Doctoral Dissertation Research: Costs of competing for food in wild primates

博士论文研究：野生灵长类动物争夺食物的成本

• 批准号: 2216699
• 负责人: Michelle Brown
• 金额: $ 3.11万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 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: 2022-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2216699&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Costs; competing

Competition between species exists nearly everywhere in nature, yet its intensity and consequences are difficult to measure. This study investigates how changes in the presence of competitors affects access to food resources, health, and reproduction in small primates. Results from this study will identify and measure the wide-ranging outcomes that small primates experience because of food-related competition. Results of this study help to explain the behavioral variation seen among primate species that live together eating similar diets, contributes to understanding population structure, and offers insight for conservation efforts for nonhuman primates. This study also provides significant training opportunities in field and laboratory methods for students from groups historically excluded from STEM internationally and the U.S. Most primates live in highly biodiverse communities and compete intensely with other species for access to food sources. Although between-species interactions are likely to have substantial effects on access to resources, primate studies have focused primarily on competitive interactions within a species. As a result, there is an urgent need to explore how between-species competition shapes reproduction, population dynamics, community structure, and even social interactions. This study examines how small-bodied red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) are affected by several larger primate species, by examining variation in competitor pressure, food availability, and red-tailed monkey physical condition at four field sites. The investigators will evaluate metabolic hormones from non-invasively collected urine and fecal samples to determine when individuals are in a state of energy gain, minor deficit, or profound tissue wasting. Reproductive effort will be assessed by tracking births and measuring reproductive hormones. These results will be used to determine whether the three larger, competing primate species have similar effects on red-tailed monkey energetics and reproduction, or if some competitors are unusually detrimental to a smaller-bodied species. This project is funded jointly by Biological Anthropology and Build and Broaden programs (SBE).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.

物种之间的竞争在自然界几乎无处不在，但其强度和后果很难衡量。本研究调查了竞争对手的存在变化如何影响小型灵长类动物获得食物资源、健康和繁殖。这项研究的结果将确定和衡量小型灵长类动物由于食物相关竞争而经历的广泛结果。这项研究的结果有助于解释生活在一起、饮食相似的灵长类动物之间的行为差异，有助于了解种群结构，并为非人类灵长类动物的保护工作提供见解。这项研究还为来自国际和美国历史上被排除在STEM之外的群体的学生提供了实地和实验室方法方面的重要培训机会。大多数灵长类动物生活在高度生物多样性的群落中，并与其他物种激烈竞争获取食物来源。虽然物种之间的相互作用可能对资源的获取有实质性的影响，但灵长类动物的研究主要集中在物种内部的竞争相互作用上。因此，迫切需要探索物种间竞争如何影响繁殖、种群动态、群落结构甚至社会互动。本研究通过考察竞争对手压力、食物供应和红尾猴身体状况的变化，考察了几种大型灵长类动物对小体红尾猴（Cercopithecus ascanius）的影响。研究人员将从非侵入性收集的尿液和粪便样本中评估代谢激素，以确定个体何时处于能量增加、轻微不足或严重组织消耗的状态。生殖努力将通过跟踪生育和测量生殖激素来评估。这些结果将用于确定三种较大的竞争灵长类物种是否对红尾猴的能量和繁殖有相似的影响，或者是否一些竞争对手对体型较小的物种有害。本项目由生物人类学与建设与拓展计划（SBE）联合资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。