Nevertheless, results also suggested active associations in all the periods analyzed, which may influence individual space-use decisions, particularly for females. Results indicated a more concentrated use of space, increased individual gregariousness and higher spatio-temporal association rates in the fruit-abundant seasons, as is compatible with an increase in passive associations. I examined the socio-spatial patterns of adult individuals from the group, to evaluate changes from fruit-scarce to fruit-abundant periods in the size of the areas used, the size of monkey aggregations (subgroups) and in the occurrence of two types of association measures: spatial (based on the overlap of the areas used) and spatio-temporal (based on the co-occurrence of individuals in the same subgroup). In particular, I present an analysis directed to understand the relationship between space-use and social structure in a group of free-living spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). I explored the problem for species organized in groups which constantly change their size, composition and cohesion, known as species with high fission-fusion dynamics. In this thesis I investigated the influence of social life on animal space-use and its relationship with the ability of animal groups to cope with environmental change. However, knowledge on how individual movement decisions relate to ecological variation and give rise to the observed grouping patterns is still scant. The flexibility in grouping patterns which characterize species with high fission-fusion dynamics, presumably allows individuals to adjust their socio-spatial context according to variability in their ecological context. 2008 ), ecological models alone have proven insufficient to explain many of these observations(Lehmann and Boesch 2003 Chapman and Rothman 2009 Shultz et al. 2012a).Although temporal variation in these features of fission-fusion dynamics has often been found to correlate with resource availability(Shimooka 2003 Wallace 2006 Smith et al. 2015), movement patterns(Doran 1997 Valero and Byrne 2007) and ranging area(Murray et al. 2008), subgroup cohesion(Boesch 1996 Pinacho Guendulain 2010), subgroup composition(Chapman 1990), intensity and stability of associations(Ilany et al. This variation has been observed as seasonal changes in average subgroup size(Chapman et al. In this plastic social arrangement,grouping and ranging patterns change continuously over time(Wittemyer et al.
2011 and Nyctalus lasiopterus: Popa-Lisseanu et al. 2005 and several bats like Myotis bechsteinii: Kerth et al. 2008 African buffalo, Syncerus caffer: Cross et al.
2000 spotted hyenas, Crocuta crocuta: Smith et al. chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes and spider monkeys, Ateles spp.: McFarland Symington 1990 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus: Connor et al. In contrast, proximity patterns were minimally affected by changes in fruit availability, suggesting that social factors are more important than food availability in determining cohesion within subgroups.
We showed that association patterns vary between seasons, respond to changes in fruit availability, and are influenced by the sex of individuals, likely reflecting biological and behavioral differences between sexes and the interplay between ecological and social factors. Social network analyses allowed us to evaluate association and proximity patterns in subgroups. We evaluated fruit availability by monitoring the phenology of the 10 most important food tree species for spider monkeys in the study site. We identified subgroup members and estimated their Interindividual distances through instantaneous scan sampling. We tested the influence of fruit availability and social factors on the association and proximity patterns using three-year data from a group of spider monkeys in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. We explore the relative contribution of fruit availability and social factors like sex in determining association and proximity patterns in spider monkeys. In this study, we shed light on the way that FFD allows animal groups to cope with fluctuations in fruit availability. Some social species exhibit high levels of fission-fusion dynamics (FFD) that improve foraging efficiency.
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