Behavioural ecology of ungulates: from individuals to populations

我的研究重点是有蹄类动物的行为生态学，特别是落基山脉大角羊和麋鹿。我提议的研究计划的目标有三个：1)了解个人行为，特别是女性配偶的选择；2)探索行为和生态上的性别差异如何影响更大的社会网络，从而接触和传播疾病；3)了解人类干扰如何影响性别。落基山大角羊雌性通常在接受周期内与多只雄性交配，但每年只产一只羔羊。雌性可能会进行交配，为后代选择好的基因，这样后代就能更好地适应疾病或抵御寄生虫感染。一些大角兽离开它们的出生地到其他地方繁殖，在繁殖后返回。目前还不清楚它们为什么离开，去了哪里，但预计男性和女性有不同的动机和不同的迁移程度。男性预计会比女性旅行更远，接触到更多的配偶，这反过来可能会使他们面临更高的寄生虫/疾病暴露风险。我正在调查男性和女性在多大程度上促成了疾病在人群中的传播。了解疾病动态(谁感染谁)和接触率(谁与谁互动)非常重要，因为这种知识最终将为有效管理和根除国家关注的疾病(如慢性消耗性疾病、布鲁氏菌病、牛结核病等)提供工具。最后，我正在调查城市化(人类干扰)对野生动物疾病流行和动态的影响程度。为了回答这个问题，我正在通过比较生活在坎莫尔市的一群麋鹿和生活在艾伯塔省弓谷省立公园的乡村麋鹿来研究麋鹿的疾病流行率。坎莫尔发展迅速，越来越限制当地野生动物的栖息地。虽然坎莫尔麋鹿可能更安全，不受捕食者的侵扰，并可以在市政绿地上获得高质量的饲料，但与农村麋鹿相比，由于过度拥挤，它们可能面临更高的疾病传播风险。鉴于目前栖息地碎片化和疾病对野生有蹄类动物的风险，这类研究至关重要。

My research focuses on the behavioural ecology of ungulates, particularly Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and elk. The objectives of my proposed research program are three-fold: 1) understanding individual behaviour, in particular female mate choice 2) exploring how sexual differences in behaviour and ecology impact the larger social network and thus exposure to and transmission of disease, and 3) understanding how human disturbance affects the sexes. Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep females typically mate with more than one male during their receptive cycle but only produce one lamb per year. Females may mate multiply to select good genes for their offspring, who are then better adapted to combat disease or resist parasite infections. Some bighorns leave their natal range to breed elsewhere, returning after breeding. It is not clear why they leave and where they go, but it is expected that males and females have different motivations and different extents to their migrations. Males are expected to travel further and come into contact with more mates than females, which in turn could put them at higher risk of parasite/ disease exposure. I am investigating to what extent males and females contribute to disease flow among populations. Understanding disease dynamics (who infects whom) and contact rates (who interacts with whom) is very important because such knowledge will ultimately provide tools for the effective management and eradication of diseases of national concern (i.e. chronic wasting disease, brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, etc.). Lastly, I am investigating to what extent urbanization (human disturbance) affects wildlife disease prevalence and dynamics. To answer this, I am studying disease prevalence in elk by comparing a population living in the city of Canmore, to rural elk living in Bow Valley Provincial Park, Alberta. Canmore has grown rapidly, increasingly restricting habitat for native wildlife. While Canmore elk might be safer from predators and have access to high quality forage on municipal greens, they are likely exposed to higher disease transmission risks due to overcrowding compared to rural elk. Research of this kind is crucial, given the current risks to wild ungulates from habitat fragmentation and disease.