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 associ-
ated 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 inver-
tebrates on a dry matter basis likely contributed to females’ ability to consume mac-
ronutrients 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
