Diet and feeding behavior of Rhinopithecus bieti at Xiaochangdu, Tibet: Adaptations to a marginal environment

The diet and feeding ecology of a wild subpopulation of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) were studied at Xiaochangdu in Honglaxueshan Nature Reserve, Tibet. This region is climatologically harsher than any other inhabited by non-human primates. Black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys fed on 48 parts of 25 plant species, at least three species of lichens and seven species of invertebrates. The number of food items exploited varied markedly among seasons, with dietary diversity being greatest in spring and summer. In winter, black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys had to subsist on fallback foods such as dried grass and bark. Ubiquitous lichens formed a major dietary constituent throughout the year, contributing about 75% of feeding records. Even though lichens act as a staple, our findings signify that the monkeys at Xiaochangdu prefer feeding on foliage, which is higher in protein content than the former. We provide evidence that black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys are able to cope with an array of food items other than lichens and hence can be regarded as feeding generalists. We discuss the results with reference to previous studies on other subpopulations living in habitats that are floristically more diverse and offer more plant food items than the marginal habitat at Xiaochangdu.

石笋微层序列的断代和信号研究

Based on chronological and climatologic analysis of many young stalagmites in Shihua Cave at Beijing and Water Cave in Benxi, Liaoning Province, this dissertation aims to discuss some key points on quantitative reconstruction of high resolution climate change from micro bands time series in young stalagmites. On chronological aspect of micro bands time series in young stalagmite, the uppermost micro bands were testified formed in the sampling year or the year before sampling from long term and in situ experiment in Shihua Cave at Beijing. Have been observed detailed under microscope, the micro bands were counted and compared with high resolution TIMS-230Th or ICP-MS U series dating, the results show that the micro bands are annual bands. The microscopic characteristics of annual bands in North China is as follows after studying lots of young stalagmites: the interface appears to be carved, and there is a light line adjacent to it, which moves back and forth slightly when adjusting the microscope slide. The cross dating of annual bands from different stalagmites is experimented in this thesis. On climatologically aspect of micro bands times series in young stalagmites, one significant problem is that the deposition trend resulting from the variation of the stalagmite shape. Various deposition trends have been discussed and corrected before climatologically analysis of micro bands series. And the whole year in situ observation and analysis of dripping water in Shihua Cave provide us new evidence for climate information reserved in stalagmites micro bands. The stalagmites in the same cave may contain different climate information due to the micro hydrological condition. The annual bands of young stalagmites collected from North China can be used to reconstruct past climate changes quantitatively. The warm season temperature (May, June, July, August) is reconstructed using two annual bands time series from Shihua Cave, Beijing, which corresponds to the warm/cool periods very well in Chinese history documents. The precipitation record of past 500 years is reconstructed using two stalagmite annual bands series from Shihua Cave, which is consistent to the dryness/wetness records derived from historical documents too.