Doctoral Dissertation Research: Micromammal Paleoecology: Past and Present Relationships Between African Small Mammals and their Habitats

在柯蒂斯·马雷恩博士的指导下，丹尼·里德将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在坦桑尼亚北部进行为期14个月的实地研究，并研究两种猫头鹰--谷仓猫头鹰(Tyto Alba)和斑鹰猫头鹰(Buo Africanus)--在各种环境下的觅食行为。这项研究的目的是确定环境、觅食行为和猎物骨骼残骸之间的关系。猫头鹰主要以小型啮齿动物为食，然后将它们整个吞下。之后，它们将猎物的毛发、骨头和其他难以消化的残留物以“颗粒”的形式吐出来，这些颗粒通常会掉到它们筑巢或栖息区下方的地面上。猫头鹰通常生活在洞穴或其他遮蔽的环境中，大量的颗粒被合并到地面沉积物中。因为史前人类也生活在这样的遗址里，所以经常发现猫头鹰颗粒与考古遗迹混合在一起。大多数小型啮齿动物对栖息地的要求非常具体和有限，因此猫头鹰颗粒可以用来重建人类生活的史前环境。然而，科学家们还不知道这提供了一个多敏感的指标，非洲猫头鹰物种的狩猎范围，或者物种在颗粒中所代表的啮齿动物数量和微生境多样性的影响。里德将尝试填补这些空白。在他的研究中，里德将诱捕两种猫头鹰，并安装无线电跟踪设备来确定狩猎范围。利用卫星地图，他将绘制个别地区的植被类型地图，并对其进行实地核查。然后，他将在每个鸟巢和栖息地下面收集颗粒，并开发出一种钥匙来识别它们所包含的啮齿动物物种。有了这些数据，就有可能确定颗粒分析在环境重建中的效用，并制定有效的程序来实现这一目标。这项研究不仅对考古学家，而且对一系列古环境和生态专家都很重要。该项目还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Curtis Marean, Mr. Denne Reed will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct 14 months of field research in northern Tanzania and study the foraging behavior of two species of owl - the barn owl (Tyto alba) and spotted eagle owl (Buo africanus) - in a variety of environmental contexts. The goal of the research is to determine the relationships between environment, foraging behavior and prey skeletal remains. Owls feed primarily on small rodents which they swallow whole. They later regurgitate the prey hair, bones and other indigestible remains in the form of a "pellet" which most often drops to the ground below their nesting or roosting area. Owls often live in caves or other sheltered environments and abundant numbers of pellets are incorporated into the ground deposits. Because prehistoric people also lived in such sites, owl pellets are often found intermixed with archaeological remains. Most small rodents have very specific and limited habitat requirements and thus owl pellets can be used to reconstruct the prehistoric environments within which people lived. Scientists however do not yet know how sensitive an indicator this provides, the hunting range of African owl species or the effects of rodent abundance and microhabitat diversity the species represented in pellets. Mr. Reed will attempt to fill these gaps.In his study Mr. Reed will trap two species of owl and attach radio tracking devices to determine hunting range. Working with satellite maps, he will map vegetation types within individual areas and ground truth them. He will then collect pellets below individual nests and roosts and develop a key to identify the rodent species they contain. With these data it will then be possible to determine the utility of pellet analysis in environmental reconstruction and develop effective procedures to achieve this goal. The research is important not only to archaeologists but to a range of paleoenvironmental and ecological specialists. The project will also assist in training a promising young scientist.