Population Dynamics in Wild Verreaux's Sifaka (Lemuriformes, Primates)

该项目的目标是利用从野生狐猴种群中收集的各种数据阐明种群增长率的生态和人口决定因素。目前，关于表型的个体变异以及环境变异如何影响灵长类动物种群动态，我们知之甚少。野生灵长类动物寿命长，成熟缓慢，通常无法操纵。正因为如此，收集野生灵长类动物种群的人口统计数据需要相当长的时间。大多数灵长类动物种群动态研究使用圈养和/或不完善的人口统计数据。这极大地阻碍了我们理解影响野生灵长类种群命运的无数因素的能力。研究者将研究灵长类动物种群动态，努力解释不完善的人口普查数据，并提供一种将表型和环境变化纳入种群动态模型的方法。这将涉及两种主要类型的人口分析：多州市场观察分析和矩阵人口模型。这两种方法在阐明种群动态的潜在机制方面都有良好的记录。然而，这些方法很少应用于野生灵长类动物种群。这个项目的数据来自于一个正在进行的合作研究项目，该项目关注的是马达加斯加西南部的野生狐猴种群——狐猴狐猴（Verreaux's sifaka）的生物学。在过去的20年里，研究者和他的同事收集了个体标记动物的遗传、行为、人口统计学和表型信息。此外，现场的气候数据可以追溯到50多年前。为了继续研究狐猴种群，研究者的研究计划集中在三个主要领域：进化人口学、种群遗传学和行为生态学。这项工作提出了统一这些不同领域的方法，以便更好地理解遗传、表型和环境因素如何影响种群动态。为此，本研究对狐猴保护生物学和进化生态学都有启示意义。本研究计划在实验室和实地的各个方面都需要资金支持。

The goal of this project is to elucidate the ecological and demographic determinants of population growth rate using diverse data collected from a wild lemur population. At present, little is known with respect to how individual variation in phenotype, as well as environmental variation, actually influences primate population dynamics. Wild primates are long-lived, slowly maturing creatures that are often unmanipulable. Because of this, collecting demographic data on wild primate populations requires considerable long-term effort. Most studies of primate population dynamics use captive and/or imperfect demographic data. This greatly impedes our ability to understand the myriad factors that influence the fate of wild primate populations.The investigator will examine primate population dynamics in an effort to account for imperfect census data and provide a means to incorporate phenotypic and environmental variation into population dynamic models. This will involve two major types of demographic analyses: multi-state mark-resighting analysis and matrix population models. Both of these approaches have a proven track record in elucidating the mechanisms underlying population dynamics. However, these approaches are rarely applied to wild primate populations.The data for this project come from an on-going, collaborative research program focusing on the biology of a wild lemur population, Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) in southwest Madagascar. Over the past 20 years, the investigator and his colleagues have collected genetic, behavioral, demographic, and phenotypic information on individually marked animals. In addition, climate data are available for the field site going back over 50 years.In continuing to study this lemur population, the investigator's research program focuses on three major areas: evolutionary demography, population genetics, and behavioral ecology. The work proposed outlines methods that unite these different areas in order to gain a better understanding of how genetic, phenotypic, and environmental factors influence population dynamics. To this end, this research has implications for both lemur conservation biology and evolutionary ecology in general. Funds are requested to supplement each aspect of this research program in the laboratory and field.