Applied primatology: species-specific behavior of captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) under varying zoo conditions and in the wild

Two groups of captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) were studied to determine whether these captive populations display species-specific behaviors. This was determined by comparing captive behavior at the Blank Park Zoo (Des Moines, IA) and Minnesota Zoo (Apple Valley, MN), to the literature on wild Japanese macaques. Data collected include an activity budget, reporting time spent performing typical primate behaviors, and whether the monkeys show aberrant behaviors typically seen in captive situations. Both factors were analyzed to determine the welfare of the populations and their similarity to wild conspecifics. The two troops differ in enclosure type and size, male:female ratio, and zoo management methods. It was hypothesized that captive macaques will be similar to wild macaques regarding behaviors expressed, but the frequency of behaviors will differ from wild conspecifics. This hypothesis was not rejected, with all wild behaviors present, but to varying degrees within each population. In particular, monkeys at both zoos exhibited high amounts of inactivity, which is possibly linked to the lack of infants and foraging opportunities. Foraging at the Blank Park Zoo was found to be significantly different from wild monkeys, though at the Minnesota Zoo, monkeys foraged to a similar degree as in the wild. Grooming, both allogrooming and autogrooming, was observed to differ for the captive monkeys in comparison to wild monkeys, in that wild monkeys spend much more time engaged in social grooming and a very small amount of time autogrooming. It is hypothesized that the lack of competition in the zoo setting has reduced the need to develop extended alliances through social grooming. The addition of infants, and further environmental enrichment may help reduce several of these differences between wild and captive monkeys

Applied primatology: species-specific behavior of captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) under varying zoo conditions and in the wild

Two groups of captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) were studied to determine whether these captive populations display species-specific behaviors. This was determined by comparing captive behavior at the Blank Park Zoo (Des Moines, IA) and Minnesota Zoo (Apple Valley, MN), to the literature on wild Japanese macaques. Data collected include an activity budget, reporting time spent performing typical primate behaviors, and whether the monkeys show aberrant behaviors typically seen in captive situations. Both factors were analyzed to determine the welfare of the populations and their similarity to wild conspecifics. The two troops differ in enclosure type and size, male:female ratio, and zoo management methods. It was hypothesized that captive macaques will be similar to wild macaques regarding behaviors expressed, but the frequency of behaviors will differ from wild conspecifics. This hypothesis was not rejected, with all wild behaviors present, but to varying degrees within each population. In particular, monkeys at both zoos exhibited high amounts of inactivity, which is possibly linked to the lack of infants and foraging opportunities. Foraging at the Blank Park Zoo was found to be significantly different from wild monkeys, though at the Minnesota Zoo, monkeys foraged to a similar degree as in the wild. Grooming, both allogrooming and autogrooming, was observed to differ for the captive monkeys in comparison to wild monkeys, in that wild monkeys spend much more time engaged in social grooming and a very small amount of time autogrooming. It is hypothesized that the lack of competition in the zoo setting has reduced the need to develop extended alliances through social grooming. The addition of infants, and further environmental enrichment may help reduce several of these differences between wild and captive monkeys.</p

Comprehension of tools by orangutans: Causality, tool properties, and manufacture

The study of orangutan (Pongo spp.) cognitive complexity regarding tool use and manufacture is essential for accurate modeling of hominid evolution. Orangutans demonstrated comprehension of causal relations in four studies of tool use and manufacture. Study subjects were 3 captive orangutans (Great Ape Trust, Des Moines, IA). The distinction between rigid and flimsy tools was explored in the first study. The apes demonstrated comprehension by choosing the rigid tools significantly more than the flimsy tools to solve a problem. In the second study, the results provide support for orangutan comprehension of tool and apparatus properties in an extension of the tube task (Visalberghi & Trinca, 1989). In the first of two experiments, orangutans were required to manipulate or modify tools for retrieval of a reward from a tube. The apes demonstrated a greater degree of comprehension than has been reported previously for this problem (Visalberghi, Fragaszy, & Savage-Rumbaugh, 1995). A second variant of the tube task, the blocked tube, required sequential modification to the tube before tool insertion. Although the results of the second experiment were not entirely conclusive, comprehension of sequential modifications is suggested. The trap-tube apparatus, involving horizontal and vertical tubes containing obstacles, was presented in the third study. The results of the trap tube studies support the conclusion that causal cognition is a capacity present in orangutans, with individual variation an important factor in its detection. In the final study, tool manufacture was explored by presenting the apes with a series of novel experiments requiring construction of tools allowing for absorption, stabbing, raking and probing. Tool modifications were recorded in all experiments, with differences between tools for a given experiment supporting an orangutan "tool kit." The results of these studies of tool use and manufacture by orangutans support the interpretation that these apes use tools with cognitive complexity involving an understanding of causal relations. Suggestions that the understanding of causal relations is a uniquely human ability and that the nonhuman great apes may lack this ability are not supported. Based on the accumulated data of the four studies presented in this dissertation, the hypothesis was supported that orangutans comprehend relevant tool properties and have or can develop an understanding of causal relations. These results support that the last common ancestor shared by the lineage leading to the African and Asian great apes, including humans, had the ability for causal understanding.</p

Late-Glacial and Holocene Climatic Effects on Fire and Vegetation Dynamics at the Prairie–Forest Ecotone in South-Central Minnesota

1. Treeline ecotones, such as the prairie–forest boundary, represent climatically sensitive regions where the relative abundance of vegetation types is controlled by complex interactions between climate and local factors. Responses of vegetation and fire to climate change may be tightly linked as a result of strong feedbacks among fuel production, vegetation structure and fire frequency/severity, but the importance of these feedbacks for controlling the stability of this ecotone is unclear. 2. In this study, we examined the prairie–forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota using two lake sediment cores to reconstruct independent records of climate, vegetation and fire over the past 12 500 years. Using pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic analyses and LOI properties, we investigated whether fires were controlled directly by climate or indirectly by fuel production. 3. Sediment magnetic and LOI data suggest four broad climatic periods occurring c. 11 350–8250 BP (cool/humid), c. 8250–4250 BP (warm/dry), c. 4250–2450 BP (warm/humid), and c. 2450–0 BP (cool/humid), indicating that, since the mid-Holocene, climate has shifted towards wetter conditions favouring greater in-lake production and fuel production on the landscape. 4. The area surrounding both lakes was characterized by boreal forest c. 12 500–10 000 BP, changing to an Ulmus-Ostrya forest c. 10 000–9000 BP, changing to a community dominated by prairie (Poaceae-Ambrosia-Artemisia) and deciduous forest taxa c. 8000–4250 BP, and finally shifting to a Quercus-dominated woodland/savanna beginning c. 4250–3000 BP. 5. Charcoal influx increased from an average of 0.11–0.62 mm2 cm−2 year−1 during the early Holocene forest period (c. 11 350–8250 BP) to 1.71–3.36 mm2 cm−2 year−1 during the period of prairie expansion (c. 8250–4250 BP) and again increased to 4.18–4.90 mm2 cm−2 year−1 at the start of the woodland/savanna period (c. 4250 BP). 6. As a result of the influence of climate on community composition and fuel productivity, changes in fire severity may be the result and not the cause of shifts in vegetation

Late-Glacial and Holocene Climatic Effects on Fire and Vegetation Dynamics at the Prairie–Forest Ecotone in South-Central Minnesota

1. Treeline ecotones, such as the prairie–forest boundary, represent climatically sensitive regions where the relative abundance of vegetation types is controlled by complex interactions between climate and local factors. Responses of vegetation and fire to climate change may be tightly linked as a result of strong feedbacks among fuel production, vegetation structure and fire frequency/severity, but the importance of these feedbacks for controlling the stability of this ecotone is unclear. 2. In this study, we examined the prairie–forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota using two lake sediment cores to reconstruct independent records of climate, vegetation and fire over the past 12 500 years. Using pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic analyses and LOI properties, we investigated whether fires were controlled directly by climate or indirectly by fuel production. 3. Sediment magnetic and LOI data suggest four broad climatic periods occurring c. 11 350–8250 BP (cool/humid), c. 8250–4250 BP (warm/dry), c. 4250–2450 BP (warm/humid), and c. 2450–0 BP (cool/humid), indicating that, since the mid-Holocene, climate has shifted towards wetter conditions favouring greater in-lake production and fuel production on the landscape. 4. The area surrounding both lakes was characterized by boreal forest c. 12 500–10 000 BP, changing to an Ulmus-Ostrya forest c. 10 000–9000 BP, changing to a community dominated by prairie (Poaceae-Ambrosia-Artemisia) and deciduous forest taxa c. 8000–4250 BP, and finally shifting to a Quercus-dominated woodland/savanna beginning c. 4250–3000 BP. 5. Charcoal influx increased from an average of 0.11–0.62 mm2 cm−2 year−1 during the early Holocene forest period (c. 11 350–8250 BP) to 1.71–3.36 mm2 cm−2 year−1 during the period of prairie expansion (c. 8250–4250 BP) and again increased to 4.18–4.90 mm2 cm−2 year−1 at the start of the woodland/savanna period (c. 4250 BP). 6. As a result of the influence of climate on community composition and fuel productivity, changes in fire severity may be the result and not the cause of shifts in vegetation