Integration of Spatially-Explicit Behavioral Data and Drone-Based Lidar Mapping Reveals Divergent Microhabitats in Sympatric Tamarins

Abstract

Tamarins (Saguinus spp., Leontocebus spp.) have been characterized as tolerating or even preferring secondary growth and anthropogenically disturbed areas, and as performing critical seed dispersal in these areas. To test the hypothesis that tamarins prefer secondary growth, we segregated animal presence records by behavior and then used niche modeling to quantify the suitability of various microhabitats for emperor tamarins (Saguinus imperator) and saddleback tamarins (Leontocebus weddelli) over a 315 ha area in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon. Our analysis combines fine-scale maps of key environmental parameters derived from drone-borne lidar data with a behaviorally-sensitive niche modeling of animal movement data measured in the field. This combination allows us to define critical and non-critical areas and gain a new and detailed understanding of microhabitat choice. In saddleback tamarins, we find higher-than-expected use of primary forest for foraging activity. In emperor tamarins, conversely, we find a significant preference for secondary forest in sleeping and unexpectedly high presence in anthropogenically disturbed areas. More broadly, we show that behavioral data lends important nuance to niche modeling methods and that, in combination with fine-scale environmental data, this kind of modeling reveals forms of niche segregation not visible when studying presence alone.