Doctoral Dissertation Research: Primate behavioral adaptations to water stress

博士论文研究：灵长类动物对水分胁迫的行为适应

• 批准号: 2141916
• 负责人: Carson Murray
• 金额: $ 2.52万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-03-15 至 2024-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2141916&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Primate; behavioral

Water requirements shape the behaviors and ways in which all animals interact with their environment. Access to sufficient clean water is especially important for maintaining hydration in lactating mammalian mothers. Many primate mothers produce a dilute milk over an extended period, which may present challenges to maintaining water balance in lactating females. This doctoral dissertation research project explores hydration status and water consumption behaviors in wild female primates and provides a comprehensive look at the multiple variables that can influence their water balance. This study also documents water quality, availability, and location in the context of frequent human-animal interactions and therefore has important implications for public health. Understanding hydration, how it varies based on ecological contexts, as well as how primates meet their water requirements has implications for the conservation of endangered populations that face changing environments. This project provides numerous training opportunities and supports capacity building. Results are shared through scientific journals, social media, and educational efforts in multiple settings.This project tests the hypothesis that lactating female primates are more water stressed than other individuals in their group and alter their behavior to increase their water intake. It also tests the hypothesis that high-ranking females are buffered from lactation-related water stress due to their increased access to better quality food and water compared to low-ranking females. This project maps spatiotemporal variation in water availability and quality, both in food and free-standing water, across the primates’ habitat. Using behavioral observations and nutritional data, the researchers estimate water intake by lactating females. Using the collected physiological and behavioral data, the results clarify how water balance varies in females based on their reproductive state, dominance rank, and the water quality and availability in their home range. This project integrates new behavioral, physiological, ecological, spatiotemporal, and nutritional data to explore water balance and behavioral adaptations to hydration stress in an endangered primate species.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

水的需求塑造了所有动物与其环境相互作用的行为和方式。获得充足的清洁水对于维持哺乳期哺乳动物母亲的水分尤其重要。许多灵长类动物母亲会在很长一段时间内产生稀乳，这可能会给哺乳期雌性维持水平衡带来挑战。该博士论文研究项目探讨了野生雌性灵长类动物的水合状态和饮水行为，并全面研究了可能影响其水平衡的多个变量。这项研究还记录了人类与动物频繁互动背景下的水质、可用性和位置，因此对公共卫生具有重要意义。了解水合作用、水合作用如何根据生态环境而变化，以及灵长类动物如何满足其对水的需求，对于保护面临不断变化的环境的濒临灭绝的种群具有重要意义。该项目提供了大量培训机会并支持能力建设。结果通过科学期刊、社交媒体和多种环境下的教育活动进行分享。该项目测试了这样一个假设：哺乳期的雌性灵长类动物比群体中的其他个体面临更大的水压力，并会改变行为以增加水的摄入量。它还检验了这样一个假设，即与低地位女性相比，高地位女性可以通过更多的机会获得更高质量的食物和水，从而缓解与哺乳相关的水压力。该项目绘制了灵长类动物栖息地的食物和独立水的可用水量和质量的时空变化。研究人员利用行为观察和营养数据来估计哺乳期女性的水摄入量。利用收集到的生理和行为数据，结果阐明了雌性水平衡如何根据其繁殖状态、优势等级以及其居住范围内的水质和可用性而变化。该项目整合了新的行为、生理、生态、时空和营养数据，以探索濒临灭绝的灵长类动物的水平衡和对水合应激的行为适应。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。