Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Intraspecific Variation and Plasticity in Primate Behavior and Ecology

博士论文改进：灵长类动物行为和生态学的种内变异和可塑性

• 批准号: 0452814
• 负责人: Charles Janson
• 金额: $ 0.69万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-01-01 至 2006-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0452814&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Intraspecific; Variation

Researchers have been conducting interspecific comparisons for over twenty-five years to seek explanations for primate ecological variation. The purpose of this project is to expand on this decades-long tradition by incorporating intraspecific variation in a quantitative fashion. As such, this study will serve as the first comprehensive comparative study incorporating quantitative analyses of primate behavior and ecology variation at the population level. This approach allows the following questions to be addressed: 1) What is the relationship between geographic distance and ecological similarity among populations, 2) What factors are important in affecting primate ecological plasticity, 3) Do less ecologically plastic species have a higher risk of extinction? Previously published data from over 100 populations of approximately 30 primate species will be gathered to create a comprehensive ecological database. These data will be grouped into five datasets: 1) environmental, 2) diet, 3) activity budget, 4) social organization, and 5) social behavior. Multivariate techniques will be used to quantify the variation in each dataset for each species. Comparative analyses will control for species' evolutionary relationships and Geographic Information System software will be employed to investigate the above questions. The results of this study will have important scientific ramifications. Examining the patterns and processes of primate behavior and ecology at this finer level of analysis can be an important method of identifying why certain behavioral and ecological traits are present in some species and not others. Also, understanding the significance of variation at the interspecific level will greatly benefit from the results of this intraspecific study. Finally, identifying the factors influencing primate ecological plasticity can lead to more effective models of primate socioecology. Besides the scientific merit, this project has considerable broader impacts. The ecological database of primate populations will be available to the public on the Internet. This will allow researchers easy access to a wealth of information for future studies. Training and research opportunities will be available to undergraduate students that assist in the data collection and organization. Finally, identifying the role that ecological plasticity plays in affecting primate extinction will assist in the conservation of primate species that are vital to the maintenance of forest structure and are viewed as a flagship species for many conservation programs.

研究人员已经进行了超过25年的种间比较，以寻求灵长类动物生态变化的解释。该项目的目的是通过以定量方式纳入种内变异来扩展这一长达数十年的传统。因此，这项研究将作为第一个全面的比较研究，结合定量分析灵长类动物的行为和生态变化在人口水平。这种方法可以解决以下问题：1）地理距离和种群之间的生态相似性之间的关系，2）什么因素是重要的，在影响灵长类动物的生态可塑性，3）生态可塑性较低的物种有较高的灭绝风险？此前发表的来自约30种灵长类动物的100多个种群的数据将被收集起来，以创建一个全面的生态数据库。这些数据将被分为五个数据集：1）环境，2）饮食，3）活动预算，4）社会组织和5）社会行为。将使用多变量技术量化每个物种的每个数据集的变异。比较分析将控制物种的进化关系，地理信息系统软件将被用来调查上述问题。这项研究的结果将产生重要的科学影响。在这种更精细的分析水平上研究灵长类动物行为和生态的模式和过程，可以成为确定为什么某些行为和生态特征存在于某些物种而不是其他物种的重要方法。此外，了解种间水平的变异的意义将大大受益于这种种内研究的结果。最后，识别影响灵长类动物生态可塑性的因素可以导致更有效的灵长类动物社会生态学模型。除了科学价值外，该项目还具有相当广泛的影响。灵长类种群生态数据库将在互联网上向公众开放。这将使研究人员能够方便地获得丰富的信息，用于未来的研究。培训和研究机会将提供给本科生，协助数据收集和组织。最后，确定生态可塑性在影响灵长类动物灭绝方面所发挥的作用将有助于灵长类动物物种的保护，这些物种对维持森林结构至关重要，并被视为许多保护计划的旗舰物种。