Individual variation in behavior and reproduction: Influence of ecological, social, and physiological factors

我对影响个体行为和繁殖差异的生态、社会和生理因素感兴趣。我正在发展的研究项目主要集中在野生黑尾猴（Chlorocebus pygerythrus）的行为生态学和生活史。长尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑尾黑。在乌干达西南部的纳布加博湖进行的黑长尾猴研究种群生活在一个人性化的景观中，与黑长尾猴的半陆地性质相结合，使它们相对容易观察。纳布加博长尾马种群提供了一个相对独特的机会来研究获取富含能量的人类食物如何影响发育和繁殖。目前的研究小组（自2011年开始跟踪）将由我于2015年7月开始居住的另外两个相邻小组补充。因此，在接下来的五年里，我将利用我在分析男性生殖策略的社会内分泌学方面的经验和我现有的合作来研究1)雄性优势等级的出现、维持和信号传导，以及2)对繁殖季节性的生态影响以及这些影响如何影响雄性生活史事件的时间。***我使用个体方法来检查个体之间的行为和生理差异，但同样重要的是我使用纵向方法，这使我能够检查不同生活史阶段的个体内部差异。根据内部因素（如年龄、健康状况、荷尔蒙）和外部因素（如可生育女性的数量、男性竞争对手的数量和质量），男性对各种行为和生殖策略的投资可能会有所不同。这些因素可能会影响一个特定的雄性在获得和维持高统治地位或选择低地位的从属地位方面的投资条件。在个体的一生中，生殖策略可能会发生变化，并可能伴随着不同的行为（包括交配）策略。虽然研究表明，繁殖成功往往倾向于地位较高的个体，但这种关系通常是基于短期研究，主要关注雄性在其作为统治个体的任期内。为了真正评估条件依赖策略的成本和收益，研究必须关注终生生殖成功。只有同时运用个人和纵向方法的研究项目才能积累这些数据。

I am interested in the ecological, social, and physiological factors that influence, and are influenced by, individual variation in behavior and reproduction. My developing research program focuses on the behavioural ecology and life-history of wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus). Vervets are characterized by a relatively rapid life history pace, sex-specific dominance hierarchies, and sexual dichromatism, with pronounced intermale variation in scrotal and penile coloration. The vervet study population at Lake Nabugabo in southwestern Uganda, lives in a humanized landscape that when combined with the vervets' semi-terrestrial nature, makes them relatively easy to observe. The Nabugabo vervet population offers a relatively unique opportunity to investigate how access to energy-rich human foods influences development and reproduction. The current study group (followed since 2011) will be supplemented by two additional neighboring groups that I began habituating in July 2015. Thus, over the next five years, I will build on my experience in the analysis of the socioendocrinology of male reproductive strategies and my existing collaborations to examine 1) the emergence, maintenance, and signaling of male dominance rank, and 2) the ecological influences on breeding seasonality and how these influence the timing of male life-history events. *** I use an individual approach to examine behavioural and physiological differences between individuals, but just as critically important is my use of a longitudinal approach, which allows me to examine intra-individual variation across different life-history stages. Males are expected to invest differentially in various behavioural and reproductive strategies based on internal (e.g., age, health, hormones) and external factors (e.g., number of fertile females, number and quality of male competitors). These factors likely influence the conditions under which a particular male invests in the attainment and maintenance of high dominance rank or instead opts for low-ranking subordinate status. Reproductive strategies likely change throughout an individual's lifetime, and are likely accompanied by different behavioural (including mating) tactics. While research shows that reproductive success is often skewed in favor of high-ranking individuals, this relationship is usually based on short-term studies focusing on males during their tenure as dominant individuals. In order to truly evaluate the costs and benefits of condition-dependent strategies, studies must focus on lifetime reproductive success. Only a research program that applies both individual and longitudinal approaches can accumulate these data.