DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Individual Behavior and Female Associations in Fission-Fusion Equid Societies

本项目研究生态和社会因素在裂变融合有蹄类动物社会中塑造社会组织关系的作用。当前的裂变-融合社会模型要么集中于研究个体之间的偏好联系，要么集中于研究决定群体规模的因素及其与群体规模变化的相关性。个体之间的关系还没有完全被理解。一个新的模型foranalysis结合关键的生态和社会驱动因素（即饲料，水，捕食者和单身汉男性）与女性的内部状态的个体关系被用来预测规则的个人之间的关联。这些individualdecisions人口水平的关联和分散模式的后果也进行了探讨。来自这个框架的预测将使用两个濒危Equids的生态和行为数据进行测试：Grevys斑马（马grevyi）和亚洲野驴（马hemionus）在四个地点。这两个物种具有相似的形态学、生理学和社会系统。这四个站点提供了生态和社会因素的自然变化，并作为探索我们模型预测的理想系统。这项研究的更广泛的影响包括为公众、学生和森林管理者开展有关生态和行为数据价值的教育活动，以及改善濒危Equids的保护策略。

Project SummaryThis project studies the role of ecological and social factors in shaping socialorganizing relationships in fission-fusion ungulate societies. Current models of fission-fusion societies focus either on examining preferential associations between individualsor on examining factors that determine group size and its correlation with group sizevariations. Individual relationships are still not completely understood. A novel model foranalyzing individual relationships incorporating key ecological and social drivers (i.e.forage, water, predators and bachelor males) together with female internal state is used topredict rules for associations between individuals. The consequences of these individualdecisions for population level association and dispersion patterns are also explored. Thepredictions derived from this framework will be tested using ecological and behavioraldata from two endangered Equids: Grevys zebra (Equus grevyi) and Asiatic Wild Asses(Equus hemionus) at four sites. Both species have similar morphology, physiology andsocial systems. The four sites provide natural variation in ecological and social factorsand serve as an ideal system for exploring the predictions of our model. The broaderimpacts of the study include educational activities about the value of ecological andbehavioral data for lay public, students and forest managers, and improvement ofconservation strategies for endangered Equids.