Mammalian Behavioral Development Under Contrasting Regimes of Interspecific Competition

建议#IBN0343381 Pis：Kay E.Holekamp，密歇根州立大学劳拉·斯梅尔，密歇根州立大学杰弗里·A·弗伦奇，内布拉斯加大学奥马哈分校非技术摘要目前很少有人知道哺乳动物在整个生命周期中从事危险行为的倾向是如何变化的，或者年轻哺乳动物的行为如何随着生态环境的变化而变化。在非洲大部分地区，狮子(Panthera Leo)和斑点鬣狗(Crocuta Crocuta)是最常见的大型食肉动物，这两个物种经常争夺食物。这里将测试假设，即自由生活的鬣狗表现出的风险敏感行为受到年龄和与狮子的竞争性互动的影响。自然发生的变异将被记录在鬣狗与狮子在食物上互动时表现出的游荡行为、警觉和危险行为。此外，两个回放实验将询问年龄和当地狮子密度如何影响鬣狗在通过隐藏的扬声器播放时是否接近或避免录制的狮子咆哮。将测量鬣狗粪便中排泄的应激激素浓度，以确定这些动物的应激生理是否受到年龄或与狮子的局部竞争的影响。研究人员将对肯尼亚两个国家公园中三个不同发育阶段的鬣狗的自然行为指标、实验结果和激素浓度进行比较，这两个国家公园的鬣狗和狮子的比例存在很大差异。最后，将与肯尼亚野生动物管理局合作，开发有效监测大型食肉动物的方法，这些方法稍后将应用于肯尼亚的其他几个国家公园。因此，这项研究将把专注于行为发育的强大基础科学与管理和保护大型非洲食肉动物的直接应用结合起来，包括那些稀有和濒危的食肉动物。

Mammalian behavioral development under contrasting regimes of interspecific competition.Proposal # IBN0343381PIs: Kay E. Holekamp, Michigan State University Laura Smale, Michigan State University Jeffrey A. French, University of Nebraska at Omaha NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT Little is currently known about how the tendency to engage in risky behavior varies across the life-span in mammals, or how the behavior of young mammals varies with ecological circumstances. In most parts of Africa, lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are the most common large carnivores, and these two species compete regularly for food. Here hypotheses will be tested suggesting that risk-sensitive behavior exhibited by free-living hyenas is affected by age and by competitive interactions with lions. Naturally-occurring variation will be documented in ranging behavior, vigilance, and risky behaviors shown by hyenas during interactions with lions over food. In addition, two playback experiments will inquire how age and local lion density influence hyenas' decisions regarding whether to approach or avoid recorded lion roars when these are broadcast from a hidden speaker. Concentrations of excreted stress hormones will be measured in hyena feces to determine whether stress physiology in these animals is affected by age or by local competition with lions. Measures of naturally-occurring behavior, experimental results, and hormone concentrations will be compared among hyenas at three different developmental stages in two Kenyan national parks in which ratios of resident hyenas to lions differ greatly. Finally, in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service, methods will be developed for effective monitoring of large carnivores, and these methods will later be applied in several other national parks in Kenya. This research will thus combine strong basic science focused on behavioral development with direct applications to management and conservation of large African carnivores, including those that are rare and endangered.