DOI: 10.5061/dryad.sb54c59
title: Data from: Behavioural thermoregulation via microhabitat selection of winter sleeping areas in an endangered primate: Implications for habitat conservation

description: Strategic microhabitat selection allows animals in seasonally cold
 environments to reduce homeostatic energy costs, particularly overnight
 when thermoregulatory demands are greatest. Suitable sleeping areas may
 therefore represent important resources for winter survival. Knowledge of
 microhabitat use and potential impacts of anthropogenic habitat
 modification can aid species conservation through development of targeted
 habitat management plans. Wild, endangered Barbary macaques (Macaca
 sylvanus) in logged cedar-oak forest were studied to investigate 1) the
 hypothesis that macaques select winter sleeping areas with microhabitat
 characteristics that may reduce thermoregulatory costs, and, if so, 2) how
 to minimize damage to sleeping areas from logging. Macaques slept only in
 Atlas cedars (Cedrus atlantica). Consistent with predictions, macaques
 preferred sleeping in sheltered topography and dense vegetation, which may
 reduce exposure to wind, precipitation and cold, and preferred large trees
 that facilitate social huddling. This suggests Barbary macaques employ
 strategic nocturnal microhabitat selection to reduce thermoregulatory
 costs and thus suitable sleeping areas may influence winter survival. To
 minimize negative impacts of logging on macaque sleeping areas, results
 suggest avoiding logging in topographical depressions and maintaining
 cedar densities &gt;250 ha-1 with average DBH &gt;60 cm. This
 study demonstrates how animal behaviour can be used to guide
 species-specific habitat management plans.
description: Sleeping site and forest
 tree plot topography and forest characteristicsDataset comparing
 sleeping sites to general forest across Barbary macaques’ home ranges.
 Each row represents a tree plot. Columns include whether the plot was a
 sleeping site tree plot or forest tree plot (SSTP: SS = Sleeping Site, TP
 = forest tree plot), a binary variable for tree plot type (SS01), study
 group name (StudyGroup = Blue/Green), ID of the tree plot (PlotID),
 topography (Flat/Hillside/ValleyBottom), the number of times the group
 slept at each sleeping site (TimesSlept; not applicable for forest tree
 plots), the total number of trees in the plot (TotalTrees), the number of
 cedars in the plot (CedarNum), the average DBH of cedars in the plot
 (CedarAvgDBH), the average value for amount of upper branches for cedars
 in the plot (CedarAvgUpperBranching), average value for amount of lower
 branches for cedars in the plot (CedarAvgBottomBranching), and Notes.
 Sleeping sites for which no sleeping trees were recorded were included in
 analysis of topography use but not sleeping site forest characteristics.
 Empty tree plots were excluded from analysis of sleeping site forest
 characteristics because unsuitable as sleeping sites.Data - Barbary macaque sleeping
 area selection - Plot topography and
 averages.csvTree measurements at
 Barbary macaque sleeping sitesDataset for tree
 measurements, comparing macaque sleeping trees to general tree
 availability within sleeping sites. Each row represents a tree. Columns
 include whether the tree was a sleeping tree or from the sleeping site
 (STSS; ST = sleeping tree, SS = tree at sleeping site), a binary variable
 for whether the tree was a sleeping tree (SS01), study group (StudyGroup),
 sleeping site ID (SSCode), tree identification code for sleeping trees
 (TreeCode), whether sleeping tree was a new tree or had been reused
 (NewTree = Y/N), tree species (Species), diameter at breast height in cm
 (DBH) and value for amount of upper branching (UpperBranching) and lower
 branching (LowerBranching). Sleeping trees used multiple times were
 included only once in the analysis.Data - Barbary macaque sleeping
 area selection - Trees within sleeping
 sites.csv