The aim of this symposium is to reconsider current knowledge of primate socioecology from recent field studies. There exists a wide variety of behaviors common between and within primate taxa from mating to foraging. From such variation, primatologists have tried to elucidate general rules across different species. Diverse patterns of behavior have been understood in terms of individual selective benefits and the adaptive significance of social systems have been discussed in relation to environmental pressures both ecological and social.
Ecological aspects of the evolution of primate sociality have been well discussed, and include predation and inter- or intra-group competition over food. These arguments have been derived from relatively short-term studies in natural habitats, which range from tropical forest to savanna, montane or cool- temperate forest. By contrast, social aspects, such as demographic change in group size, composition and inter-individual relationships relative to individual reproductive success, need long-term studies with habituation and identification of particular individuals. Since it is difficult to habituate them in the wild, sociological studies have tended to be conducted at artificially modified areas with provisioning. However, provisioning drastically changes the conditions of food quality and distribution. The important findings on social behavior from observations at the artificial feeding sites have not yet been well discussed in relation to various ecological aspects.
Recent field studies have accumulated long term data of demography and social behavior on wild primate populations without provisioning in their natural habitats. Although the information is still limited, three types of data are now available for analyzing socioecological features of primates; long- term data on provisioned groups, short-term data on wild unhabituated groups and short- or long-term data on wild habituated groups in their natural habitats. The scope of this symposium is, therefore, to be based on these data and to reconsider the evolution of social systems in primates through discussion of interactions between ecological and social factors.
Topics for discussion
1. Ecological determinants of behavior and social structure: Recent findings of environmental factors (food quality, patch size, predation, etc.) determining social organization (group size, socionomic sex ratio, individual dispersal, association within or between sex) are summarized and compared between species across habitats, to elucidate general rules among primate taxa.
2. Ecological constraints influencing reproductive parameters: Environmental conditions, such as the availability of particular foods fluctuate annually, seasonally, and even daily. These changes may influence individual nutritional intake and thus individual reproductive success, in particular in female. The adaptive significance of reproductive structure is discussed through reproductive parameters relative to such environmental changes in various habitats.
3. Inter-species relationships and primate communities: Primates usually constitute an important part of the ecosystem with other species in various habitats. Some species associate peacefully with each other, while others are in more competitive relationships. Such inter-species relationships may have promoted the evolution of social system in primates. Seed dispersal by primates plays an important role in regeneration of forest. These dynamic aspects of the primate community are considered in terms of symbiosis and coevolution with other animals and plants.
4. Variations in social behavior between natural conditions and provisioned or highly disturbed conditions: Provisioning tend to increase aggression between individuals through attracting them to an artificial feeding site and thus to underline differences in individual food intake by dominance rank. These conditions stimulate kin-related individuals to form alliances to increase their reproductive fitness. To compare these artificially influenced social behaviors and social structures with those in natural habitats will contribute to the understanding of the social flexibility of primates to environmental changes.
5. The relative importance of ecological factors vs social factors in determining social organization: Similar social structure of primates in different habitats and different social systems in similar habitats suggest to us that the evolution of social system is a very complex phenomena in primates. Each primate taxa has come up with its own solution to dealing with ecological constraints. To analyze the relationships between ecological and social factors and to compare them between primate taxa will expand our knowledge of such complex ways of evolution.
TOP**********************6th January (Tuesday)**********************
0850-0900 Opening remarks by Yukimaru Sugiyama
0900-1430 Symposium 1: "Ecological determinants of behavior and social structure"
Chair: Juichi Yamagiwa & Michael A. Huffman
0900-0940 Small scale variation in ecological conditions and primate group size.
by Colin A. Chapman & Lauren J. Chapman
0940-1005 Group size variation in some species of Macaca: implications of evolutionary processes.
by Kunio Watanabe
1005-1030 Socioecology of Chimpanzees at Bossou during the fruit scarcity.
by Gen Yamakoshi
1030-1040 ************************Tea time******************************
1040-1120 The ecology of social dynamics in female chacma baboons.
by Peter Henzi
1120-1145 Socioecological characteristics of Arsi geladas.
by Akio Mori & Toshitaka Iwamoto
1145-1210 Range structure and population density of Japanese macaques in evergreen and deciduous forests.
by Tamaki Maruhashi & Chiemi Saito
1210-1300 ************************Lunch time******************************
1300-1340 Resource patchiness and primate sociality: the role of cognitive maps.
by Charles Janson
1340-1420 Discussion
1420-1430 ************************Tea time********************************
1430-1810 Symposium 2: "Ecological constraints influencing reproductive parameters"
Chair: Karen B. Strier & Michael A. Huffman
1430-1510 Factors influencing mating success and reproductive success in rhesus macaques.
by John Berard
1510-1535 Reproductive biology, behavior, and strategies of male and female Japanese macaques.
by Yukio Takahata, Juichi Yamagiwa, Naoki Koyama, Shigeru Suzuki, & Micheal A. Huffman
1535-1615 Determinants of female reproductive sucess in wild long-tailed macaques.
by Maria A. van Noordwijk
1615-1625 ****************************Tea time********************************
1625-1650 Mating and reproduction of wooly monkeys.
by Akisato Nishimura
1650-1730 Monkeys, apes, and U-shaped trajectory of violence.
by Jim Moore
1730-1810 Discussion
**********************7th January (Wednesday)**********************
0900-1200 Symposium 3: "Inter-species relationships and primate communities"Chair: Caroline E.G. Tutin & Michael A. Huffman
0900-0940 The primate community of the Lope Reserve, Gabon: diversity, diets and biomass in continuous and fragmented forest.
by Caroline E.G. Tutin
0940-1020 The use of inter-specific associations in the defence against predators by colobus monkeys: conditional and unconditional strategies.
by Ronald Noe
1020-1030 ************************Tea time************************************
1030-1110 Distribution and ecological segregation of primates in northern Bolivia.
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith
1110-1200 Discussion
1200- **********************Free time, until the rooster crows! ********************
**********************8th January (Thursday)**********************
0900-1215 Symposium 4: "Variations in social behavior between natural and provisioned conditions"Chair: David A. Hill & David S. Sprague
0900-0940 Effects of provisioning on the social behavior of Japanese and rhesus macaques: implications for socio-ecology.
by David A. Hill
0940-1005 Effects of food source on Japanese monkey home range size and location, and troop composition.
by Masaaki Kogannezawa & Hiroo Imaki
1005-1015 ****************************Tea time********************************
1015-1055 The socioecology of infant handling: some lessons from a long-term study on provisioned Barbary macaques and some unanswered questions.
by Andreas Paul
1055-1135 The effect of human habitat alteration on langur social organization.
by Elisabeth HM Sterck
1135-1215 Discussion
1215-1305 ******************************Lunch time****************************
1. Sex differences in infant mortality of Japanese macaques.
by Hiroyuki Kurita, Takeshi Matsui & Eishi Tokida
2. Habitat use of chimpanzees in the savanna woodland.
by Hideshi Ogawa & Gen'ichi Idani
3. Influence of seasonality on bisexual party size and ranging in Mahale chimpanzees.
by Akiko Matsumoto & David S. Sprague
4. Inter-species relationships between long-haired spider monkeys and wooly monkeys in La Macarena, Colombia: the behavior of spider monkeys when they encountered wooly monkeys.
by Hiroyuki Takahashi
1415-1730 Symposium 5: "Ecological factors vs. social factors in determining social organization"
Chair: Carel P. van Schaik & David S. Sprague
1415-1455 Fission-fusion sociality in Orangutans.
by Carel P. van Schaik
1455-1535 Social diversity among nocturnal primates
by Simon Bearder
1435-1500 Social and demographic variations of wild chimpanzees in different habitats.
by Yukimaru Sugiyama
1500-1510 **************************Tea time******************************
1510-1535 Effects of sympatry on social organizations of gorillas and chimpanzees.
by Juichi Yamagiwa
1535-1600 The evolution of 'egalitarian' and 'despotic' social systems among macaques.
by Shuichi Matsumura
1600-1640 Predicting primate responses to stochastic events: an oxymoron for behavioral ecology, or the next essential step?
by Karen B. Strier
1640-1650 **************************Tea time**********************************
1650-1730 Discussion
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Organizing committee:
Y. Sugiyama (Chairperson), J. Yamagiwa (General secretary), M.A. Huffman,
T. Kano, S. Matsumura, A. Mori, H. Ogawa, H. Ohsawa, I. Tanaka, K. Watanabe
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484, Japan
Phone: +81-568-63-0541, FAX: +81-568-63-0565
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* Financed by Monbusho (COE program)
* Supported by Inuyama City Administration
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