Ecology of African Lions

该项目将进行全面的研究，构建和测试种群和群落生态的详细模型，重点是非洲狮种群。首先，该项目将在单个社会群体和更大尺度的亚种群水平上调查狮子种群动态，构建种群水平、群体水平和个体变量的统计模型，以确定人口表现和环境条件的短期变化对种群增长和稳定的相对影响。研究人员将测量24个不同狮群范围内猎物可得性的日常变化的综合数据，并将其用于在整个景观的空间食物网模型中，将迁徙食草动物的迁移马赛克和狮子的领土行为联系起来。其次，该项目将研究空间异质性在稳定竞争食肉动物物种共存中的作用。猎豹、豹子、狮子和鬣狗可能表现出不同的生态位策略，在共存的整体模式中创造出网状的占用模式。第三，该项目将测量狮子中四种病毒性疾病的周期长度，以测试多宿主疾病传播模型的预测。该项目将继续培训坦桑尼亚研究人员，与坦桑尼亚科学家合作，并为美国研究生和本科生提供研究机会，包括来自代表性不足的少数民族的个人。这项研究的结果将帮助野生动物管理者预测栖息地变化和破碎化的后果，确定物种共存所必需的景观特征，并衡量疾病控制计划的有效性。

This project will conduct comprehensive research to construct and test detailed models of population and community ecology, with a focus on African lion populations. First, the project will investigate lion population dynamics at the level of individual social groups as well as larger-scale sub-populations, constructing statistical models with population-level, group-level, and individual variables to determine the relative impacts of short-term variability in demographic performance and environmental conditions on population growth and stability. Comprehensive data on day-to-day variation in prey availability within the ranges of 24 different lion groups will be measured and used to link the shifting mosaic of migratory herbivores and territorial behavior of the lions in a spatial food-web model across the landscape. Second, the project will investigate the role of spatial heterogeneity in stabilizing the coexistence of competing carnivore species. Cheetahs, leopards, lions and hyenas may show divergent niche strategies that create a reticulated pattern of occupancy within an overall pattern of coexistence. Third, the project will measure cycle-length of four viral diseases in the lions to test predictions of multi-host disease transmission models. The project will continue to train Tanzanian researchers, collaborate with Tanzanian scientists and provide research opportunities for American graduate students and undergraduates, including individuals from under-represented minorities. Results from the study will help wildlife managers to predict consequences of habitat change and fragmentation, to identify the landscape features necessary for species co-existence, and to measure the effectiveness of disease control programs.