Doctoral Dissertation Research: Primate behavioral adaptations to water stress

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Water requirements shape the behaviors and ways in which all animals interact with their environment. Access to sufficient clean water is especially important for maintaining hydration in lactating mammalian mothers. Many primate mothers produce a dilute milk over an extended period, which may present challenges to maintaining water balance in lactating females. This doctoral dissertation research project explores hydration status and water consumption behaviors in wild female primates and provides a comprehensive look at the multiple variables that can influence their water balance. This study also documents water quality, availability, and location in the context of frequent human-animal interactions and therefore has important implications for public health. Understanding hydration, how it varies based on ecological contexts, as well as how primates meet their water requirements has implications for the conservation of endangered populations that face changing environments. This project provides numerous training opportunities and supports capacity building. Results are shared through scientific journals, social media, and educational efforts in multiple settings. This project tests the hypothesis that lactating female primates are more water stressed than other individuals in their group and alter their behavior to increase their water intake. It also tests the hypothesis that high-ranking females are buffered from lactation-related water stress due to their increased access to better quality food and water compared to low-ranking females. This project maps spatiotemporal variation in water availability and quality, both in food and free-standing water, across the primates’ habitat. Using behavioral observations and nutritional data, the researchers estimate water intake by lactating females. Using the collected physiological and behavioral data, the results clarify how water balance varies in females based on their reproductive state, dominance rank, and the water quality and availability in their home range. This project integrates new behavioral, physiological, ecological, spatiotemporal, and nutritional data to explore water balance and behavioral adaptations to hydration stress in an endangered primate species. 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.