冬季來臨時，一些恒溫動物從高緯度地區(qū)遷徙到低緯度地區(qū),，一些從高海拔地帶垂直遷徙到低海拔地帶,，還有一些選擇了冬眠等。然而,，世界上分布區(qū)海拔最高的非人靈長類動物——黑白仰鼻猴（滇金絲猴）,，卻選擇在多年家域的中高海拔段地帶越冬。
針對黑白仰鼻猴的這一“反常”行為,，中科院昆明動物研究所生態(tài)學與環(huán)境保護中心GIS小組與中科院西雙版納熱帶植物園熱帶森林生態(tài)學重點實驗室動植物關(guān)系研究組等進行了合作研究,，通過對藏東南小昌都黑白仰鼻猴群的跟蹤調(diào)查,，結(jié)合GIS分析，取得以下主要研究結(jié)果：1）雖然此猴群的多年家域范圍在海拔3500-4500米之間,，但其冬季利用的主要區(qū)域在較高的海拔4100-4400米之間,；2）研究地點的氣溫雖然隨著海拔高度的增加而降低，但太陽輻射強度和日照時長卻隨著海拔高度的增加而增加;3）黑白仰鼻猴冬季棲息地利用與太陽輻射強度和日照時長呈顯著相關(guān),；4）黑白仰鼻猴在下雪后通常移動到太陽輻射較強和日照時間較長的高海拔地帶,，這里通常積雪融化快，其主要食物地衣也暴露的較早,。研究結(jié)果證實了太陽輻射是影響黑白仰鼻猴小昌都猴群冬季家域選擇的重要的因素之一,，提出了解釋黑白仰鼻猴冬季偏好在高海拔地帶越冬的“光照假說”，這與此前人們用來解釋野生動物季節(jié)性遷移模式的食物豐富度,、溫度,、捕食者等假說有所不同。(生物谷Bioon.com)
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024449
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Why Does Rhinopithecus bieti Prefer the Highest Elevation Range in Winter? A Test of the Sunshine Hypothesis
Rui-Chang Quan1#, Guopeng Ren2#, Jocelyn E. Behm3, Lin Wang2, Yong Huang2, Yongcheng Long4, Jianguo Zhu2*
Environmental factors that affect spatiotemporal distribution patterns of animals usually include resource availability, temperature, and the risk of predation. However, they do not explain the counterintuitive preference of high elevation range in winter by the black-and-white snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti). We asked whether variation of sunshine along with elevations is the key driving force. To test this hypothesis, we conducted field surveys to demonstrate that there was a statistically significant pattern of high elevation use during winter. We then asked whether this pattern can be explained by certain environmental factors, namely temperature, sunshine duration and solar radiation. Finally, we concluded with a possible ecological mechanism for this pattern. In this study, we employed GIS technology to quantify solar radiation and sunshine duration across the monkey's range. Our results showed that: 1) R. bieti used the high altitude range between 4100–4400 m in winter although the yearly home range spanned from 3500–4500 m; 2) both solar radiation and sunshine duration increased with elevation while temperature decreased with elevation; 3) within the winter range, the use of range was significantly correlated with solar radiation and sunshine duration; 4) monkeys moved to the areas with high solar radiation and duration following a snowfall, where the snow melts faster and food is exposed earlier. We concluded that sunshine was the main factor that influences selection of high elevation habitat for R. bieti in winter. Since some other endotherms in the area exhibit similar winter distributional patterns, we developed a sunshine hypothesis to explain this phenomenon. In addition, our work also represented a new method of integrating GIS models into traditional field ecology research to study spatiotemporal distribution pattern of wildlife. We suggest that further theoretical and empirical studies are necessary for better understanding of sunshine influence on wildlife range use.
