Winter and spring food habits of Macaca mulatta tcheliensis in Taihangshan National Nature Reserve in Henan Province of China.
2011, 30(03):
483-488.
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1410 )
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Macaca mulatta tcheliensis, a peculiar subspecies of rhesus macaque in China, is occurred the temperate Mt. Taihangshan area. In November 2008-April 2009, 40 piles of the macaque feces and 91 categories of plant specimen were collected from the Taihangshan National Nature Reserve in Jiyuan of Henan Province, and the micro-histological analysis of feces was used to study the food habits of the rhesus macaque in winter and spring. A total of 21 plant species belonging to 13 families were identified as the food items of the macaque in winter, among these plants, Quercus variabilis, Q. aliena, Eriophorum russeolum, Circaea cordata, and Zelkova schneideriana were the major food items, occupying 55.4% of the eaten plants, while 11 plant species, including Z. sinica, Carpinus cordata, Celastrus orbiculatus, and Diospyros lotus, etc., were the common food items, accounting for 39.1% of the eaten plants. The other 5 plant species were occasionally eaten by the macaque, accounting for 5.2% of the winter diets. In spring, 37 plant species belonging to 24 families were fed by the macaque, among these plants, Q. variabilis, Q. aliena, Poa annua, Z. schneideriana, Z. sinica, Carpinus cordata, C. turczaninowii, Semen hoveniae, Celastrus orbiculatus, and Diospyros lotus were the preferred items, occupying 70.8% of the eaten plants, 14 species including Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Syringa oblata, and S. oblata were the common food items, contributing 23.4% to the eaten plants, and the other 12 species were occasionally consumed by the macaque, accounting for 5.7% of the eaten items. Some of the plant species collected was predated by the macaque both in winter and in spring, but the predated parts of plants differed between two seasons. In winter, the macaque usually ate burgeon and seed; while in spring, the macaque usually ate leaf and flower. Furthermore, the diet of the macaque was more extensive in spring than that in winter.
