Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Wild Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) Responses to Habitat Variability in Southwestern Madagascar: A Niche Variation Approach

该项目的目标是了解人类改变的栖息地对非人类灵长类动物的行为和持久性的影响。虽然在不断变化的栖息地中生存需要生物体适应，但关于非人类灵长类动物在这种条件下的适应性的研究很少。大多数对这些物种的研究都发生在相对未受干扰和受保护的森林中。这只提供了有限的洞察他们的适应性和灵活性。任何物种的行为生态学研究都太少了，无法解决它们如何适应环境变化的问题。为了应对非人类灵长类动物面临的保护危机，研究议程直到最近才集中在它们如何应对栖息地干扰上。在这个项目中，博士候选人将研究马达加斯加西南部贝扎马哈法利特别保护区（BMSR）周围环尾狐猴（lemur catta）的行为和生态。研究集中在四个群体上，两个生活在BMSR的受保护的、完整的画廊森林栖息地，另两个生活在保护区以南大约一公里的一个退化的、破碎的画廊森林栖息地。研究人员跟踪了这些群体中的每一个个体，并在马达加斯加当地导游的帮助下，收集了行为、摄食和栖息地的数据。博士候选人将比较在完整和改变的栖息地中个体对资源的利用有什么不同。她将测试关于L. catta在栖息地因人类干扰而迅速变化的行为灵活性的假设。此外，这些数据将使博士候选人能够解决灵长类动物如何调整行为以适应栖息地的变化。本研究将增加对非人类灵长类动物行为可塑性和适应性的人类学研究。此外，它将有助于研究生的培养和满足博士学位的主要要求。此外，该项目具有重要的保护意义。不幸的是，马达加斯加是世界上生物多样性保护最优先的地区之一。马达加斯加特有的狐猴与他们的国家有着相似的区别：它们在保护优先事项列表中名列前茅。狐猴面临的灭绝风险在很大程度上源于人类栖息地的迅速退化。保护政策的一个关键方面是重建栖息地之间的连通性。为了实现这一目标，必须了解物种如何对人类改变的栖息地做出反应。该项目通过确定哪些类型的栖息地可能对L. catta种群的连通性和持久性至关重要，为解决马达加斯加的这些关键问题提供了及时的数据。L. catta是马达加斯加的旗舰物种。马达加斯加国家公园管理局目前正在考虑扩大BMSR。研究人员将与马达加斯加几个地方合作收集数据，并与马达加斯加官员分享我的数据和建议。这种国际合作是促进生境国居民之间的保护的一个重要组成部分。本项目获得的知识将有助于深入了解非人类灵长类动物面对栖息地变化的适应性，并有助于为BMSR地区L. catta种群的有效野生动物管理程序提供信息。

The goal of this project is to understand the effects of human-altered habitats on the behavior and persistence of non-human primates. While persistence in changing habitats requires organisms to adapt, there exists little research on the adaptability of non-human primates under such conditions. Most of the research on these species has occurred in relatively undisturbed and protected forests. This offers only limited insight into their adaptability and flexibility. There are simply too few behavioral-ecological studies of any species to address the questions of how they adapt to environmental change. Responding to the conservation crisis facing non-human primates, the research agenda has focused only recently on how they respond to habitat disturbance. In this project, the doctoral candidate will examine the behavior and ecology of the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) around Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve (BMSR) in southwestern Madagascar. The research focuses on four groups, two residing in the protected, intact gallery-forest habitat of the BMSR and two, for comparison, in a degraded, fragmented gallery-forest habitat approximately one kilometer south of the Reserve. Researchers have followed the individuals in each of these groups, and, with the assistance of local Malagasy guides, have collected behavioral, feeding, and habitat data. The doctoral candidate will compare how individuals in intact and altered habitats differ in their use of their resources. She will test hypotheses regarding the behavioral flexibility of L. catta in habitats changing rapidly as a result of human disturbance. Furthermore, these data will allow the doctoral candidate to address how primates adjust behaviorally to alterations in their habitats. This study of L. catta in human-altered habitats will increase understanding in anthropology of behavioral plasticity and adaptation in non-human primates. Moreover, it will contribute to graduate training and fulfill a major Ph.D. requirement. Furthermore, the project has important conservation implications. Madagascar has the unfortunate distinction as one of the world's highest priority regions for biodiversity conservation. The endemic lemurs of Madagascar share a distinction similar to that of their country: they top the list of the conservation priorities. Much of the risk of extinction facing lemurs stems from the rapid human degradation of habitat. A critical aspect of conservation policy is re-establishing connectivity among habitats. To achieve this goal, it is imperative to understand how species respond to human-altered habitats. This project provides timely data to address these critical issues in Madagascar by identifying what types of habitats may prove critical for the connectivity and persistence of L. catta populations, a flagship species for Madagascar. The National Park Service in Madagascar is currently considering expanding BMSR. The researchers will collaborate with several local Malagasy on data collection and share my data and recommendations with Malagasy officials. This international cooperation is an essential component in promoting conservation among residents of habitat countries. The knowledge acquired in this project will provide insight into the adaptability of non-human primates facing altered habitats as well as help inform effective wildlife-management procedures for the BMSR population of L. catta.