Marilyn A. Norconk Lago Guri, Venezuela Warren Kinzey (CUNY) and I developed a field site in Lago Guri, Venezuela for long-term research of saki monkeys (Chiropotes satanas and Pithecia pithecia). More than 100 islands were created when the Caroní River basin of eastern Venezuela was flooded and the Raúl Leoni dam and hydroelectric plant was completed in 1986. We developed research sites for the study of sakis beginning in 1987. The study island for white-faced sakis, Round Island or Isla Redonda, is in the center of the picture with mainland beyond. Studies continued on bearded sakis in the southern part of the lake until 1996 and in the northern part of the lake on white-faced sakis until 2002. During this period, 10 graduate students from the US, one from Venezuela, and four from UK/Europe as well as four undergraduate students from the US and three from Venezuela conducted independent research at the site. Studies were conducted on saki monkeys, howlers (Alouatta seniculus), plant biology (seed dispersal) and conservation biology. During the time the field site was active, there were four PhDs completed, six MA theses (two still in progress), two bachelor theses (Venezuelan students) and two Research Experience for Undergraduate awards (for US students). Research support was provided by two NSF awards: BNS 87-19800 (to W.G. Kinzey and M.A. Norconk) and SBE 98-07516 (to Norconk), the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropology Research (#6138: 1997) (to Norconk), City University of New York Graduate School, and Kent State University, Research and Graduate Studies. Research by undergraduate students: Catherine Wertis (UCSD) 1997. Seed predation by monkeys and macaws in eastern Venezuela: preliminary findings. Primates 38(2):177-184. (REU recipient 1991) Ricardo D. Lopez (UCSD) Preliminary vocal repertoire of wild bearded sakis (Chiropotes satanas) in eastern Venezuela. (REU recipient 1991) Terrence M. Gleason (KSU) 2002. Predation risk and anti-predator adaptations in white-faced sakis, Pithecia pithecia. In Eat or Be Eaten: Predation-Sensitive Foraging in Primates. L. Miller (ed). Cambridge University Press. Pp. 169-184. (REU recipient 1993) Karla M. Funk (KSU) The spatial and contextual nature of saki trills (Pithecia pithecia) in Lago Guri, Venezuela. (REU recipient – 1999) Bernardo Urbani (Universidad Central de Caracas) 2002. A field observation on color selection by New World sympatric primates, Pithecia pithecia and Alouatta seniculus. Primates 43(2):95-101. Mailén Ramirez C. – Dieta y comportamiento alimentario de una tropa de Pithecia pithecia (mono saki cara blanca), en una isla del Embalse de Guri, Edo. Bolivar. (Licenciado en Biología, Universidad Central de Caracas, Venezuela – 1996) Natalia Ceballos – Comportamiento social de una tropa de mono viudo Pithecia pithecia (Cebidae: Primates) en una isla del Embase de Guri (Estado Bolívar). (Licenciado en Biología, Universidad Central de Caracas, Venezuela – 1996) Research by graduate students: Suzanne E. Walker (CUNY) Positional adaptations and ecology of the Pitheciinae. (PhD – 1993) Ingo Homburg (Universität Bielefeld, Germany) Ökologie und sozialverhalten von weißgesicht-sakis. (PhD – 1997) Amy Louise Harrison (KSU) Feeding party dynamics of white-faced sakis in Lago Guri, Venezuela. (MA – 1998) Jason A. Brush (KSU) Sleeping ecology of white-faced saki monkeys in Lago Guri, Venezuela. (MA – 2000) Angela Peetz (Universität Bielefeld, Germany) Ecology and social organization of the bearded saki (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes (Primates: Pitheciinae) in Venezuela. Ecotropical Monographs No 1:1-170. (PhD – 2001) Erika L. Sherger (KSU) A nutritional analysis of diet in free-ranging pregnant and lactating female red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus). (MA – 2001) Monika J. Flaschka (KSU) Analysis of dietary mineral and macronutrient levels for white-faced sakis (Pithecia pithecia) and red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) from Guri, Venezuela. (MA – 2001) Elena Cunningham (CUNY) The use of memory in Pithecia pithecia’s foraging strategy. (PhD – 2003). [PDF 542 KB] Brian W. Grafton (KSU) Primates and seed shadows: mapping seed dispersal by red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) using plant DNA fingerprinting. (PhD – 2004) Courtney Buzzell (KSU) Strange and familiar scents: the role of scent marking in white-faced saki (Pithecia pithecia) social behavior. (MA - 2006) Worder Todd Henline (Eastern Kentucky University) Vocal repertoire of white-faced sakis (Pithecia pithecia). (MS -2007) [PDF available upon request] |
