OPUS: Snythesis of the behavior, population, community and disease ecology of African lions

OPUS：非洲狮的行为、种群、群落和疾病生态学综合

• 批准号: 1354093
• 负责人: Craig Packer
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1354093&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OPUS; Snythesis; behavior; population; community

This award will support a synthesis of thirty-six years of research on African lions, focusing on how body size and habitat have molded the ecology and evolution of this unusually cooperative mammalian species. Large body size allows lions to dominate competing, carnivore species and to monopolize the best locations for ambushing prey. The distribution of these valuable hunting sites is limited to a few key areas in savanna landscapes, resulting in intense competition between neighbors, and ultimately in the evolution of cooperative behavior and group living. This synthesis will address whether lions' cooperative behavior can most profitably be understood as the product of the differential survival and reproduction of individuals or of entire social groups. The work will also assess the impact of lions on the population sizes of competing carnivore species, on the population sizes of the lions' preferred prey, and on the savanna vegetation consumed by these herbivores.This project will produce a book to be published by the University of Chicago Press and written in a manner accessible for the general public. The book will include chapters that address how lion behavior and ecology increases the risk of their becoming cattle killers and man-eaters, and how to use this knowledge to design appropriate strategies for mitigating human-lion conflicts. The synthesis of information on this topic will be invaluable in designing effective conservation strategies for this iconic species.

该奖项将支持对非洲狮子36年研究的综合，重点是身体大小和栖息地如何塑造这种异常合作的哺乳动物物种的生态和进化。 巨大的体型使狮子能够主宰竞争的食肉动物物种，并垄断伏击猎物的最佳位置。 这些有价值的狩猎地点的分布仅限于稀树草原景观中的几个关键区域，导致邻居之间的激烈竞争，并最终导致合作行为和群体生活的进化。 这种综合将解决狮子的合作行为是否可以最有利地被理解为个体或整个社会群体的差异生存和繁殖的产物。 这项工作还将评估狮子对竞争的食肉动物物种的人口规模的影响，对狮子的首选猎物的人口规模，以及对这些食草动物消耗的稀树草原植被的影响。这个项目将产生一本书，由芝加哥大学出版社出版，并以公众容易理解的方式编写。 这本书将包括一些章节，讨论狮子的行为和生态如何增加它们成为杀牛者和食人者的风险，以及如何利用这些知识来设计适当的策略来减轻人狮冲突。 关于这一主题的综合信息将是非常宝贵的，在设计有效的保护战略，这一标志性的物种。