Doctoral Disseration Improvement: Long Calls Among Savanna Chimpanzees at Ugalla, Western Tanzania

流动的社会系统对个人提出了独特的认知要求，因为有必要在远距离和间歇性的相遇中协调团聚和协商关系。许多裂变融合物种会发出响亮的叫声，这种行为可能对保持相隔很远的群落成员之间的联系至关重要。尽管对影响发声行为的变量进行了调查，但之前的研究无法在社会生态背景下定位双方之间的呼叫，特别是当呼叫者相隔很远的时候。这项研究将解决黑猩猩大声呼叫（喘气）的功能，以及探索关于黑猩猩的声音行为及其与环境的关系的假设，特别是当使用稀树草原黑猩猩来模拟早期人类对干旱栖息地的行为适应时，这一点很重要。具体的目标包括检查黑猩猩是否(1)使用大声的叫声来协调分散的群体之间的聚会或移动（使社区的大部分人能够长时间保持联系），(2)表现出特定的睡眠地点呼叫行为，以及(3)根据资源稀缺和/或捕食者密度调整群体模式。为了实现这些目标，一种声学定位系统已经开发出来，它将监测和记录坦桑尼亚西部乌加拉（可能）整个黑猩猩群落的呼叫行为和呼叫位置，提供裂变融合模式的数据。部署在整个研究区域的麦克风单元将实时将声音传输到一台中央计算机，在那里数据将被分析、存储并用于定位黑猩猩的行为数据收集。空间和回归分析将评估黑猩猩筑巢地点和声学环境之间的关系，而流光谱软件将用于分析各种环境下的呼叫声。对于黑猩猩来说，相对的群体规模和盟友的招募是群体间（例如致命的袭击）和群体内关系的关键因素，发声行为是个体监视彼此位置和行为的重要手段，尤其是在没有视觉接触的情况下。热带稀树草原黑猩猩的活动范围非常大（270平方公里，而森林黑猩猩的活动范围为15平方公里），这可能会影响群体的性质、它们协调运动的方式，甚至可能影响社区社会结构本身。揭示热带草原黑猩猩如何在这些条件下维持社会关系，对在类似栖息地进化的上新世人类和裂变融合系统的适应性都有意义。更广泛地说，这项研究将开发和展示一种新技术，可用于任何大声发声的动物的行为、生态和保护研究。通过适当领域的培训和分析方法，坦桑尼亚的研究人员和野生动物管理人员可以将这种新的、有用的技术应用于新的、额外的研究问题。

Fluid social systems place unique cognitive demands on individuals given the necessity to coordinate reunions and negotiate relationships over large distances and with intermittent encounters. A variety of fission-fusion species produce loud calls, a behavior likely critical in maintaining contact between widely spaced community members. Despite investigation into the variables that influence vocal behavior, previous research has been unable to situate interparty calling in a socio-ecological context, especially when callers are separated by large distances. This study will address the function of chimpanzee loud calls (pant hoots), as well as explore hypotheses concerning chimpanzee acoustic behavior and its relationship to the environment, important especially when using savanna chimpanzees to model early hominin behavioral adaptations to arid habitats. Specific objectives include examination of whether chimpanzees (1) use loud calls to coordinate reunions or movements between widely separated parties (enabling a large percentage of the community to maintain contact for prolonged periods of time), (2) exhibit specific sleeping-site calling behavior, and (3) adjust grouping patterns to scarce resources and/or predator density. To meet these objectives, an acoustic localization system has been developed that will monitor and record calling behavior and caller locations within (potentially) an entire chimpanzee community in Ugalla, Western Tanzania, providing data on fission-fusion patterns. Microphone units deployed across the study area will transmit, in real time, sounds to a central computer where data will be analyzed, stored, and used to locate chimpanzee parties for behavioural data collection. Spatial and regression analyses will assess the relationship between chimpanzee nesting sites and the acoustic environment, whilst streaming spectrographic software will be used to analyze pant hoots in various contexts.For chimpanzees, where relative party size and recruitment of allies are key factors in intergroup (e.g. lethal raiding) and intragroup relations, vocalization behaviour is an important means through which individuals monitor each other's locations and behaviour, especially when not in visual contact. The extremely large home ranges of savanna chimpanzees (270km2 compared to 15km2 in forests) are likely to impact the nature of parties, how they coordinate movement, and possibly on community social structure itself. Revealing how savanna chimpanzees maintain their social relationships in these conditions has implications for both Pliocene hominins that evolved in a similar habitat, and for the adaptability of a fission fusion system. More broadly, this study will develop and demonstrate a new technology that can be used for behavioral, ecological, and conservation research on any loudly vocalizing animal. Through training in the appropriate field and analytical methods, Tanzanian researchers and wildlife managers can then apply this new, useful technology to new additional research questions.