Abstract: The PROT / ADF ratio, energy, and some minerals have been suggested as important factors influencing the food choice of primates. However, whether these factors influence the food choice of colobines has been in debate. We collected leaf samples of 12 major food species and 26 non-food species for François’ langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) during the dry season at Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China, on December 2005 for analysis. We measured the contents of water, crude fat, crude protein, crude fiber, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), minerals (Ca、Mg、Cu、Zn、Fe、Mn), and calculated the ratio of crude protein and acid detergent fiber (PROT / ADF) for each sample, as well as compared their variations between major food species and non-food species, to explore how food nutritional contents influence on the food choice of François’ langurs. Our results indicated that, except for the content of water, there were no significant differences between major food species and non-food species in nutritional content, as well as the PROT/ADF ratio. We compared the relationship between nutritional content of main food species and percentage of feeding records for these species, and found that only Mg content was a factor determining the food choice of François’ langurs during the dry season. These results indicate that the food choice of François’ langurs during the dry season is not influenced by the content of main nutritional components and minerals.

Key words: Fran?ois’ langur (Trachypithecus francoisi), nutritional content, food choice, Karst habitat

关键词: 黑叶猴, 营养成分, 食物选择, 喀斯特生境