How fruit abundance affects the chimpanzee party size: a comparison between four study sites.

We examined the relationship between fruit abundance and chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) party size by comparing data from four study sites: the Kalinzu Forest Reserve, Uganda, the Djinji Camp and Guga Camp in the Ndoki Forest, Congo, and Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Although the difference in the fruit abundance between the sites was responsible for the difference in the party size between the sites, the seasonal changes in fruit abundance did not explain the changes in the party size in each study site. Across the four study sites, there were significant correlations of the mean and minimum of monthly party size with the mean of monthly fruiting-tree density, and a significant correlation of the maximum of monthly party sizes with the minimum of monthly fruiting-tree density. We proposed a hypothesis that (1) the monthly fruit abundance affects the monthly party size in the sites where the fruit availability is as low as to limit the party size during a major part of a year, while (2) the party size does not increase with the increase in the monthly fruit abundance, but is affected by other social factors, in the sites where the minimum of monthly fruit abundance is high enough for chimpanzees to form parties of an adequate size.