Doctoral Dissertation Research: Interspecific competition, niche partitioning, and community structure of primates

在非人类灵长类动物群落中，物种之间的竞争被假设为决定物种多样性和群落组合，但通常缺乏物种相互作用的精细分辨率数据。本博士论文项目将使用创新的方法来研究竞争和生态位分化对马达加斯加四种夜间狐猴群落结构的相对影响。物种生态学将在饮食、空间和时间维度上进行描述。该项目将为确定灵长类动物群落进化史的驱动力提供现存模型，并为有针对性地保护濒危狐猴物种提供关键数据。调查员将与当地非政府组织合作，鼓励研究区域的可持续发展项目。此外，研究人员将邀请女性本科生，包括来自代表性不足的群体，参与节肢动物管理和实验室分析工作，并将访问高中，就保护和科学领域女性的职业道路进行讲座。竞争是当前群落组合的主要机制，特别是在同域的、密切相关的物种中。狐猴的进化史很可能就是由这种竞争决定的，这种竞争导致了明显的生态位分化，这使得同域狐猴群落能够共存。然而，由于缺乏狐猴群落内物种间相互作用的精细分辨率数据，这些概念仍有待严格检验。为了充分了解这些过程，研究者将结合DNA元条形码等创新技术和样带调查等传统方法，对竞争和生态位分化对同域狐猴群落结构的相对影响进行精细分析。具体而言，研究者将评估：1)生态位分化和种间竞争作为当前头盖骨类群落结构的主导力量；2)哪些生态位维度（即饮食、空间或时间）最能促进该群落的共存和竞争；3)生态位分化如何随着季节变化而变化（如一些物种在旱季表现出冬眠/日常冬眠）。假设精细分辨率的生态位分化（即，仅使用传统方法无法检测到的分化）负责研究社区当前组合的发展和维护。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In nonhuman primate communities, between-species competition is hypothesized to dictate species diversity and community assemblages, but there is often a lack of fine-resolution data on species interactions. This doctoral dissertation project will use innovative methods to examine the relative influences of competition and niche differentiation on the structure of a community of four nocturnal lemurs from Madagascar. Species ecologies will be described in dietary, spatial, and temporal dimensions. The project will provide extant models for identifying driving forces in primate community evolutionary history as well as critical data for informed, targeted protection of endangered lemur species. The investigator will work with local NGOs to encourage sustainable development projects in the study region. Additionally, the investigator will engage women undergraduates, including from underrepresented groups, to work on arthropod curation and laboratory analyses and will visit high schools to give lectures about conservation and career paths for women in science. Competition is a primary mechanism underlying current community assemblages, particularly in sympatric, closely related species. The evolutionary history of lemurs was likely defined by such competition, resulting in pronounced niche differentiation, which allowed for coexistence in sympatric lemur communities. However, these concepts remain to be rigorously tested due to a lack of fine-resolution data regarding between-species interactions within lemur communities. To fully understand these processes, the investigator will combine innovative technologies, such as DNA metabarcoding, with traditional methods, such as transect surveys, to conduct a fine-resolution analysis of the relative influences of competition and niche differentiation on the structure of a sympatric community of nocturnal lemurs. Specifically, the investigator will evaluate: 1) niche differentiation and interspecific competition as governing forces of current cheirogaleid community structure, 2) which niche dimensions (i.e., diet, space, or time) most greatly facilitate coexistence and drive competition in this community, and 3) how niche differentiation shifts in response to seasonal variation (as some species exhibit hibernation/daily torpor during the dry season). Fine-resolution niche differentiation (i.e., differentiation that would have been undetectable using only traditional methods) is hypothesized to be responsible for the development and maintenance of the current assemblage of the study community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.