Ecological factors and specific behavioural patterns determining primate diet
Résumé
The variety of field methods --- sampling or continuous observation of feeding, measurement of food intake by kind or weight, analysis of stomach contents, the choice of which is dictated by local circumstances --- have resulted in real progress in defining and explaining specific food choices and feeding strategies; they do allow comparisons to be made. The ecological background has been clarified considerably, but fuller laboratory studies are necessary before we can implement on any practical scale the theoretical approach of feeding 'economy' advanced by Altmann, and more quantitative data on food intake must be accumulated before comparisons can be made with human nutrition, as shown by I. de Garine. The continued collection of quantitative data n both field and laboratory is necessary to consolidate our understanding of the energetic and nutritional aspects of feeding and of the dynamics of primate communities --- to explain how and why diets are strictly maintained in the different ecological niches.
Origine : Accord explicite pour ce dépôt
Loading...