Tamarin Spatial Ecology
Before my graduate career, I contributed to a long-term field study of two sympatric tamarin species in the Peruvian Amazon, collecting high-resolution GPS data on multiple social groups. We analyzed home range sizes, spatial overlap, and patterns of intergroup interaction to assess how sympatric species coexist in shared habitats. This work provided insights into species-specific space use, territoriality, and the ecological mechanisms supporting primate community structure.
Two tamarin species inhabit the forests around Los Amigos Biological Station in Peru: the emperor tamarin (left) and the saddleback tamarin (right). Despite having similar body sizes, group structures, and diets, these species coexist in the same habitat. We collected GPS data from focal group follows to compare home range use between groups and species and to gain insight into their interspecific interactions.
GPS points from focal tamarin groups (shown in the inset) were used to calculate home ranges using minimum convex polygons (MCPs), a standard approach in animal movement studies. We generated MCPs for each of the 10 focal groups, allowing us to examine home range sizes and the extent of overlap between neighboring groups.
We also estimated tamarin group home ranges using kernel density estimation (KDE), a more conservative approach that focuses on the 95% most frequently used areas within a home range. We presented some of these findings at the 2016 International Primatological Society conference in Chicago.
