Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Environment and Nutrition in Female Monkeys

社会行为影响动物获取食物的能力，这些食物含有生长和繁殖所需的充足营养。在灵长类动物(包括人类)的进化过程中，社会性对于防止和帮助个体在面对来自自身物种和其他物种的竞争时实现其营养目标都是重要的。因此，社会性对营养的影响，反之亦然，对于描述人类饮食的演变和测试灵长类社会生态学的理论具有重要意义。为了探索这些问题，这个项目将在乌干达的Kibale国家公园研究雌性红尾猴的社会性和营养。更广泛的影响包括对少数族裔和女性学生进行灵长类生态和保护方面的培训，促进国际关系和合作，以及支持公众和学生关于灵长类多样性和保护的宣传。本论文将研究社会性对雌性红尾猴(Cercopithecus Ascanius)营养的影响。雌性可能面临(1)与其他群体成员的竞争，可能是在统治等级的背景下，与其他猴子物种的竞争，以及(2)它们自己的营养目标。研究人员将在Kibale国家公园内检查三组雌性猴子的营养摄取和平衡情况。将使用几何框架(GF)分析女性的常量营养素、能量和微量营养素的摄入量、平衡和营养优先模式。GF模拟了动物如何平衡彼此之间的多种食物成分。这些营养数据随后将在社会行为的背景下进行分析。这项研究将更好地描述灵长类动物的行为，以及共域猴子物种之间的生态位构建。

Social behavior influences an animal's ability to access foods that contain adequate nutrition for growth and reproduction. During the course of primate (including human) evolution, sociality was important for both preventing and helping individuals reach their nutritional goals when faced with competition from within their own species and other species. Consequently, the influence of sociality on nutrition, and vice versa, has implications for characterizing the evolution of human diet and for testing theories about primate socioecology. To explore these issues, this project will study sociality and nutrition in female redtail monkeys in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The broader impacts include training minority and female students in primate ecology and conservation, fostering international relationships and collaborations, and supporting public and student outreach about primate diversity and conservation. This dissertation project will investigate the impact of sociality on the nutrition of female redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius). Females may face a tradeoff between (1) competition with other group members, potentially in the context of dominance hierarchies, and with other monkey species, and (2) their own nutritional goals. The investigators will examine the nutrient intake and balancing of females in three groups of monkeys within Kibale National Park. Macronutrient, energy and micronutrient intake, balance, and patterns of nutrient prioritization across females will be analyzed using the Geometric Framework (GF). The GF models how an animal balances multiple food components in relation to one another. These nutritional data will then be analyzed in the context of social behavior. This study will better characterize primate behavior, as well as niche construction among sympatric monkey species.