Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Parasite Ecology and Behavioral Socioecology Among Two Primate Species

博士论文改进：两种灵长类动物的寄生虫生态学和行为社会生态学

• 批准号: 0525109
• 负责人: Michelle Sauther
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2006-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0525109&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Parasite; Ecology; Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Parasite; Ecology

An important theme in many primatological studies is the role that natural selection plays upon the shaping of behavioral patterns. However, theoretical approaches to primate life history and behavioral ecology have vastly overlooked the influences of parasites on primates. To illustrate the magnitude of this under representation, there are more parasitic organisms than nonparasitic organisms. Parasite distributions are ubiquitous, inhabiting almost every environment available. Thus, parasites are representative of a very liberal spectrum of biodiversity. Parasites infect essentially all multi-cellular species, and considering their wide distribution and importance in shaping ecosystems, parasites are disproportionately understudied and not well understood. Many researchers make reference to the importance parasites have played in shaping primate evolutionary histories. However, parasites are usually not a primary topic of most primatological studies and are given only a brief mention.The major objective of this study is to understand the interplay between two species of primate hosts, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) and Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), and the parasites they harbor in a natural setting at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar. Under the auspices of this broad task are four specific goals. The first goal is to examine how each species' socioecology affects parasite type and prevalence, including seasonal fluctuations of parasites among each primate species. The second goal is to examine the behaviors that ring-tailed lemurs and Verreaux's sifaka utilize to potentially eliminate, avoid, or reduce parasite infections. The third goal is to determine how social rank and sex affects individual parasite prevalence for both species. Finally, this project seeks to understand how an anthropogenically-altered habitat affects all of these patterns. These goals will be achieved by utilizing ethological and parasitological methodologies. The broader impacts of this study can benefit the local Mahafaly people, and the ring-tailed lemurs and Verreaux's sifaka that live in and around the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve. Sympatric associations are becoming exceedingly prevalent as human populations grow and encroach on nonhuman primate habitats. Understanding the interactions between humans and their nonhuman primate counterparts are interesting from behavioral, epidemiological, evolutionary, ecological, and anthropological perspective. As the intimacy between humans and nonhuman primates increase, so does the likelihood of zoonotic transmissions, which can have devastating effects for humans and nonhuman primate alike. The intensity of such a scenario increases if this arena includes endangered species. The results of the proposed study will be helpful to the local Mahafaly people and our Malagasy collaborators. Local Mahafaly guides will be incorporated into this study, as their knowledge and expertise regarding the local ecology and landscape of this region is fundamental to the project's success. From an academic perspective, the researchers are committed to working with Malagasy collaborators on conservation initiatives and future publications. Investing in source-country scholars is extremely important for their future academic endeavors and the future of sustaining endemic animal and plant populations.

在许多原始研究中，一个重要的主题是自然选择在行为模式的塑造中起的作用。 然而，灵长类动物生活史和行为生态学的理论方法已极大地忽略了寄生虫对灵长类动物的影响。为了说明在代表性下的大小，寄生生物比非寄生虫生物多。寄生虫分布无处不在，几乎居住在几乎所有可用的环境中。因此，寄生虫代表了非常自由的生物多样性。 寄生虫基本上感染了所有多细胞物种，并且考虑到它们在塑造生态系统中的广泛分布和重要性，寄生虫经过了不成比例的研究，且不充分了解。 许多研究人员参考了寄生虫在塑造灵长类动物进化史上发挥的重要性。 但是，寄生虫通常不是大多数原始研究的主要主题，只给出了简短的提及。本研究的主要目的是了解两种灵长类动物宿主，环形尾狐（Lemur catta）和Verreaux的Sifaka（Propithecusecus verreauxi）（Propithecus verreauxi）（Propithecus verreauxi）的相互作用，以及它们在自然环境中均具有自然设置。在这项广泛任务的主持下，是四个具体目标。 第一个目标是研究每个物种的社会生态学如何影响寄生虫类型和流行，包括每个灵长类动物中寄生虫的季节性波动。第二个目标是检查尾尾狐猴和Verreaux的Sifaka的行为，可以消除，避免或减少寄生虫感染。第三个目标是确定社会等级和性别如何影响这两种物种的个体寄生虫患病率。 最后，该项目试图了解人为改变的栖息地如何影响所有这些模式。这些目标将通过利用伦理学和寄生学方法来实现。这项研究的更广泛的影响可以使当地的马哈法利人以及居住在Beza Mahafaly特别储备周围及其周围的环形狐猴和Verreaux的Sifaka受益。随着人口的增长和对非人类灵长类动物栖息地的侵占，同胞的关联变得极为普遍。从行为，流行病学，进化，生态学和人类学的观点中，了解人类与非人类灵长类动物之间的相互作用很有趣。 随着人类和非人类灵长类动物之间的亲密关系的增加，人畜共患透射的可能性也会增加，这可能对人类和非人类的灵长类动物产生毁灭性的影响。如果此竞技场包括濒危物种，这种情况的强度会增加。拟议的研究结果将有助于当地的马哈法利人和我们的马加加斯加合作者。当地的马哈法利指南将纳入本研究，因为他们关于该地区当地生态和景观的知识和专业知识是该项目成功的基础。 从学术的角度来看，研究人员致力于与马达加斯加合作者合作，制定保护计划和未来出版物。 对来源国学者进行投资对于他们未来的学术努力以及维持流行动物和植物种群的未来至关重要。