Adaptation to an anthropogenic habitat: Integrated modelling of ecological and physiological impacts on chacma baboons

适应人类栖息地：对查克玛狒狒的生态和生理影响的综合建模

• 批准号: 2870261
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Durham University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2870261
• 关键词: Adaptation; anthropogenic; habitat; Integrated; modelling

Global human population growth is rapidly converting natural ecosystems into human-modified landscapes. This land transformation and associated loss of natural habitat has resulted in many animal species now living in close proximity to humans. Some species thrive in human-modified habitats; for others, proximity to humans leads to negative interactions due to competition over food and other resources, plus safety concerns for humans living alongside wildlife. As human-wildlife 'conflicts' increase across the globe it is increasingly important to understand how animals adapt to human-modified landscapes and the impacts this has on their reproduction and survival.Primates are highly adaptable, with species increasingly inhabiting human-modified landscapes becoming habituated to living in close contact with humans. In these environments, ecological challenges can include restricted home ranges, reduced natural food availability and increased parasitic infections. Conversely, close proximity to humans is often associated with the extirpation of natural predators and new resources available may include crop fields, gardens, homes and refuse dumps. Competition for these resources often leads to negative interactions between primates and humans, or human-wildlife conflict, impacting on activity, diet, physiology, reproduction and health, including serious injuries and even death. Few studies have sought to understand primates' responses to the competing costs and opportunities of inhabiting human-dominated landscapes, particularly in contexts where the primary food source for the primates is relatively uncontested.Several chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) groups feed at the local landfill site in the rural town of Alldays, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Initial work showed the food available at the dump can have significant impacts on the diets, time budgets and ranging patterns of the baboons. While at the landfill site, the dump workers and baboons share a commensal relationship, whereas away from the dump local residents are often aggressive towards the baboons. Instances of shooting appear relatively frequent, and despite high reproductive rates, group structures suggest significant impacts of human actions on the baboon demography. The baboons must thus navigate a complex landscape where access to resources and anthropogenic risk factors vary spatially and temporally. The system provides an ideal opportunity to understand the behavioural and physiological responses of primates to living in human-modified landscapes and how baboons trade-off the costs and benefits of living alongside humans.The project will involve fieldwork in Alldays to collect: behavioural data and microhabitat usage for two groups of chacma baboons which use the rubbish dump; ecological data on their broader habitat usage and microhabitat usage; and faecal samples for non-invasive hormone analysis to be carried out in the Behavioural Ecology & Physiology Laboratory, Anthropology Dept., Durham University. GPS collars may be deployed to explore high resolution movement patterns. Energetic physiological responses to ecological factors, including food intake and human persecution will be assessed through variation in stress and metabolic hormone levels. Validated EIAs (enzyme immunoassay) will be used to analyse physiological stress levels and resilience (glucocorticoids), and metabolic rate and energy balance (thyroid hormone) from faecal samples.Mixed models will be used to analyse and compare the combined behavioural, ecological and physiological factors affecting activity budgets, energy balance and physiological stress responses and resilience of the two baboon groups. Social network analyses will enable exploration of how social networks vary with anthropogenic space and resource use, and help to examine the behavioural and physiological impact of human interactions and persecution events on close network partners.

全球人口增长正在迅速将自然生态系统转变为人类改造的景观。这种土地改造和自然栖息地的相关损失导致许多动物物种现在生活在人类附近。一些物种在人类改造的栖息地中茁壮成长;对其他物种来说，由于对食物和其他资源的竞争，以及与野生动物一起生活的人类的安全问题，接近人类会导致负面的相互作用。随着人类与野生动物之间的“冲突”在地球仪上的增加，了解动物如何适应人类改造的景观以及这对它们的繁殖和生存的影响越来越重要。灵长类动物具有高度的适应性，越来越多的物种栖息在人类改造的景观中，习惯于与人类密切接触。在这些环境中，生态挑战可能包括有限的活动范围，减少天然食物供应和增加寄生虫感染。相反，靠近人类往往与自然捕食者的灭绝有关，新的可用资源可能包括农田、花园、住宅和垃圾场。对这些资源的竞争往往导致灵长类动物与人类之间的负面互动，或人类与野生动物之间的冲突，影响活动、饮食、生理、生殖和健康，包括严重伤害甚至死亡。很少有研究试图了解灵长类动物对人类主导的景观的竞争成本和机会的反应，特别是在灵长类动物的主要食物来源相对没有争议的情况下。几个查克马狒狒（Papio ursinus）群体在南非林波波省农村城镇Alldays的当地垃圾填埋场觅食。最初的工作表明，垃圾场的食物可以对狒狒的饮食，时间预算和范围模式产生重大影响。在垃圾填埋场，垃圾场工人和狒狒有着共同的关系，而远离垃圾场的当地居民往往对狒狒具有攻击性。射击的重复出现相对频繁，尽管繁殖率高，群体结构表明人类行为对狒狒人口统计学的重大影响。因此，狒狒必须在一个复杂的环境中航行，在这个环境中，资源的获取和人为风险因素在空间和时间上都是不同的。该系统提供了一个理想的机会，以了解灵长类动物的行为和生理反应，生活在人类改造的景观，以及狒狒如何权衡的成本和效益的生活在一起的人类。该项目将涉及实地考察，收集：行为数据和小生境使用的两组查克马狒狒使用的垃圾场;生态数据，他们更广泛的栖息地使用和小生境使用;以及粪便样本，以便在人类学系行为生态学和生理学实验室进行非侵入性激素分析，达勒姆大学。可以部署GPS项圈以探索高分辨率的运动模式。通过压力和代谢激素水平的变化来评估对生态因素（包括食物摄入和人类迫害）的精力充沛的生理反应。经验证的EIA（酶免疫测定）将用于分析生理应激水平和弹性（糖皮质激素），以及代谢率和能量平衡（甲状腺激素）从粪便样本。混合模型将用于分析和比较影响活动预算，能量平衡和生理应激反应和弹性的两个狒狒群体的综合行为，生态和生理因素。社会网络分析将使人们能够探索社交网络如何随着人类空间和资源的使用而变化，并有助于研究人类互动和迫害事件对亲密网络伙伴的行为和生理影响。