Understanding the drivers of individual and group-level movements in gregarious species

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The intricate movements of animal groups across landscapes and of individuals within groups are not well understood. Ostensibly these are the outcome of individuals’ manoeuvering relative to others to best meet their current needs but further study is needed to clarify the strategies of different classes of individuals. There are both costs and benefits of associating with individuals of the same species; and the costs may be mitigated and the benefits increased by controlling group size, inter-individual proximity, sex-ratios, and group movement direction. However, depending on their sex and life stage, animals vary in their abilities to control these variables. When choosing their individual movement paths animals must also consider their resource needs, the multiple ways that food sites vary, and the locations of competitors and allies. This project aims to understand the important factors underlying group-level and individual-level movements using two species of group-living nonhuman primates at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. Angolan black-and-white colobus monkeys (