LTREB: Long-term Fitness Consequences of Wild Chimpanzee Behavior

本研究的目的是确定雄性黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）行为的长期生殖后果。 在乌干达基巴莱国家公园恩戈戈的一个非常大的社区里，人们对黑猩猩的行为进行了长达十年的研究。 该项目将联合收割机结合这项研究的结果与正在进行的和拟议中的遗传分析，以解决有关黑猩猩行为的几个尚未解决的问题：高交配竞争是否影响雄性优势等级和生殖之间的关系？ 合作会给雄性黑猩猩带来直接的生殖回报吗？ 男性如何从巡逻领土边界和参与群体间的侵略中获益？ 雄性是否通过选择性地与某些雌性交往来提高繁殖能力？ 雄性是否会偏向于父系亲属，并选择性地与后代交往和帮助后代？拟议活动的知识价值。 行为如何影响个体的生存和繁殖的问题对于动物行为的研究至关重要，但对于繁殖缓慢的长寿动物（包括大多数灵长类动物）来说，这是非常困难的。 收集遗传数据的困难和灵长类社会群体的小规模也阻碍了对假设的有力检验。 一个前所未有的大黑猩猩群体的长期行为数据已经为理解雄性黑猩猩的行为策略做出了重要贡献。 持续的数据收集与遗传数据相结合，将填补有关黑猩猩行为知识的重大空白。 值得注意的是，最近的一项研究质疑了非人类灵长类动物无法识别父系亲属的传统观念，该项目将测试父系亲属关系影响雄性黑猩猩行为的假设。 此外，更全面地了解为什么雄性之间的合作，在动物王国中是罕见的，在黑猩猩中是如此突出。 这项研究将继续为来自北美的研究生提供研究机会，并促进与管理黑猩猩野外项目并在Ngogo进行独立长期研究的乌干达科学家的合作并提供支持。 拟议研究的一个重要组成部分是培训几名乌干达研究生，致力于动物行为的研究和生物多样性的保护。 北美研究小组在基巴莱国家公园的持续存在将有助于保护东非最后的雨林遗迹之一，同时培训和支持北美和乌干达的学生，这反过来又将确保今后继续开展保护工作。过去和正在进行的外展工作有助于教育公众和促进保护。

The goal of this study is to determine the long-term reproductive consequences of male chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) behavior. The behavior of chimpanzees has been studied in an extremely large community at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda for ten years. The project will combine results of this research with those from ongoing and proposed genetic analyses to address several unresolved questions about chimpanzee behavior: Does high mating competition affect the relationship between male dominance rank and reproduction? Does cooperation yield direct reproductive payoffs to male chimpanzees? How do males benefit from patrolling territory boundaries and engaging in inter-group aggression? Do males enhance their reproduction by associating selectively with certain females? Do males bias their behavior toward their paternal kin and selectively affiliate with and aid their offspring?Intellectual merit of the proposed activity. The question of how behavior contributes to the survival and reproduction of individuals is crucial to research on animal behavior, but is extremely difficult to address in long-lived animals that reproduce slowly, including most primates. The difficulties of collecting genetic data and the small sizes of primate social groups also hinder strong tests of hypotheses. Long-term behavioral data on an unprecedented large chimpanzee community has already made important contributions to understanding the behavioral strategies of male chimpanzees. Continued data collection combined with genetic data will fill significant gaps in knowledge about chimpanzee behavior. Notably, inspired by recent research questioning conventional wisdom that nonhuman primates cannot recognize paternal kin, this will project will test the hypothesis that paternal relatedness affects the behavior of male chimpanzees. Also, a more complete understanding of why cooperation among males, rare in the animal kingdom, is so prominent in chimpanzees.Broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity. This study will continue to furnish research opportunities for graduate students from North America and to promote collaboration with and provide support for a Ugandan scientist who manages the chimpanzee field project and pursues independent long-term research at Ngogo. An important component of the proposed research is to train several Ugandan graduate students, committed to the study of animal behavior and to the conservation of biodiversity. Sustained presence of the North American Research Group in Kibale National Park will help to safeguard one of the last vestiges of rainforest in East Africa, while training and supporting North American and Ugandan students, which will in turn ensure that conservation efforts are maintained into the future. Past and ongoing outreach efforts help to educate the public as well as promote conservation.