Foraging and feeding behaviour of chacma baboons in a woodland habitat.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1994.Savannah baboons (Papio cynocephalus) have been studied in numerous sites throughout Africa. They have been found to display a wide variety of foraging and feeding behaviours. The aim of this study was to describe and quantify these for a troop in a southern woodland habitat and to determine what factors influence these in order to understand the choices made by baboons. This was done within an optimal foraging framework. The study included the development of random walk and optimal foraging simulation models of day journeys and a comparison of feeding and foraging before and after the troop divided into two daughter troops. The troop lived in a complex mosaic of habitat types with a high tree density. The troop's foraging strategies were found to be consistent with being time minimizers. Distance from the centre of the home range and distance from the nearest sleeping site had the most significant effect on utilisation of the home range. The effect of food availability on habitat use could only be distinguished by the use of simulation models. Comparison of food encountered by the troop and that encountered in the simulations demonstrated that the troop did better than could be expected if the day journey routes were random. The troop's results approximated those of a stochastic short-term optimisation model. The troop's diet consisted of a higher proportion of fruit than previous studies. The troop distinguished between commonly utilised foods and those only occasionally used on the basis of protein/fibre ratio, however food preference between main foods was not correlated with protein/fibre ratio. Any combination of the main foods would fulfil their protein requirement. Evidence is given that, without protein being limmiting, the troop's selection amongst the main foods is based on carbohydrate content. After troop fission the daughter troops had shorter day journeys, spent less time walking, more time socialising resting. They also spent more time in food-rich habitats and were more selective in their diet. These results reinforce the important influence in group size and suggest that troop fission may be seen as a time-minimising strategy

Success Strategies of Latin American Immigrant Small Business Entrepreneurs

Small business restaurants represent a significant segment of the U.S. economy; however, many small business restaurants fail before 5 years of operation. The purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to explore the strategies entrepreneurs used to sustain operations beyond 5 years. The population for this study was 3 Latin American immigrant small business restaurant owners in the central part of the U.S. state of Georgia, who had sustained operations for more than 5 years. The conceptual framework consisted of entrepreneurship and knowledge management theories. The data derived from semistructured interviews and organizational documents presented by the participants. Data analysis involved using a modified van Kaam method and qualitative analysis software to identify and analyze emergent themes. The 3 themes were cultivation of ego-networks, human capital development, and engaged entrepreneurial activities. The findings from this study suggest that small business owners enhance their external social network, advance the human capital of employees and the entrepreneur, and apply entrepreneurial orientation practices. Using study findings, small business restaurant owners may be better able to have sustainable businesses and, thus, contribute to their local communities\u27 economic and social well-being. Implications for positive social change include the potential to prevent the economic and socially damaging effects of business failures and unemployment as well as the potential to cultivate a skilled U.S. Latin American workforce, through the advancement of human capital

On the Fence: The Impact of Education on Support for Electric Fencing to Prevent Conflict between Humans and Baboons in Kommetjie, South Africa

Few studies test whether education can help increase support for wildlife management interventions. This mixed methods study sought to test the importance of educating a community on the use of a baboon-proof electric fence to mitigate negative interactions between humans and Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in a residential suburb of the City of Cape Town, South Africa. An educational video on the welfare, conservation and lifestyle benefits of a baboon-proof electric fence was included in a short online survey. The positioning of the video within the survey was randomised either to fall before or after questions probing the level of support for an electric fence. The results showed that watching the video before most survey questions increased the average marginal probability of supporting an electric fence by 15 percentage points. The study also explored whether the educational video could change people’s minds. Those who saw the video towards the end of the survey were questioned again about the electric fence. Many changed their minds after watching the video, with support for the fence increasing from 36% to 50%. Of these respondents, the results show that being female raised the average marginal probability of someone changing their mind in favour of supporting the fence by 19%. Qualitative analysis revealed that support for or against the fence was multi-layered and that costs and concern for baboons were not the only relevant factors influencing people’s choices. Conservation often needs to change people’s behaviours. We need to know what interventions are effective. We show in the real world that an educational video can be effective and can moderately change people’s opinions and that women are more likely to change their position in light of the facts than men. This study contributes to the emerging literature on the importance of education in managing conservation conflicts and the need for evidence-based interventions

Increased food availability raises eviction rate in a cooperative breeding mammal

In group-living mammals, the eviction of subordinate females from breeding groups by dominants may serve to reduce feeding competition or to reduce breeding competition. Here, we combined both correlational and experimental approaches to investigate whether increases in food intake by dominant females reduces their tendency to evict subordinate females in wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta). We used 20 years of long-term data to examine the association between foraging success and eviction rate, and provisioned dominant females during the second half of their pregnancy, when they most commonly evict subordinates. We show that rather than reducing the tendency for dominants to evict subordinates, foraging success of dominant females is positively associated with the probability that pregnant dominant females will evict subordinate females and that experimental feeding increased their rates of eviction. Our results suggest that it is unlikely that the eviction of subordinate females serves to reduce feeding competition and that its principal function may be to reduce reproductive competition. The increase in eviction rates following experimental feeding also suggests that rather than feeding competition, energetic constraints may normally constrain eviction rates.The KMP is supported by the Universities of Cambridge, Zurich and Pretoria. Components of this research were supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant no. NE/ G006822/1) and the European Research Council (grant no. 294494).http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishingam2017Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

WU Polyomavirus in Children, Canada

WU polyomavirus was detected in nasopharyngeal aspirates in 2 (2.5%) of 79 children with respiratory infections (both infected with respiratory syncytial virus) and in 5 (6.4%) of 78 asymptomatic children during the same winter season in Canada. The strains were closely related to Australian and American viruses based on analysis of large T antigen (TAg) and VP2 genes. The pathogenic role of WU virus is still uncertain

Clinical and Epidemiologic Characterization of WU Polyomavirus Infection, St. Louis, Missouri

WU polyomavirus is a recently described polyomavirus found in patients with respiratory infections. Of 2,637 respiratory samples tested in St. Louis, Missouri, 2.7% were positive for WU polyomavirus by PCR, and 71% were coinfected with other respiratory viruses. Persistent human infection with WU polyomavirus is described

Evaluation of mesofauna communities as soil quality indicators in a national-level monitoring programme

Mesofauna underpin many ecosystem functions in soils. However, mesofauna communities are often overlooked when discussing these functions on large scales. They have been proposed as bioindicators of soil quality and ecosystem health. This study aimed to evaluate differences amongst mesofauna communities, particularly Acari and Collembola, across multiple habitat and soil types, as well as organic matter levels, and their relationships with soil characteristics, on a national-scale. Soil cores were collected from 685 locations as part of a nationwide soil monitoring programme of Wales. Plant community composition, soil type, as well as physical and chemical variables, including pH, total C and N, were measured at these locations. Mesofauna were extracted from soil cores and identified using a Tullgren funnel technique. Acari were sorted to Order; Collembola were sorted according to Super-family. Abundances of mesofauna were consistently lowest in arable sites and highest in lowland woodlands, except for Mesostigmata. Differences between similar habitat types (e.g. Fertile and Infertile grasslands) were not detected using the national-level dataset and differences in mesofauna communities amongst soil types were unclear. Relationships between mesofauna groups and soil organic matter class, however, were much more informative. Oribatid abundances were lowest in mineral soils and correlated with all soil properties except moisture content. Collembola and Mesostigmata abundances were likely negatively influenced by increased moisture levels in upland peat habitats where their abundances were lowest. These groups also had low abundances in heathlands and this was reflected in low diversity values. Together, these findings show that this national-level soil survey can effectively identify differences in mesofauna community structure and correlations with soil properties. Identification of mesofauna at high taxonomic levels in national-level soil monitoring is encouraged to better understand the ecological context of changes in soil properties

Sex-independent senescence in a cooperatively breeding mammal.

Researchers studying mammals have frequently interpreted earlier or faster rates of ageing in males as resulting from polygyny and the associated higher costs of reproductive competition. Yet, few studies conducted on wild populations have compared sex-specific senescence trajectories outside of polygynous species, making it difficult to make generalized inferences on the role of reproductive competition in driving senescence, particularly when other differences between males and females might also contribute to sex-specific changes in performance across lifespan. Here, we examine age-related variation in body mass, reproductive output and survival in dominant male and female meerkats, Suricata suricatta. Meerkats are socially monogamous cooperative breeders where a single dominant pair virtually monopolizes reproduction in each group and subordinate group members help to rear offspring produced by breeders. In contrast to many polygynous societies, we find that neither the onset nor the rate of senescence in body mass or reproductive output shows clear differences between males and females. Both sexes also display similar patterns of age-related survival across lifespan, but unlike most wild vertebrates, survival senescence (increases in annual mortality with rising age) was absent in dominants of both sexes, and as a result, the fitness costs of senescence were entirely attributable to declines in reproductive output from mid- to late-life. We suggest that the potential for intrasexual competition to increase rates of senescence in females-who are hormonally masculinized and frequently aggressive-is offset by their ability to maintain longer tenures of dominance than males, and that these processes when combined lead to similar patterns of senescence in both sexes. Our results stress the need to consider the form and intensity of sexual competition as well as other sex-specific features of life history when investigating the operation of senescence in wild populations

Differences in cooperative behavior among Damaraland mole rats are consequences of an age-related polyethism.

In many cooperative breeders, the contributions of helpers to cooperative activities change with age, resulting in age-related polyethisms. In contrast, some studies of social mole rats (including naked mole rats, Heterocephalus glaber, and Damaraland mole rats, Fukomys damarensis) suggest that individual differences in cooperative behavior are the result of divergent developmental pathways, leading to discrete and permanent functional categories of helpers that resemble the caste systems found in eusocial insects. Here we show that, in Damaraland mole rats, individual contributions to cooperative behavior increase with age and are higher in fast-growing individuals. Individual contributions to different cooperative tasks are intercorrelated and repeatability of cooperative behavior is similar to that found in other cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Our data provide no evidence that nonreproductive individuals show divergent developmental pathways or specialize in particular tasks. Instead of representing a caste system, variation in the behavior of nonreproductive individuals in Damaraland mole rats closely resembles that found in other cooperatively breeding mammals and appears to be a consequence of age-related polyethism.This study was funded by an European Research Council grant to THCB (294494).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the National Academy of Sciences via http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.160788511