons. In Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D.J., Brockelman, W.Y and Creel, N. (eds.), The Lesser Apes: Evolutionary and Behavioral Biology: Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh: 119–134.Google Scholar
Jungers, W.L. and Susman, R.L. (1984). Body size and skeletal allometry in African apes. In The Pygmy Chimpanzee: Evolutionary Biology and Behavior. Plenum Press, New York: 131–177.Google Scholar
Knop, E., Ward, P.I. and Wich, S.A. (2004). A comparison of orang-utan density in a logged and unlogged forest on Sumatra. Biological Conservation, 120(2): 183–188.Google Scholar
Koh, L.P. and Wich, S.A. (2012). Dawn of drone ecology: low-cost autonomous aerial vehicles for conservation. Tropical Conservation Science, 5(2): 121–132.Google Scholar
Lappan, S. (2007a). Patterns of dispersal in Sumatran siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus): preliminary mtDNA evidence suggests more frequent male than female dispersal to adjacent groups. American Journal of Primatology, 69(6): 692–698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lappan, S. (2007b). Social relationships among males in multimale siamang groups. International Journal of Primatology, 28(2): 369–387.Google Scholar
Lappan, S. (2008). Male care of infants in a siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) population including socially monogamous and polyandrous groups. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 62(8): 1307–1317.Google Scholar
Lappan, S. (2009a). The effects of lactation and infant care on adult energy budgets in wild siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 140(2): 290–301.Google Scholar
Lappan, S. (2009b). Flowers are an important food for small apes in southern Sumatra. American Journal of Primatology, 71(8): 624–635.Google Scholar
Lappan, S. (2010). Siamang socioecology in spatiotemporally heterogenous landscapes: do ‘typical’ groups exist? In Gursky-Doyen, S. and Supriatna, J. (eds.), Indonesian Primates. Springer, New York: 73–96.Google Scholar
Lappan, S. and Morino, L. (2014). Mating in the presence of a competitor: audience effects may promote male social tolerance in polyandrous siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) groups. Behaviour, 151: 1067–1089.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighton, D.R. (1987). Gibbons: territoriality and monogamy. In Smuts, B.B., Cheney, D.L., Seyfarth, R.M. and Wrangham, R.W. (eds.), Primate Societies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago: 143–157.Google Scholar
Light, L.E., Savini, T., Sparks, C.S. and Bartlett, T.Q. (2021). White-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) alter ranging patterns in response to habitat type. Primates, 62(1): 77–90.Google Scholar
Lisein, J., Pierrot-Deseilligny, M., Bonnet, S. and Lejeune, P. (2013). A photogrammetric workflow for the creation of a forest canopy height model from small unmanned aerial vehicle imagery. Forests, 4(4): 922–944.Google Scholar
Marsh, C., Link, A., King-Bailey, G. and Donati, G. (2016). Effects of fragment and vegetation structure on the population abundance of Ateles hybridus, Alouatta seniculus and Cebus albifrons in Magdalena Valley, Colombia. Folia Primatologica, 87(1): 17–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, A.J., Boyko, C.M., Feilen, K.L., Boyko, R.H. and Leighton, M. (2009). Defining fallback foods and assessing their importance in primate ecology and evolution. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 140(4): 603–614.Google Scholar
Marshall, J.T. and Sugardjito, J. (1986). Gibbon systematics. In Swindler, D.R. and Erwin, J. (eds.), Comparative Primate Biology, Vol. 1. Systematics, Evolution, and Anatomy. Alan R. Liss, New York: 137–185.Google Scholar
Matthiopoulos, J. (2003). The use of space by animals as a function of accessibility and preference. Ecological Modelling, 159(2–3): 239–268.Google Scholar
Morino, L. (2016). Dominance relationships among siamang males living in multimale groups. American Journal of Primatology, 78(3): 288–297.Google Scholar
Morino, L. and Borries, C. (2017). Offspring loss after male change in wild siamangs: the importance of abrupt weaning and male care. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 162(1): 180–185.Google Scholar
Muscarella, R., Kolyaie, S., Morton, D.C., Zimmerman, J.K., and Uriarte, M. (2020). Effects of topography on tropical forest structure depend on climate context. Journal of Ecology, 108(1): 145–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nathan, R., Getz, W.M., Revilla, E., et al. (2008). A movement ecology paradigm for unifying organismal movement research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 105(49): 19052–19059.Google Scholar
O’Brien, T.G., Kinnaird, M.F., Nurcahyo, A., Prasetyaningrum, M. and Iqbal, M. (2003). Fire, demography and the persistence of siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus: Hylobatidae) in a Sumatran rainforest. Animal Conservation, 6(2): 115–121.Google Scholar
O’Brien, T.G., Kinnaird, M.F., Nurcahyo, A., Iqbal, M. and Rusmanto, M. (2004). Abundance and distribution of sympatric gibbons in a threatened Sumatran rainforest. International Journal of Primatology, 25(2): 267–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palombit, R.A. (1992). Pair bonds and monogamy in wild siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) in northern Sumatra. PhD thesis, University of California Davis.Google Scholar
Palombit, R.A. (1995). Longitudinal patterns of reproduction in wild female siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar). International Journal of Primatology, 16(5): 739–760.Google Scholar
Palombit, R.A. (1996). Pair bonds in monogamous apes: a comparison of the siamang Hylobates syndactylus and the white-handed gibbon Hylobates lar. Behaviour, 133(5–6): 321–356.Google Scholar
Palombit, R.A. (1997). Inter- and intraspecific variation in the diets of sympatric siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and lar gibbons (Hylobates lar). Folia Primatologica, 68(6): 321–337.Google Scholar
Poindexter, S. A. (2022). Strepsirrhine movement and navigation: sense and sociality. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 45, 101133.Google Scholar
Potts, J.R. and Petrovskii, S.V. (2017). Fortune favours the brave: movement responses shape demographic dynamics in strongly competing populations. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 420: 190–199.Google Scholar
Putz, F.E., Zuidema, P.A., Synnott, T., et al. (2012). Sustaining conservation values in selectively logged tropical forests: the attained and the attainable. Conservation Letters, 5(4): 296–303.Google Scholar
R Core Team (2019). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available at www.R-project.orgGoogle Scholar
Raemaekers, J. (1977). Gibbons and trees: comparative ecology of the siamang and lar gibbons. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Raemaekers, J. (1978). Changes through the day in the food choice of wild gibbons. Folia Primatologica, 30(3): 194–205.Google Scholar
Raemaekers, J. (1979). Ecology of sympatric gibbons. Folia Primatologica, 31(3): 227–245.Google Scholar
Riechert, S.E. (1998). Game theory and animal contests. In Dugatkin, L.A. and Reeve, H.K. (eds.), Game Theory and Animal Behavior. Oxford University Press, New York: 64–93.Google Scholar
Saracco, J.F., Collazo, J.A. and Groom, M.J. (2004). How do frugivores track resources? Insights from spatial analyses of bird foraging in a tropical forest. Oecologia, 139(2): 235–245.Google Scholar
Savini, T., Boesch, C. and Reichard, U.H. (2008). Home‐range characteristics and the influence of seasonality on female reproduction in white‐handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 135(1): 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SOCP (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme) (2016). Sikundur Monitoring Post Annual report for 2015. Available at www.sumatranorangutan.org/content/uploads/2017/06/YEL_Annual_Report_2016_Digital_V1.0.pdfGoogle Scholar
Struebig, M.J., Turner, A., Giles, E., et al. (2013). Quantifying the biodiversity value of repeatedly logged rainforests: gradient and comparative approaches from Borneo. In Woodward, G. and O’Gorman, E.J. (eds.), Advances in Ecological Research, Vol. 48. Global Change in Multispecies Systems: Part 3. Academic Press, London: 183–224.Google Scholar
Takemoto, H. (2004). Seasonal change in terrestriality of chimpanzees in relation to microclimate in the tropical forest. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 124(1): 81–92.Google Scholar
Thapa, S. and Chapman, D.S. (2010). Impacts of resource extraction on forest structure and diversity in Bardia National Park, Nepal. Forest Ecology and Management, 259(3): 641–649.Google Scholar
Thorpe, S.K. and Crompton, R. H. (2005). Locomotor ecology of wild orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii) in the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia: a multivariate analysis using log‐linear modelling. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 127(1): 58–78.Google Scholar
Thorpe, S.K., Holder, R. and Crompton, R.H. (2009). Orang-utans employ unique strategies to control branch flexibility. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 106(31): 12646–12651.Google Scholar
Tilman, D., May, R.M., Lehman, C.L. and Nowak, M.A. (1994). Habitat destruction and the extinction debt. Nature, 371(6492): 65–66.Google Scholar
Tutin, C.E. (1999). Fragmented living: behavioural ecology of primates in a forest fragment in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Primates, 40: 249–265.Google Scholar
van Horn, R.N. (1972). Structural adaptations to climbing in the gibbon hand. American Anthropologist, 74(3): 326–334.Google Scholar
van Schaik, C.P. (2013). The costs and benefits of flexibility as an expression of behavioural plasticity: a primate perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences, 368(1618): 20120339.Google Scholar
van Schaik, C.P., Terborgh, J.W. and Wright, S.J. (1993). The phenology of tropical forests: adaptive significance and consequences for primary consumers. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 24(1): 353–377.Google Scholar
Vellend, M., Verheyen, K., Jacquemyn, H., et al. (2006). Extinction debt of forest plants persists for more than a century following habitat fragmentation. Ecology, 87(3): 542–548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wich, S.A., Sterck, E.H. and Utami, S.S. (1999). Are orang-utan females as solitary as chimpanzee females? Folia Primatologica, 70(1): 23–28.Google Scholar
Wich, S.A., Dellatore, D., Houghton, M., Ardi, R. and Koh, L.P. (2015). A preliminary assessment of using conservation drones for Sumatran orang-utan (Pongo abelii) distribution and density. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 4(1): 45–52.Google Scholar
Wind, J. (1996). Birds of Gunung Leuser National Park. In van Schaik, C.P. and Supriatna, J. (eds.), Leuser: A Sumatran Sanctuary. Perdana Ciptamandiri, Jakarta: 204–230.Google Scholar
Worton, B.J. (1989). Kernel methods for estimating the utilization distribution in home‐range studies. Ecology, 70(1): 164–168.Google Scholar
Zahawi, R.A., Dandois, J.P., Holl, K.D., et al. (2015). Using lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor tropical forest recovery. Biological Conservation, 186: 287–295.Google Scholar
Zhang, M., Fellowes, J.R., Jiang, X., et al. (2010). Degradation of tropical forest in Hainan, China, 1991–2008: conservation implications for Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus). Biological Conservation, 143(6): 1397–1404.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×