Doctoral Disseration Improvement: Long Calls Among Savanna Chimpanzees at Ugalla, Western Tanzania

博士论文改进：坦桑尼亚西部乌加拉稀树草原黑猩猩的长鸣

• 批准号: 0824278
• 负责人: James Moore
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-10-01 至 2009-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0824278&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Disseration; Improvement; Long; Calls

Fluid social systems place unique cognitive demands on individuals given the necessity to coordinate reunions and negotiate relationships over large distances and with intermittent encounters. A variety of fission-fusion species produce loud calls, a behavior likely critical in maintaining contact between widely spaced community members. Despite investigation into the variables that influence vocal behavior, previous research has been unable to situate interparty calling in a socio-ecological context, especially when callers are separated by large distances. This study will address the function of chimpanzee loud calls (pant hoots), as well as explore hypotheses concerning chimpanzee acoustic behavior and its relationship to the environment, important especially when using savanna chimpanzees to model early hominin behavioral adaptations to arid habitats. Specific objectives include examination of whether chimpanzees (1) use loud calls to coordinate reunions or movements between widely separated parties (enabling a large percentage of the community to maintain contact for prolonged periods of time), (2) exhibit specific sleeping-site calling behavior, and (3) adjust grouping patterns to scarce resources and/or predator density. To meet these objectives, an acoustic localization system has been developed that will monitor and record calling behavior and caller locations within (potentially) an entire chimpanzee community in Ugalla, Western Tanzania, providing data on fission-fusion patterns. Microphone units deployed across the study area will transmit, in real time, sounds to a central computer where data will be analyzed, stored, and used to locate chimpanzee parties for behavioural data collection. Spatial and regression analyses will assess the relationship between chimpanzee nesting sites and the acoustic environment, whilst streaming spectrographic software will be used to analyze pant hoots in various contexts.For chimpanzees, where relative party size and recruitment of allies are key factors in intergroup (e.g. lethal raiding) and intragroup relations, vocalization behaviour is an important means through which individuals monitor each other's locations and behaviour, especially when not in visual contact. The extremely large home ranges of savanna chimpanzees (270km2 compared to 15km2 in forests) are likely to impact the nature of parties, how they coordinate movement, and possibly on community social structure itself. Revealing how savanna chimpanzees maintain their social relationships in these conditions has implications for both Pliocene hominins that evolved in a similar habitat, and for the adaptability of a fission fusion system. More broadly, this study will develop and demonstrate a new technology that can be used for behavioral, ecological, and conservation research on any loudly vocalizing animal. Through training in the appropriate field and analytical methods, Tanzanian researchers and wildlife managers can then apply this new, useful technology to new additional research questions.

流动的社会系统对个人提出了独特的认知要求，因为他们需要协调团聚和谈判远距离和间歇性相遇的关系。各种各样的裂变-融合物种会发出响亮的叫声，这种行为可能对保持相隔很远的社区成员之间的联系至关重要。尽管对影响发声行为的变量进行了调查，但以前的研究无法在社会生态背景下解释党派间的通话，特别是当通话者相隔很远时。这项研究将解决黑猩猩大声呼叫（喘气）的功能，以及探讨黑猩猩的声学行为及其与环境的关系，特别是当使用稀树草原黑猩猩模型早期人类行为适应干旱栖息地的重要假设。具体目标包括检查黑猩猩是否（1）使用大声呼叫来协调广泛分离的团体之间的团聚或运动（使社区的大部分人能够长时间保持联系），（2）表现出特定的睡眠场所呼叫行为，（3）调整分组模式以稀缺资源和/或捕食者密度。为了实现这些目标，已经开发了一种声学定位系统，该系统将监测和记录（可能）坦桑尼亚西部乌加拉整个黑猩猩社区内的呼叫行为和呼叫者位置，提供有关裂变融合模式的数据。在整个研究区域部署的麦克风单元将真实的时间将声音传输到中央计算机，在那里数据将被分析，存储，并用于定位黑猩猩群体的行为数据收集。空间和回归分析将评估黑猩猩筑巢地点和声环境之间的关系，而流光谱软件将用于分析各种背景下的喘息声。（例如致命袭击）和集团内关系，发声行为是一种重要的手段，通过这种手段，人们可以监视彼此的位置和行为，特别是在没有视觉接触的情况下。草原黑猩猩的活动范围非常大（270平方公里，而森林中只有15平方公里），这可能会影响聚会的性质，他们如何协调运动，并可能影响社区社会结构本身。揭示稀树草原黑猩猩如何在这些条件下维持社会关系，对在类似栖息地进化的上新世人类和裂变融合系统的适应性都有影响。更广泛地说，这项研究将开发和展示一种新技术，可用于任何大声发声动物的行为，生态和保护研究。 通过在适当的领域和分析方法的培训，坦桑尼亚的研究人员和野生动物管理人员可以应用这种新的，有用的技术，以新的额外的研究问题。