Ecological basis for fission-fusion dynamics in Guinea baboons (Papio papio)

行为生态学和社会生态学框架内的一个基本范式是，生态条件塑造了个体的空间分布，从而塑造了人口的社会组织。在灵长类动物中，狒狒（Papio spp.）生活在不同的栖息地，表现出不同的社会组织，使他们成为研究生态学和社会组织之间联系的良好模式。在一个更大的研究计划，解决狒狒的行为和他们的社会制度的多样性，我提出了一个研究几内亚狒狒，Papio papio。与行为生态学和社会系统已被广泛研究的其他狒狒类群相比，几内亚狒狒的比较数据缺失。我们的项目，社会行为和通信的自由放养的几内亚狒狒（Papio papio）的结果表明，他们的社会组织和裂变融合动力学，从其他充分研究的狒狒类群有很大的不同。社会生态模型目前设置的基本框架，以调查如何生态条件可能会影响社会的个人水平，从而塑造社会系统。分布和丰富的必要资源和捕食风险被认为是构成影响灵长类动物社会组织的主要因素。尽管有批评，社会生态模型仍然提供了可测试的预测是否以及如何生态条件影响分组模式和社会系统。研究的目的是：（1）描述和模拟森林-稀树草原镶嵌的生境特征、植被关联和物候模式，以量化狒狒家园范围内重要资源的时空分布和丰度：（2）系统研究狒狒食物斑块的分布和丰富度与狒狒集群模式的关系，在季节和日常时间尺度上;以及（3）提供关于狒狒的摄食生态、觅食行为（即家域使用和行进路径长度）和活动模式的定量数据，以了解季节性的影响。在我们的探索性研究中，我们假设找到狒狒资源分布的时空模式与范围和分组模式之间的关系，这将为进一步研究它们的社会系统，认知和流体裂变融合社会中的交流提供所需的社会生态基线。

One fundamental paradigm within the framework of behavioural ecology and socio-ecology is that ecological conditions shape the spatial distribution of individuals and hence the social organization of a population. Among primates, baboons (Papio spp.) live in a variety of habitats and show diverse social organizations, making them good models to investigate links between ecology and social organization. Within a larger research programme that addresses the diversity of baboon behaviour and their social systems, I propose a study of the Guinea baboon, Papio papio. In contrast to other baboon taxa whose behavioural ecology and social systems has been extensively studied, comparative data on Guinea baboons are missing. Results of our project, Social behaviour and communication of free-ranging Guinea baboons (Papio papio), suggest that their social organization and fission-fusion dynamics, differs substantially from that of the other well-studied baboon taxa. Socio-ecological models currently set the basic framework to investigate how ecological conditions may influence sociality on the level of the individual and thus shaping the social system. Distribution and abundance of essential resources and predation risk are thought to constitute major factors influencing primate social organisation. Despite criticism, socio-ecological models still provide testable prediction of whether and how ecological conditions impact grouping patterns and social systems. The objectives of the study are: (1) to describe and model the habitat characteristics, vegetation association and phenological patterns of the forest-savannah mosaic to quantify the spatio-temporal distribution and abundance of essential resources in the home-range of the baboons: (2) to systematically investigate the relationships between distribution and abundance of food patches and the grouping patterns of baboons, on both a seasonal and day-to-day time scale; and (3) to provide quantitative data on the feeding ecology, ranging behaviour (i.e. home-range use and travel path length) and activity patterns of the baboons with regard to the impact of seasonality. In our explorative study we assume to find relationships between spatial and temporal patterns of resource distribution and ranging and grouping pattern of the baboons, which will provide the socio-ecological baseline needed for further investigations of their social system, cognition, and communication in a fluid fission-fusion society.