Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest

We compared feeding behavior of frugivorous civets with those of other sympatric frugivores in a Bornean rainforest. For each frugivore residing in 3 different species of fig trees ( Ficus variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina ), we recorded temporal visitation patterns, visitation length, and...

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Main Authors: Miyabi Nakabayashi, Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Shiro Kohshima
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Society of Mammalogists 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/19046/1/Behavioral%20feeding%20strategy%20of%20frugivorous%20civets%20in%20a%20Bornean%20rainforest.pdf
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author Miyabi Nakabayashi
Abdul Hamid Ahmad
Shiro Kohshima
author_facet Miyabi Nakabayashi
Abdul Hamid Ahmad
Shiro Kohshima
author_sort Miyabi Nakabayashi
collection UMS
description We compared feeding behavior of frugivorous civets with those of other sympatric frugivores in a Bornean rainforest. For each frugivore residing in 3 different species of fig trees ( Ficus variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina ), we recorded temporal visitation patterns, visitation length, and time spent searching for fruit spanning 1,758h of observations. The civets were strict nocturnal visitors, whereas the other 5 frugivorous species were diurnal visitors. Civets visited F. variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina trees until 51, 26, and 0.3 days before the end of fruiting, respectively, whereas the other frugivores visited the trees until 84.5, 32, and 1.2 days before the end of fruiting. Civets foraged longer in the F. variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina trees at each visit (119.17, 109.37, and 97.77min, respectively) than did the other frugivores (39.88, 17.06, and 40.2min). Civet search times (62.61, 27.55, and 18.9s) were longer than those of the other frugivores (34.34, 12.46, and 9.49s), and civet search duration significantly increased over time. Our results indicate that nocturnality is the most important factor in avoiding contest competition with larger diurnal frugivores, thus enabling long visits at feeding patches although long search times decreased feeding efficiency. Long foraging visits of civets would be advantageous in fruit-deficient environments and may compensate for their morpho-physiological disadvantages for frugivory.
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spelling ums.eprints-190462018-03-06T00:32:59Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/19046/ Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest Miyabi Nakabayashi Abdul Hamid Ahmad Shiro Kohshima QL Zoology We compared feeding behavior of frugivorous civets with those of other sympatric frugivores in a Bornean rainforest. For each frugivore residing in 3 different species of fig trees ( Ficus variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina ), we recorded temporal visitation patterns, visitation length, and time spent searching for fruit spanning 1,758h of observations. The civets were strict nocturnal visitors, whereas the other 5 frugivorous species were diurnal visitors. Civets visited F. variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina trees until 51, 26, and 0.3 days before the end of fruiting, respectively, whereas the other frugivores visited the trees until 84.5, 32, and 1.2 days before the end of fruiting. Civets foraged longer in the F. variegata , F. fistulosa , and F. benjamina trees at each visit (119.17, 109.37, and 97.77min, respectively) than did the other frugivores (39.88, 17.06, and 40.2min). Civet search times (62.61, 27.55, and 18.9s) were longer than those of the other frugivores (34.34, 12.46, and 9.49s), and civet search duration significantly increased over time. Our results indicate that nocturnality is the most important factor in avoiding contest competition with larger diurnal frugivores, thus enabling long visits at feeding patches although long search times decreased feeding efficiency. Long foraging visits of civets would be advantageous in fruit-deficient environments and may compensate for their morpho-physiological disadvantages for frugivory. American Society of Mammalogists 2016-06 Article PeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/19046/1/Behavioral%20feeding%20strategy%20of%20frugivorous%20civets%20in%20a%20Bornean%20rainforest.pdf Miyabi Nakabayashi and Abdul Hamid Ahmad and Shiro Kohshima (2016) Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest. Journal of Mammalogy, 97 (3). pp. 798-805. ISSN 0022-2372 https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyw005
spellingShingle QL Zoology
Miyabi Nakabayashi
Abdul Hamid Ahmad
Shiro Kohshima
Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest
title Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest
title_full Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest
title_fullStr Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest
title_full_unstemmed Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest
title_short Behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a Bornean rainforest
title_sort behavioral feeding strategy of frugivorous civets in a bornean rainforest
topic QL Zoology
url https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/19046/1/Behavioral%20feeding%20strategy%20of%20frugivorous%20civets%20in%20a%20Bornean%20rainforest.pdf
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