Dissertation Research: Population Density, Social Behavior, and Physiological Stress in Lemur catta

论文研究：狐猴的种群密度、社会行为和生理应激

• 批准号: 0073270
• 负责人: Daniel Rubenstein
• 金额: $ 0.47万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-09-01 至 2002-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0073270&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Population; Density; Social

Differences in population density are often reflected in social behavior yet the pathways and mechanisms remain to be elucidated, particularly in natural populations. This research on a wild population of the prosimian, Lemur catta, uses endocrine responses to identify the relative contributions of several ecological and social stressors to density-dependent changes in behavior, physiology, and reproductive success. The study benefits from unique field conditions in which six habituated primate groups are studied across a well-documented population-density gradient, and research methods have been established for obtaining individual-level data on survival, reproduction, foraging efficiency, aggressive behavior, and levels of stress response as measured by excreted steroids sampled without intervention. The data for approximately 80 animals over a two-year period permit testing the hypotheses that food scarcity, conflicts within groups, and conflicts between groups are reflected to varying degrees in cortisol levels and that the magnitude of this stress response predicts individual health and short-term reproductive success.

人口密度的差异往往反映在社会行为中，但其途径和机制仍有待阐明，特别是在自然种群中。这项研究的原猴，狐猴的野生种群，使用内分泌反应，以确定几个生态和社会压力的相对贡献密度依赖的变化，在行为，生理和繁殖成功。 这项研究受益于独特的野外条件，其中六个习惯性灵长类动物群体在一个有据可查的人口密度梯度中进行了研究，并且已经建立了研究方法，用于获得关于生存，繁殖，觅食效率，攻击行为和应激反应水平的个体水平数据，这些数据通过未经干预的排泄类固醇采样来测量。大约80只动物在两年期间的数据允许测试的假设，即食物短缺，群体内的冲突，群体之间的冲突反映在不同程度的皮质醇水平，这种压力反应的大小预测个人的健康和短期的生殖成功。