Health and fitness consequences of group size variation in Verreauxs sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi)

Verreaux sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) 群体规模变化对健康和健身的影响

• 批准号: 259027818
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Peter M. Kappeler
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Soziobiologie/ Anthropologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Units
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2013-12-31 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/259027818?language=en
• 关键词: Health; fitness; consequences; group; size

A fundamental assumption in behavioral ecology posits that intraspecific variation in group size impacts individual health, condition, and ultimately fitness. The costs and benefits of living in groups of different sizes have not been comprehensively evaluated yet, however. The overall aim of this study is therefore to examine correlations between group size and ecological, social, physiological and health variables in a wild primate population. Specifically, this is the first comprehensive study to examine group size effects of ranging, feeding, parasite infection, stress levels and microbiome composition on individual fitness simultaneously. Because we will collect behavioral data and samples of neighboring groups of variable size, which will be combined with more than 20 years of demographic data, we will be able to assess the fitness consequences of group size variation. This study will therefore address a key link in the sociality-health-fitness nexus and additionally create potential for synergetic analyses. Moreover, this study will also contribute much needed comparative data across small group sizes for comparative studies, and it will provide the first test of the ecological constraints hypothesis in an independent primate radiation.

行为生态学的一个基本假设是，种群规模的种内变化会影响个体的健康、状况，并最终影响适应性。然而，生活在不同规模群体中的成本和效益尚未得到全面评估。因此，本研究的总体目标是研究在野生灵长类动物种群的群体规模和生态，社会，生理和健康变量之间的相关性。具体来说，这是第一项全面的研究，同时研究了群体规模对个体适应性的影响，包括范围，喂养，寄生虫感染，压力水平和微生物组组成。因为我们将收集不同规模的相邻群体的行为数据和样本，这些数据将与20多年的人口统计数据相结合，我们将能够评估群体规模变化的适应性后果。因此，这项研究将解决社会健康健身关系的一个关键环节，并创造协同分析的潜力。此外，这项研究还将为比较研究提供跨小群体规模的比较数据，并将首次在独立的灵长类辐射中检验生态约束假设。