Monkeys and matrices: On the coexistence of "omnivorous" forest primates.

Members of competing species may influence their share of food sources either by finding new feeding sites more frequently or by more effectively monopolizing those sites once found. We describe a model that separates the effects of these two forms of competition; in a set of African forest primates, only the first has a major effect on species' relative population densities. The model identifies factors which might lead to a greater role of interference at food sources in other communities.