Spatial Ecology of Predator-Prey Relationships in East Africa

自从动物进化出眼睛、牙齿和下颚以来，主动捕食一直被认为是一种强大的选择压力，至少有5亿年的历史。灵长类动物和早期人类祖先为了适应捕食压力而进化出的特征包括警报、体型大、群体规模大、群体生活本身、提高警惕性、避免高风险栖息地以及更强的认知能力。然而，在捕食者-被捕食者关系的背景下，既要记录灵长类动物的实际捕食压力，又要评估进化和共同进化特征的经验证据，一直是极其困难的。灵长类动物的许多重要捕食者在夜间活动，限制了数据采集，并且人类观察者在野外研究灵长类动物可能会阻碍其他时间的捕食。遥感技术的最新进展，例如gps追踪项圈的使用，现在提供了一种机制，可以系统地、更全面地记录捕食者和猎物之间的相互作用。这项研究将利用这些技术创新来评估东非狒狒和长尾猴这两种灵长类动物及其可能的主要捕食者豹之间的捕食行为和相互作用。这些灵长类动物是陆生动物，居住在稀树草原-林地栖息地，这些条件与许多发达的适应捕食理论有关，它们经常被用于重建早期人类祖先的生活方式。这三种动物身上的GPS项圈所获得的空间数据，以及记录灵长类动物睡眠地点夜间攻击的声控记录仪的数据，将产生关于捕食者-猎物相互作用频率、捕食率、猎物脆弱性和猎物反应的前所未有的详细记录。由于狒狒和长尾猴在体型、群体规模、栖息地使用、范围行为和警报类型方面存在差异，这些数据将使我们能够验证长期存在但迄今未被验证的关于这些假定的进化适应捕食者的假设。该项目为一名美国博士后研究员和一名肯尼亚研究生提供研究和培训机会。其更广泛的影响通过设在Mpala研究中心进一步扩大，该中心是由美国和肯尼亚组织共同维护的设施。它加强了美国和肯尼亚组织之间的合作关系，并通过对姆帕拉的捐助，帮助当地社区开展保护和教育工作。最后，该项目的数据将为更好地保护食肉动物和灵长类动物物种提供信息。

Active predation has been considered a powerful selective pressure for at least 500 million years, ever since animals evolved eyes, teeth, and jaws. Traits which have been proposed to be evolved adaptations to predation pressure in primates and early human ancestors include alarm calls, large body size, large group size, group-living itself, increased vigilance, avoidance of high-risk habitats, and greater cognitive abilities. Empirical evidence to both document actual predation pressure on primates and to then assess evolved and co-evolved traits in the context of predator-prey relationships, however, has been extremely difficult to acquire. A number of significant predators for primates are active at night, limiting data acquisition, and the presence of human observers studying primates in the wild likely discourages predation during other times.Recent advances in remote sensing technologies, such as the use of GPS-tracking collars, now provide a mechanism to systematically and more fully document the interactions between predators and prey. This research will utilize these technological innovations to assess predator-prey behavior and interactions between two primates, baboons and vervet monkeys, and their likely major predator, leopards, in East Africa. These primate species are terrestrial and occupy savannah-woodland habitats, conditions relevant to much of the developed theory on adaptations to predation, and they are frequently utilized in reconstructions of early human ancestral lifeways. Spatial data from the GPS collars on individuals of all three species, along with data from voice-activated recorders that document nocturnal attacks at primate sleeping sites, will generate unprecedented and detailed records of the frequency of predator-prey interactions, predation rates, prey vulnerability, and prey responses. Because baboons and vervets differ in body size, group size, habitat use, ranging behavior, and types of alarm calls, these data will enable us to test long-standing but heretofore untested hypotheses about these presumed, evolved adaptations to predators.This project provides research and training opportunities for a US postdoctoral researcher and a Kenyan graduate student. Its broader impacts are further expanded by being based at Mpala Research Centre, a facility jointly maintained by US and Kenyan organizations. It strengthens collaborative relationships between US and Kenyan organizations and aids local community conservation and education efforts through its contributions to Mpala. Finally, the data from this project will inform conservation efforts to better protect carnivore and primate species.