Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

Table 7.10. Comparison of ethnoecological and ecological data sets for Dasyprocta agouti
Subject Ethnoecological observations Ecological observations
Diet Seeds dominate, fruits also
Seeds and fruit pulp each comprise
important
around 40% of diet, seeds being
Raid farms for a variety of crops slightly more. Small amounts of
Use discarded animal bones and
tortoise shells for gnawing
unspecified animal food eaten [1]
Face food shortage during dry More pulp eaten when available, but
season, when food is obtained by total food intake lower at time of
crop-raiding, returning to sites
where fruit pulp previously eaten to
peak fruit availability [1]
consume the seeds, and use of Bury nuts in ground to be retrieved
seeds cached when abundant,
especially those of Licania
Attalea regia and Licania most
important foods
Seed predators
when food scarce [6]
Habitat use Found in forest, bush islands and Inhabit all forest types, including
gallery forest in savannahs
disturbed forest[2]
Most abundant in farming area Prefer areas with undergrowth for
cover [6]
Activity Diurnal, sometimes nocturnal Diurnal, with activity extending into
patterns
first hour of night [2]
Resting
place
Burrows or holes in rotten trees Not reported
Intraspecific Solitary or in pairs 67% of encounters in field lone
animals; social groups based around
breeding pair and their offspring but
individuals within a group occupy
separate home ranges [2]
Reproductive Litter size 1-3
Births concentrated over extended
period in late dry season and early
rainy season
Born and cared for by mother in
burrow
1-3 young, mean 2 [2]
Interspecific Predators include Panthera onca, Agoutis eaten by Panthera onca,
Puma concolor, Leopardus sp./spp., Leopardus pardalis and L. wiedii [3]
Herpailurus yaguarondi, Constrictor Dasyprocta variegata eaten by P.
constrictor and Harpia harpyja onca, Puma concolor, L. pardalis [4]
Remains of D. agouti found in nests
of Harpia harpyja [5]
Antipredator behaviour exhibited
towards several species of snake [2]
[1] Henry 1997 [2] Dubost 1988 [3] Tewes and Schmidly 1987 [4] Emmons 1987
[5] Rettig 1978 [6] Emmons and Feer 1997: 226-7
Table 7.10 compares the small ecological literature on Dasyprocta agouti, which is
sometimes included in the species D. leporina (e.g., Eisenberg 1989: 399), with
ethnoecological data collected in the present study. Nine of ten observations in the
ethnoecological data set concur with the published literature. The exception is the
finding that food intake is actually highest during the time of year when fruit