Doctoral Dissertation Research: The impact of environment on movement and habitat usage in a nocturnal primate

博士论文研究：环境对夜间灵长类动物运动和栖息地利用的影响

• 批准号: 2341464
• 负责人: Stephanie Poindexter
• 金额: $ 2.24万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Buffalo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2341464&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; impact; environment

Unsuitable environmental conditions are one of the main drivers for evolution as species must adapt, move, or perish. Smaller mammals have avoided the impact of unsuitable environments by becoming nocturnal and moving to refuges. Current unprecedented environmental variations raise the question of how various mammals, including primates, can find suitable habitats. This doctoral dissertation project focuses on understanding how movement and activity are influenced by nocturnal and seasonal changes in environment in a non-human primate, informing broader questions about primate evolution and adaptation. This project provides capacity building, training, and mentorship for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as informing conservation efforts for nocturnal mammals.This project uses an integration of data from direct observations, radio-tracking collars, and temperature and humidity loggers to record environmental and movement information for a small, nocturnal, non-human primate. There are two main objectives: (1) to assess how environmental variables (temperature and humidity) influence this primate’s movement and activity patterns; and (2) to identify areas of the forest which provide a cooler microenvironment and examine if this non-human primate utilizes these areas. This research evaluates the relationship between movement and environment, how sampling effort impacts the results, and builds upon previous home range and habitat suitability models by incorporating a 3D component to represent the vertical movement employed by arboreal primates. This research provides an opportunity to evaluate how the earliest primate ancestors may have mitigated environmental extremes using this non-human primate as a proxy, and how a nocturnal species may behaviorally adapt to environmental change.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.

不适宜的环境条件是进化的主要驱动力之一，因为较小的哺乳动物必须通过夜间活动和迁徙到避难所来避免不适宜环境的影响。该博士论文项目的重点是了解非人类灵长类动物的运动和活动如何受到夜间和季节性环境变化的影响，从而了解有关灵长类动物进化和适应的更广泛问题。为本科生和研究生提供能力建设、培训和指导，并为夜间哺乳动物的保护工作提供信息。该项目综合利用直接观测、无线电跟踪项圈以及温度和湿度记录仪的数据来记录环境和运动小型夜间活动的非人类灵长类动物的信息有两个主要目标：(1) 评估环境变量（温度和湿度）如何影响该灵长类动物的运动和活动模式；(2) 确定森林区域。提供一个凉爽的微环境，并检查这种非人类灵长类动物是否利用这些区域。这项研究评估了运动与环境之间的关系、采样工作如何影响结果，并通过结合 3D 组件来表示，建立在以前的活动范围和栖息地适宜性模型的基础上。这项研究提供了一个机会来评估最早的灵长类祖先如何以这种非人类灵长类动物为代表来缓解环境极端情况，以及夜间活动的物种如何在行为上适应环境。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。