Doctoral Dissertation Research: Human disturbance, habituation, and stress responsiveness in wild, endangered primates

随着人类流动性和种群数量的扩大，灵长类动物越来越多地暴露在不可避免的、潜在的压力大的人类影响中。有一种假设认为，灵长类动物对人类存在的明显容忍表明习惯化(灵长类动物了解到人类存在与负面后果无关)，因此，灵长类动物不再经历压力的负面影响。这些假设可能不准确或为时过早；事实上，有证据表明，灵长类动物不可避免地长期接触旅游业可能会产生压力，从行为和生理反应来看，即使在活动了几十年的地点也是如此。本论文旨在通过调查野生猕猴对游客的存在和作物保护的行为和生理反应，在印度尼西亚苏拉威西的唐科科自然保护区检验这些假设。这将是第一项区分野生猕猴慢性应激和急性应激的研究，为我们理解灵长类动物应激反应的本质做出了独特的贡献，并为濒危灵长类物种提出了改进的保护方法。该项目还将为一名STEM女研究生以及美国和印度尼西亚的本科生研究助理提供培训，并将包括当地社区教育和外联工作。在这项为期两年的研究中，研究人员将收集三个群体中每组12只成年猕猴的唾液和粪便皮质醇数据以及行为数据，这三个群体的人类互动水平不同。在对压力的正常(急性)反应中，压力荷尔蒙上升，但在几个小时内恢复到基线水平。然而，慢性应激反应(应激激素水平居高不下)可能对个体的健康和生殖潜力有害。因此，这里收集的数据将有助于揭示，数十年来暴露在旅游业中的灵长类群体是否完全适应了环境，或者他们表面上的耐受性是否掩盖了可能对健康有害的异常压力反应。由于它们在系统发育上的密切关系，这也可以加强我们对人类应激反应的理解。除了培训和推广更广泛的影响外，该项目还将开发可供各种灵长类和野生动物研究人员使用的非侵入性实地皮质醇测量方法。

As human mobility and populations expand, primates are increasingly exposed to unavoidable, potentially stressful human influences. There is an assumption that apparent tolerance of human presence by primates indicates habituation (primates learn that human presence is not associated with negative consequences), and consequently, primates no longer experience negative effects of stress. These assumptions may be inaccurate or premature; indeed there is evidence that unavoidable, chronic exposure of primates to tourism can be stressful, indicated by behavioral and physiological responses, even in sites active for decades. This dissertation aims to examine these assumptions in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia, by investigating behavioral and physiological responses of wild macaques to the presence of tourists and crop-guarding. It will be the first study to distinguish between chronic and acute stress in wild macaques, making a unique contribution to our understanding of the nature of stress responses in primates and suggesting improved conservation methods for an endangered primate species. The project will also provide training for a female STEM graduate student and both US and Indonesian undergraduate research assistants, and will include local community education and outreach efforts. In this two-year study, the investigators will collect salivary and fecal cortisol data and behavioral data for 12 adult macaques in each of three groups, where groups differ in levels of human interaction. In normal (acute) responses to stress, stress hormones rise, but return to baseline levels within a few hours. However, chronic stress responses (in which stress hormones remain high) can be detrimental to an individual's health and reproductive potential. Thus, the data collected here will shed light on whether primate groups exposed to tourism for decades fully habituate or whether their apparent tolerance masks abnormal stress responses likely to be detrimental to fitness. Due to their close phylogenetic relatedness, this can also enhance our understanding of human stress response. In addition to training and outreach broader impacts, the project will also develop non-invasive field measures of cortisol that can be used by a variety of primate and wildlife researchers.