Dietary Profile, Food Composition, and Nutritional Intake of Female White-Faced Capuchins

Abstract

Seasonal variation in food availability and nutritional intake can ultimately affect female reproductive success. Although many primate studies have looked at foraging behaviour as a measure of diet, nutritional ecology and associated physiological consequences are a relatively new area of research. We present data on variation in the dietary profiles, foraging behaviour, and nutritional intake of female white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) in response to temporal variation in food abundance within the home ranges of three groups in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector Santa Rosa, Costa Rica. We estimated nutritional requirements based on published laboratory research and nutritional standards to determine whether females meet requirements in the face of seasonal variation in food abundance. Our results show that fruit contributed most to overall energy gain despite females devoting a greater proportion of foraging time to invertebrates; thus time spent foraging does not accurately reflect energy intake. On a dry matter basis, fruits provided the most important source of water-soluble carbohydrates, whereas high proportions of protein intake came from invertebrates, particularly when fruit availability was low. However, the greater weight of fruit items compared to invertebrates on a dry matter basis likely contributed to females’ ability to consume macronutrients at higher rates while foraging on fruit due to higher mass intake per unit time. Requirement estimates and observed intake revealed that there are times during low-fruit seasons in which females do not appear to meet their minimum nutritional requirements, warranting further investigation into the physiological consequences of this shortfall.