Acquisition of a Near Infrared Spectrometer to Rapidly Analyze Primate Diets

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公共法律111-5)资助的。关于人类和非人类灵长类动物与其环境的复杂相互作用的问题，对于理解我们自己物种的进化和生态以及非人类灵长类动物的进化和生态都是至关重要的。获得足够的营养是这些互动中最深刻的。需要估计食物资源的营养质量，以解决有关饮食和营养在灵长类动物丰度、分布和社会行为中的作用的问题。最近发现，在描述灵长类动物的饮食特征和解决灵长类动物学家感兴趣的许多问题时，需要考虑同一植物物种内营养成分随时间和空间的显着和不可预测的变化。这需要对数千个植物样本进行分析，以检查灵长类动物的饮食，而传统的营养分析在处理如此规模的样本时既耗时又昂贵。近红外反射光谱(NIRS)是一种经济的方法，可用于快速评估灵长类食品的营养含量。这项技术的基本原理是，当样品受到近红外光照射时，食品有机物中的化学键在光谱中表示。然后，将这些光谱与从传统营养分析中获得的营养素参考值进行校准，以开发预测性统计方程。由于单一光谱可以代表样品的多种属性(纤维、脂肪、蛋白质等)，它可以取代多种营养素的分析；每天可以同时分析150多个植物样品中的多种营养素，大大提高了营养分析的效率。这项奖励将支持购买一台近红外反射光谱仪，并将为身体人类学家之间研究灵长类动物行为和生态的研究合作奠定基础。这台光谱仪将被安置在纽约城市大学亨特学院人类学系。近红外光谱的使用将支持该协会灵长类营养生态实验室内的许多研究和培训活动，包括该协会以及北美地区的五名合作者及其学生的研究努力。它将促进至少13个正在进行的关于生活在东非和南美洲的各种猴子的灵长类营养生态学项目的研究活动。亨特学院是一个为少数群体服务的机构，那里有许多机会来改善代表人数不足的群体和攻读科学学位的女性的研究和培训基础设施。亨特大学的学生将接受这项尖端近红外光谱技术的培训，使他们能够以前所未有的方式测试人类学理论。此外，由于近红外线用户将被亨特学院吸引，通过使用光谱仪的合作将使来自国际上多所大学的一个充满活力和参与的小组得以实现，加强本科生和研究生水平的学生培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Questions regarding the complex interactions that humans and non-human primates have with their environment are central to understanding both the evolution and ecology of our own species, as well as that of non-human primates. Obtaining adequate nutrition is among the most profound of these interactions. Estimates of the nutritional quality of food resources are needed to address questions regarding the role of diet and nutrition in primate abundance, distribution, and social behavior. Recently documented striking and unpredictable variation in nutritional composition within same plant species through time and space needs to be considered when characterizing primate diets and addressing many questions of interest to primatologists. This requires the analysis of thousands of plant samples to examine primate diets, and traditional nutritional analysis is time-consuming and expensive when dealing with sample sizes of this magnitude. Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is an economical method that can be used to rapidly assess nutritional content primate foods. The underlying principle of this technology is that the chemical bonds in the organic matter of a food item are represented in a spectrum when the sample is irradiated with near infrared light. These spectra are then calibrated against reference values of nutrients, obtained from traditional nutritional analysis, to develop predictive statistical equations. Since a single spectrum can represent many attributes of a sample (fiber, fat, protein etc.), it can replace assays for multiple nutrients; over 150 plant samples can be analyzed per day for a variety of nutrients simultaneously, greatly improving the efficiency of nutritional analysis. This award will support the acquisition of a near-infrared reflectance spectrometer, and will form the foundation for research collaboration among physical anthropologists studying primate behavior and ecology. The spectrometer will be housed in the Department of Anthropology at Hunter College of the City University of New York. The use of NIRS will support many research and training activities within the PI's primate nutritional ecology lab, including the research efforts of the PI, and five collaborators and their students within North America. It will contribute to the research activities of at least thirteen ongoing projects on primate nutritional ecology on a diversity of monkeys living in East Africa and South America. Hunter College is a minority serving institution, where many opportunities are available to improve the research and training infrastructure of underrepresented groups and women pursuing degrees in the sciences. Students at Hunter will be trained in this cutting-edge NIRS technology, allowing them to test anthropological theories in ways that have not been previously possible. Further, since NIRS users will be attracted to Hunter College, collaborations through the use of the spectrometer will enable a vibrant and engaged group from multiple universities internationally, enhancing student training at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.