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，生态条件塑造了个体的空间分布，从而塑造了人口的社会组织。在灵长类动物中，狒狒（Papio spp.）生活在各种各样的栖息地，表现出不同的社会组织，使它们成为研究生态学和社会组织之间联系的良好模型。在一个研究狒狒行为多样性及其社会体系的大型研究项目中，我提议对几内亚狒狒（Papio Papio）进行研究。其他狒狒类群的行为生态学和社会系统已经得到了广泛的研究，而几内亚狒狒的比较数据却缺失。我们的项目“自由放养几内亚狒狒（Papio Papio）的社会行为和交流”的结果表明，它们的社会组织和裂变融合动力学与其他得到充分研究的狒狒类群有很大不同。社会生态学模型目前为调查生态条件如何在个人层面上影响社会性从而塑造社会系统设定了基本框架。基本资源的分布和丰富程度以及被捕食的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，社会生态学模型仍然提供了可测试的预测，即生态条件是否以及如何影响群体模式和社会系统。研究的目的是：(1)对森林-草原马赛克的生境特征、植被关联和物候模式进行描述和建模，量化狒狒栖息地重要资源的时空分布和丰度；(2)在季节和日常时间尺度上系统地研究食物斑块的分布和丰度与狒狒类群模式的关系；(3)根据季节的影响，提供狒狒的摄食生态、范围行为（即家庭范围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时空模式与狒狒的范围和分组模式之间的关系，这将为进一步研究狒狒在流体裂变融合社会中的社会系统、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.