Intergroup interactions in Tibetan macaques at Mt. Emei, China

Data on intergroup-interactions (I-I) were collected in 5 seasonally provisioned groups (A, B, D, D-1, and E) of Tibetan macaques (Macaca Thibetana) at Mt. Emei in three 70-day periods between 1991 April-June (P1), September-November (P2), December-1992 February (P3). The I-I were categorized as forewarning made by high-ranking males (including Branch Shaking and/or Loud Calls), long-distance interactions in space (specified by changes in their foraging movements), and close encounters (with Affinitive Behavior, Male's Herding Female, Sexual Interaction, Severe Conflict, Adult Male-male Conflict, Opportunistic Advance and Retreat, etc. performed by different age-sex classes). From periods Fl to P3, the I-I rate decreased with reduction in population density as a positive correlate of food clumpedness or the number of potential feeders along a pedestrian trail. On the other hand, from the birth season (BS, represented by P1 and P3) to the mating season (MS, represented by P2) the dominance relation between groups, which produced a winner and a loser in the encounters, became obscure; the proportion of close encounters in the I-I increased; the asymmetry (local groups over intruders) of forewarning signals disappeared; the rate of branch shaking decreased; and sometimes intergroup cohesion appeared. Considering that sexual interactions also occurred between the encountering groups, above changes in intergroup behaviors may be explained with a model of the way in which the competition for food (exclusion) and the sexual attractiveness between opposite sexes were in a dynamic equilibrium among the groups, with the former outweighing the latter in the BS, and conversely in the MS. Females made 93% of severe conflicts, which occurred in 18% of close encounters. Groups fissioned in the recent past shared the same home range, and showed the highest hostility to each other by females. In conspicuous contrast with females' great interest in intergroup food/range competition, adult male-male conflicts that were normally without body contact occurred in 66% bf close encounters; high-ranking male herding of females, which is typical in baboons, appeared in 83% of close encounters, and showed no changes with season and sexual weight-dimorphism; peripheral juvenile and subadult males were the main performers of the affinitive behaviors, opportunistic advance and retreat, and guarding at the border. In brief, all males appeared to "sit on the fence" at the border, likely holding out hope of gaining the favor of females both within and outside the group. Thus, females and males attempted to maximize reproductive values in different ways, just as expected by Darwin-Trivers' theory of sexual selection. In addition, group fission was observed in the largest and highest-ranking group for two times (both in the MS) when its size increased to a certain level, and the mother group kept their dominant position in size and rank among the groups that might encounter, suggesting that fission takes a way of discarding the "superfluous part" in order to balance the cost of competition for food and mates within a group, and the benefit of cooperation to access the resources for animals in the mother group. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Responses to seasonal changes in nutrient quality and patchiness of food in a multigroup community of Tibetan macaques at Mt. Emei

Provisioning along pedestrian trails by tourists much increased the nutrient quality and patchiness of food (NqPF)for Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt Emei in spring and summer. In the habitat at a temperate-subtropical transition zone, the mncaque's NqPF could be ordered in a decreasing rank from spring summer to autumn to winter With the aid of a radio-tracking system, I collected ranging data on a multigroup community in three 70-day periods representing the different seasons in 1991-92, Rank-order correlation on the data show that with the decline of NqPF; the groups tended to increase days away from the trail, their effective range size (ERS) their exclusive area (EA) and the number of days spent in the EA, and reduced their group/community density and the ratio of the overlapped range to the seasonal range (ROR). In icy/snowy winter; the macaques searched for mature leaves slowly and carefully in the largest seasonal range with a considerable portion that was nor used in other seasons. Of the responses, the ROR decreased with the reduction in group/community density; and the ERS was the function of both group size (+) and intergroup rank (-) when favorite food was highly clumped. All above responses were clearly bound to maximize foraging effectiveness and minimize energy expenditure, and their integration in term of changes in time and space leads to better understanding macaque ecological adaptability. Based on this study and previous work on behavioral and physiological factors, I suggest a unifying theory of intergroup interactions. Ir! addition, as the rate of behavioral interactions,was also related to the group density, I Waser's (1976) gas model probably applies to behavioral, as well as spatial, data on intergroup interactions.

龙游石窟洞室群稳定性分析及最佳旅游路线选择

The large ancient underground rock caverns in Longyou is an important component of grotto cultural. Current task facing the long-term preservation of these unmovable cultural relics is arduous and challenging. The deformation failure of the caverns' surrounding rock is deteriorating. The weathering velocity of these caverns is accelerating. With the strength of caverns' surrounding rock worsening, critical rocks were generated in local regions of the caverns' vault and posing a threat to the security of people passing by. Selection of a maximum-security route and construction a aisle in the caverns might be an efficient way to ensure the security of tourists and reach the target of long-term preservation. The deformation and destruction of the ancient underground caverns is primarily dominated by geological conditions and the special structure of caverns. Based on field investigation, several fundamental conditions for deformation and failure are recognized, and nine deformation and fracture patterns of the Longyou grotto are proposed. In order to judge the stability of caverns’ surrounding rock, the element safety coefficient method is presented. An explicit explanation for the meaning of the method is deduced using Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion. Numerical analyses are carried out in the dissertation through FLAC3D code. Through numerical analysis, the stress distribution regularities of the caverns’ roofs, piles and public side wall are analysed, and the stability properties of caverns’ surrounding rock are also assessed. At the same time, the element safety coefficient method is introduced to contrast the stability degree of different regions in caverns. The above analyses are bases for choosing the optimal tourism routes in the caverns of Longyou grotto. The impact of surface load on the stability of shallow buried cavities in Longyou grotto is evaluated, the results show that building load has significant influence on the stability of the No.1 cavern’s roof, pile and public side wall between the No.1 cavern and the No.2 cavern, pedestrian load has less impact on the stability of surrounding rock than building load. The principles for choosing the optimal tourism routes in the caverns are discussed. With these principles, the dissertation makes a systematic research on the geological analytic method, numerical analytic method and meeting tourism requirements method, which are used in selecting the optimal tourism routes in the caverns. In order to achieve the best effect in the process of tourism routes selection, the above three method are integrated through Theory of Engineering Geomechanics Meta-system(EGMS). According to field investigations, numerical analyses, tourism requirements and expert experiences, the optimal tourism routes through No.1 to No.5 cavern are determined preliminarily. The obtained results from the research work are useful for the security aisle's construction, they also have reference value to other projects in practice.