Adaptation to an anthropogenic habitat: Integrated modelling of ecological and physiological impacts on chacma baboons

适应人类栖息地：对查克玛狒狒的生态和生理影响的综合建模

• 批准号: 2870261
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Durham University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2870261
• 关键词: Adaptation; anthropogenic; habitat; Integrated; modelling

Global human population growth is rapidly converting natural ecosystems into human-modified landscapes. This land transformation and associated loss of natural habitat has resulted in many animal species now living in close proximity to humans. Some species thrive in human-modified habitats; for others, proximity to humans leads to negative interactions due to competition over food and other resources, plus safety concerns for humans living alongside wildlife. As human-wildlife 'conflicts' increase across the globe it is increasingly important to understand how animals adapt to human-modified landscapes and the impacts this has on their reproduction and survival.Primates are highly adaptable, with species increasingly inhabiting human-modified landscapes becoming habituated to living in close contact with humans. In these environments, ecological challenges can include restricted home ranges, reduced natural food availability and increased parasitic infections. Conversely, close proximity to humans is often associated with the extirpation of natural predators and new resources available may include crop fields, gardens, homes and refuse dumps. Competition for these resources often leads to negative interactions between primates and humans, or human-wildlife conflict, impacting on activity, diet, physiology, reproduction and health, including serious injuries and even death. Few studies have sought to understand primates' responses to the competing costs and opportunities of inhabiting human-dominated landscapes, particularly in contexts where the primary food source for the primates is relatively uncontested.Several chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) groups feed at the local landfill site in the rural town of Alldays, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Initial work showed the food available at the dump can have significant impacts on the diets, time budgets and ranging patterns of the baboons. While at the landfill site, the dump workers and baboons share a commensal relationship, whereas away from the dump local residents are often aggressive towards the baboons. Instances of shooting appear relatively frequent, and despite high reproductive rates, group structures suggest significant impacts of human actions on the baboon demography. The baboons must thus navigate a complex landscape where access to resources and anthropogenic risk factors vary spatially and temporally. The system provides an ideal opportunity to understand the behavioural and physiological responses of primates to living in human-modified landscapes and how baboons trade-off the costs and benefits of living alongside humans.The project will involve fieldwork in Alldays to collect: behavioural data and microhabitat usage for two groups of chacma baboons which use the rubbish dump; ecological data on their broader habitat usage and microhabitat usage; and faecal samples for non-invasive hormone analysis to be carried out in the Behavioural Ecology & Physiology Laboratory, Anthropology Dept., Durham University. GPS collars may be deployed to explore high resolution movement patterns. Energetic physiological responses to ecological factors, including food intake and human persecution will be assessed through variation in stress and metabolic hormone levels. Validated EIAs (enzyme immunoassay) will be used to analyse physiological stress levels and resilience (glucocorticoids), and metabolic rate and energy balance (thyroid hormone) from faecal samples.Mixed models will be used to analyse and compare the combined behavioural, ecological and physiological factors affecting activity budgets, energy balance and physiological stress responses and resilience of the two baboon groups. Social network analyses will enable exploration of how social networks vary with anthropogenic space and resource use, and help to examine the behavioural and physiological impact of human interactions and persecution events on close network partners.

全球人口增长正在迅速将自然生态系统转变为人类改造的景观。这种土地改造和相关的自然栖息地丧失导致许多动物物种现在生活在人类附近。有些物种在人类改造的栖息地中繁衍生息；对于其他人来说，由于对食物和其他资源的竞争，以及与野生动物一起生活的人类的安全问题，与人类的接近会导致负面互动。随着全球范围内人类与野生动物“冲突”的加剧，了解动物如何适应人类改造的景观以​​及这对其繁殖和生存的影响变得越来越重要。灵长类动物具有很强的适应性，随着越来越多的物种栖息在人类改造的景观中，灵长类动物的适应性越来越强。习惯于与人类近距离接触生活。在这些环境中，生态挑战可能包括活动范围受限、天然食物供应减少和寄生虫感染增加。相反，与人类的近距离接触往往与天敌的灭绝有关，而可用的新资源可能包括农田、花园、房屋和垃圾场。对这些资源的竞争常常导致灵长类动物与人类之间的负面互动，或人类与野生动物的冲突，影响活动、饮食、生理、繁殖和健康，包括严重受伤甚至死亡。很少有研究试图了解灵长类动物对居住在人类主导的景观中的竞争成本和机会的反应，特别是在灵长类动物的主要食物来源相对没有争议的情况下。几个查克玛狒狒（Papio ursinus）群体在当地的垃圾填埋场进食地点位于南非林波波省奥尔代斯乡村小镇。初步研究表明，垃圾场提供的食物会对狒狒的饮食、时间预算和活动范围产生重大影响。在垃圾填埋场，垃圾场工人和狒狒有着共生关系，而远离垃圾场的当地居民往往对狒狒有攻击性。枪击事件似乎相对频繁，尽管繁殖率很高，但群体结构表明人类行为对狒狒人口结构产生了重大影响。因此，狒狒必须在复杂的环境中航行，其中资源的获取和人为风险因素在空间和时间上都存在差异。该系统提供了一个理想的机会来了解灵长类动物对生活在人类改造景观中的行为和生理反应，以及狒狒如何权衡与人类一起生活的成本和收益。该项目将涉及 Alldays 的实地工作，以收集：行为数据和使用垃圾场的两组查克玛狒狒的微生境使用情况；关于其更广泛的栖息地利用和微栖息地利用的生态数据；粪便样本将在杜伦大学人类学系行为生态学和生理学实验室进行非侵入性激素分析。可以部署 GPS 项圈来探索高分辨率的运动模式。将通过压力和代谢激素水平的变化来评估对生态因素（包括食物摄入和人类迫害）的精力充沛的生理反应。经过验证的 EIA（酶免疫分析）将用于分析粪便样本中的生理压力水平和恢复力（糖皮质激素）以及代谢率和能量平衡（甲状腺激素）。混合模型将用于分析和比较行为、生态和生理的结合影响两个狒狒群体的活动预算、能量平衡和生理应激反应和恢复力的因素。社交网络分析将能够探索社交网络如何随人类空间和资源使用而变化，并有助于检查人类互动和迫害事件对亲密网络伙伴的行为和生理影响。