Behavioral plasticity and Lévy walk foraging strategies of red howler monkeys in a threatened montane forest

Behavioral plasticity and Lévy walk foraging strategies of red howler monkeys in a threatened montane forest | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Behavioral plasticity and Lévy walk foraging strategies of red howler monkeys in a threatened montane forest Leydy Johana Morales-Patiño, John F. Aristizabal, María Alejandra Vergara-Ariza, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9295012/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Montane forests (>1,000 m asl) present significant ecological challenges for arboreal foragers due to reduced primary productivity and the spatially aggregated, asynchronous distribution of fruit resources. To thrive in such environments, primates must employ adaptive movement strategies to optimize foraging efficiency. This study examines the behavioral plasticity of the red howler monkey ( Alouatta seniculus ) assessing whether the movement patterns are directed or random in response to fruit availability within a threatened high-Andean forest (2,500–3,000 m asl). We monitored two groups over an annual cycle, integrating spatial trajectory analysis with phenological data from 28 monitoring plots. Our results demonstrate that movement patterns align with "Lévy walks," characterized by clusters of short-step intensive searches interspersed with infrequent, long-distance directed displacements. High availability of fruits and flowers triggered a reduction in travel speed and daily distance, while simultaneously increasing step length and trajectory tortuosity—a hallmark of intensive patch exploitation. Conversely, higher leaf availability was associated with more linear, Brownian-like displacements. These responses varied between groups, revealing flexible spatiotemporal strategies for resource exploitation. These findings suggest that howler monkeys cognitively modulate their movement to maximize food encounter rates, reflecting a high degree of behavioral plasticity. Such adaptive movement strategies are essential for maintaining energetic balance in the face of habitat fragmentation and resource unpredictability. Our study provides evidence of how primates utilize complex searching strategies as a cognitive-driven mechanism to survive and adapt within rapidly changing and human-modified montane landscapes. Animal Science Behavioral Ecology Ecological Modeling Conservation Biology Animal Behavior Alouatta seniculus Lévy walks Foraging ecology Montane forests Behavioral plasticity Movement patterns Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: All applicable institutional guidelines of the University of Caldas for the care and study of animals were followed. This study was purely observational and non-invasive, adhering to the Ethical Guidelines for the Use of Nonhuman Primates in Research by the American Society of Primatologists (ASP). Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Supplementary Material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9295012","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":616129142,"identity":"4765e720-f0ee-42c5-8b72-9aa5ad4c291b","order_by":0,"name":"Leydy Johana Morales-Patiño","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4461-6394","institution":"Universidad de Antioquia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leydy","middleName":"Johana","lastName":"Morales-Patiño","suffix":""},{"id":616129143,"identity":"4b3f09f5-45c7-479b-a75c-47d57e38e08c","order_by":1,"name":"John F. 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