Ecological basis for fission-fusion dynamics in Guinea baboons (Papio papio)

行为生态学和社会生态学框架内的一个基本范式是，生态条件影响个人的空间分布，从而影响人口的社会组织。在灵长类动物中，狒狒(Papio spp.)生活在不同的栖息地，展示了多样化的社会组织，成为研究生态与社会组织联系的良好典范。在一个更大的研究计划中，我提出了一项关于几内亚狒狒Papio Papio的研究，该计划旨在解决狒狒行为及其社会制度的多样性问题。与行为生态学和社会制度已被广泛研究的其他狒狒分类群不同，几内亚狒狒的比较数据尚不存在。我们的项目《自由放养几内亚狒狒的社会行为和交流》(Papio Papio)的结果表明，它们的社会组织和裂变-融合动力学与其他研究得很好的狒狒分类群有很大不同。社会生态模型目前为研究生态条件如何在个人层面上影响社会性从而塑造社会制度奠定了基本框架。基本资源的分布和丰富程度以及捕食风险被认为是影响灵长类社会组织的主要因素。尽管受到批评，但社会生态模型仍然提供了关于生态条件是否以及如何影响群体模式和社会制度的可测试预测。这项研究的目的是：(1)描述和模拟森林-稀树草原花叶的栖息地特征、植被组合和物候模式，以量化在鸵鸟栖息地的基本资源的时空分布和丰富性；(2)在季节和日常时间尺度上系统地调查食物斑块的分布和丰富性与狒狒的分组模式之间的关系；以及(3)就季节性的影响提供关于狒狒的取食生态、活动范围行为(即栖息地的使用和旅行路径长度)和活动模式的定量数据。在我们的探索性研究中，我们假设找到资源分布的空间和时间模式与狒狒的测距和分组模式之间的关系，这将为在一个流动的裂变-融合社会中进一步研究它们的社会制度、认知和交流提供所需的社会生态基线。

One fundamental paradigm within the framework of behavioural ecology and socio-ecology is that ecological conditions shape the spatial distribution of individuals and hence the social organization of a population. Among primates, baboons (Papio spp.) live in a variety of habitats and show diverse social organizations, making them good models to investigate links between ecology and social organization. Within a larger research programme that addresses the diversity of baboon behaviour and their social systems, I propose a study of the Guinea baboon, Papio papio. In contrast to other baboon taxa whose behavioural ecology and social systems has been extensively studied, comparative data on Guinea baboons are missing. Results of our project, Social behaviour and communication of free-ranging Guinea baboons (Papio papio), suggest that their social organization and fission-fusion dynamics, differs substantially from that of the other well-studied baboon taxa. Socio-ecological models currently set the basic framework to investigate how ecological conditions may influence sociality on the level of the individual and thus shaping the social system. Distribution and abundance of essential resources and predation risk are thought to constitute major factors influencing primate social organisation. Despite criticism, socio-ecological models still provide testable prediction of whether and how ecological conditions impact grouping patterns and social systems. The objectives of the study are: (1) to describe and model the habitat characteristics, vegetation association and phenological patterns of the forest-savannah mosaic to quantify the spatio-temporal distribution and abundance of essential resources in the home-range of the baboons: (2) to systematically investigate the relationships between distribution and abundance of food patches and the grouping patterns of baboons, on both a seasonal and day-to-day time scale; and (3) to provide quantitative data on the feeding ecology, ranging behaviour (i.e. home-range use and travel path length) and activity patterns of the baboons with regard to the impact of seasonality. In our explorative study we assume to find relationships between spatial and temporal patterns of resource distribution and ranging and grouping pattern of the baboons, which will provide the socio-ecological baseline needed for further investigations of their social system, cognition, and communication in a fluid fission-fusion society.