Factors Affecting Geographic Variation in Orangutan Diet

影响猩猩饮食地理差异的因素

• 批准号: 0965900
• 负责人: Erin Vogel
• 金额: $ 1.84万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-25 至 2011-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0965900&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Factors; Affecting; Geographic; Variation; Orangutan

The notion of orangutan culture is provocative, as it suggests that human culture evolved in the context of immense environmental complexity. Yet such complexity obscures the potential effect of environmental variation on the origin of innovative foraging behaviors. The objective of this study is to understand the mechanisms that contribute to geographic variation in orangutan diet, and to establish the degree to which food choice in orangutans has a cultural basis. The question to be answered may be phrased, "To what extent does geographic variation in the abundance and quality of food resources affect orangutan foraging behavior and diet selection?" Three main hypotheses are tested. The first and second hypotheses will determine if orangutans select food items based on nutritional quality and availability in the habitat. If food selection cannot be explained by ecological principles, a further analysis will examine if these foods are harder to process and require longer periods of social learning during the juvenile dependency period, which can last up to nine years in orangutans. The third hypothesis will determine if orangutans develop innovative foraging behaviors in response to variations in food availability. Are innovative foraging behaviors more likely to evolve out of necessity when food is scarce or due to increases in leisure time when food is abundant?The basic methodology to be used is geographical. A series of protocols integrate standardized observations of behavior, food nutritional analyses, and food mechanical properties across five field sites in Indonesia: four study populations in Borneo, and one in Sumatra. This project involves close collaboration between scientists from the United States, England, Switzerland, and Indonesia. Technological and intellectual exchange between foreign and Indonesian scientists is critical to the establishment and conservation of research partnerships and their associated habitats. Based on population models and the current rate of deforestation, orangutans across Sumatra and Borneo may disappear within the next 25-100 years. Detailed investigations on orangutans and documenting the types of resources that promote innovative behaviors in this close human relative are critical because we may not have the opportunity in the future. Understanding the importance of culture in feeding behavior is also important for orangutan conservation. If socially-transmitted feeding skills are important for the maintenance of energy budgets in an area, then a decline in orangutan density, due to anthropogenic disturbances, may result in fewer opportunities for transmission of essential skills. Potentially, this could lead to these skills being lost from the population. The results will inform documentaries aimed at public education and conservation, which is critical for the persistence of this highly endangered species. The research will increase knowledge regarding which kinds of foods prompt cultural innovation and will help model the environmental milieu in which ape culture originated. The results will be critical for assessing the size of the culture gap between apes and humans and for evaluating why humans evolved such cultural complexity.

猩猩文化的概念具有挑衅性，因为它表明人类文化在巨大的环境复杂性的背景下演变。然而，这种复杂性掩盖了环境变化对创新觅食行为起源的潜在影响。这项研究的目的是了解导致猩猩饮食地理变化的机制，并确定猩猩中食物选择具有文化基础的程度。要回答的问题可能会被措辞：“食品资源的丰度和质量的地理差异影响猩猩的觅食行为和饮食选择？” 测试了三个主要假设。第一和第二个假设将确定猩猩是否根据栖息地中的营养质量和可用性选择食品。如果无法通过生态原则来解释食物的选择，则进一步分析将检查这些食物是否更难处理，并且在少年依赖期内需要更长的社交学习时间，这可以持续到猩猩长达9年。 第三个假设将确定猩猩是否响应食物可用性的变化而发展创新的觅食行为。当食物稀缺或由于食物丰富时的休闲时间增加时，创新的觅食行为是否更有可能出于必要而发展？使用的基本方法是地理。一系列方案整合了印度尼西亚五个现场地点的行为，食品营养分析和食品机械性能的标准化观察结果：婆罗洲的四个研究人群，苏门答腊的一个研究人群。该项目涉及美国，英格兰，瑞士和印度尼西亚的科学家之间的密切合作。外国和印尼科学家之间的技术和知识交流对于建立和保护研究伙伴关系及其相关栖息地至关重要。 根据人口模型和目前的森林砍伐率，苏门答腊和婆罗洲的猩猩可能会在未来25 - 100年内消失。 对猩猩的详细调查以及记录促进这个亲密亲戚创新行为的资源类型至关重要，因为我们将来可能没有机会。了解文化在喂养行为中的重要性对于猩猩保护也很重要。 如果社会传播的喂养技能对于维持某个地区的能源预算很重要，那么由于人为的干扰，猩猩密度的下降可能会导致较少的基本技能传播机会。 可能，这可能导致这些技能从人口中丧失。结果将为旨在公共教育和保护的纪录片提供信息，这对于这种高度濒危物种的持续存在至关重要。 该研究将增加有关哪种食物促使文化创新的知识，并将有助于对猿文化产生的环境环境建模。结果对于评估猿类与人之间的培养差距的规模以及评估人类为何发展这种文化复杂性至关重要。