Data from: From steps to home ranges: How habitat disturbance influences the movement drivers of an arboreal primate

The persistence of animal populations in anthropogenic landscapes often
depends on adjusting their foraging and movement strategies to
environmental changes that involve energetic trade-offs. However, it
remains unclear how ecological resilience translates into movement
flexibility and which factors influence animal movement in modified
environments. Howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.) are known to cope with
significant anthropogenic pressure across their range. We examined how a
gradient of habitat disturbance alters the intrinsic traits of black
howler monkeys (A. pigra) and extrinsic habitat characteristics, and how
these factors, in turn, drive their movement. We monitored six groups of
black howler monkeys in southeastern Mexico for one year, collecting data
on activity, diet, movement, neighboring-group presence, food
availability, and microclimate. We developed intrinsic and extrinsic
models to identify the main drivers of movement across three
spatiotemporal scales. Our results revealed scale-dependent responses to
disturbance. At the smallest scale (5-min steps), movement probability
increased with folivory levels and proximity to neighboring groups but was
significantly constrained by high temperatures. At the intermediate scale
(daily paths), resource sparseness led to longer daily travel distances,
while social crowding in isolated fragments increased path circuity,
reducing travel efficiency. Finally, at the broadest scale (use of space),
groups in highly disturbed sites exhibited up to 99% seasonal home range
overlap, indicating spatial saturation and a lack of buffering capacity
against environmental stochasticity. Our analyses show that while black
howler monkeys exhibit behavioral flexibility, their capacity to cope with
anthropogenic disturbance is limited by environmental and spatial
constraints. As human activities continue to alter ecosystems, animals
must adjust their strategies to navigate changing habitats and shifting
resource availability; however, when environmental limits exceed an
organism's inherent flexibility, populations may face an increased
risk of local extinction.