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

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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.