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

该奖项将支持36年来对非洲狮子的研究综述，重点是身体大小和栖息地如何塑造这种不同寻常的合作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激烈的食肉动物物种，并垄断伏击猎物的最佳地点。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演变。这一综合将解决的问题是，狮子的合作行为是最有利的理解为个体或整个社会群体不同生存和繁殖的产物。这项工作还将评估狮子对相互竞争的食肉动物物种的种群数量、狮子偏爱的猎物的种群数量以及这些草食动物消耗的稀树草原植被的影响。该项目将出版一本书，将由芝加哥大学出版社出版，并以公众可读的方式撰写。这本书将包括一些章节，阐述狮子的行为和生态如何增加它们成为牛杀手和食人者的风险，以及如何利用这些知识来设计适当的战略来缓解人与狮子之间的冲突。关于这一主题的信息的综合将对为这一标志性物种制定有效的保护战略起到无价的作用。

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.