Primate Behavioral Ecology 6th Edition
Book Preface
This comprehensive introductory text integrates evolutionary, ecological, and demographic perspectives with new results from field studies and contemporary noninvasive molecular and hormonal techniques to understand how different primates behave and the significance of these insights for primate conservation. Each chapter is organized around the major research themes in the field, with Strier emphasizing the interplay between theory, observations, and conservation issues. Examples are drawn from the “classic” primate field studies as well as more recent studies, including many previously neglected species, to illustrate the vast behavioral variation that exists across the primate order. Primate Behavioral Ecology 6th Edition integrates the impacts of anthropogenic activities on primate populations, including zoonotic disease and climate change, and considers the importance of behavioral flexibility for primate conservation. This fully updated new edition brings exciting new methods, theoretical perspectives, and discoveries together to provide an incomparable overview of the field of primate behavioral ecology and its applications to primate conservation. It is considered to be a “must read” for all students interested in primates
Karen B. Strier is a Vilas Research Professor and the Irven DeVore Professor of Anthropology and an Affiliate Professor of Integrated Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she has been teaching since 1989. Her main research interests are to understand the behavioral ecology of primates from a comparative perspective, and to contribute to conservation efforts on their behalf
I completed the revisions to this sixth edition of Primate Behavioral Ecology while under the “shelter-at-home” mandate imposed by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic of early 2020. Reading and thinking so intensely about other primates at a time of human vulnerability was a compelling reminder of the fragility and the resilience of the natural world and of our responsibility to protect it along with ourselves. This edition is dedicated to all of the people all over the world who expose themselves to personal risks in order to take care of others—both human and nonhuman—during the crises of our times.
This edition, like its five predecessors, is an introduction to the field of primate behavioral ecology and its applications to primate conservation. It integrates the basics of evolutionary and ecological approaches to the study of behavior with up-to-date coverage of how different primates actually behave. Examples are drawn from the “classic” primate field studies as well as more recent studies from diverse species across the Primate Order to illustrate both the vast behavioral variation that we now know exists, and the gaps in our knowledge that future studies will fill. Throughout the book, the interplay among theory, observations, and conservation issues is emphasized. Readers will undoubtedly have different levels of familiarity with primate evolutionary history, the genetics underlying evolutionary processes, and basic behavioral ecology. For some, the background material covered in the early chapters will be an easy review, but the relevance of these areas to conservation deserves to be reinforced. Subsequent chapters are organized around some of the major research themes in the field. Most begin with an overview of theoretical approaches and then examine the comparative evidence that supports or challenges evolutionary-based predictions.
As one might expect for a field as vibrant as this, new discoveries continue to refine the ways we think about primates and the theoretical perspectives upon which these perceptions are based. Increasingly, however, anthropogenic activities are negatively impacting primate populations and their habitats. Although these changes put primates at ever-greater risks, they have also stimulated widespread interest and awareness in the remarkable behavioral flexibility that many primates exhibit. This combination of attention to the variation in ecological and demographic conditions, on the one hand, and the responses of primates to these variable conditions, on the other hand, has shifted some of the focus of primate behavioral ecology away from evolutionary adaptations per se, and more toward considerations of behavioral flexibility as a part of the primates’ evolutionary heritage.
All of the material carried over from the previous editions has been updated so that it tracks the new directions in which primate behavioral ecology is moving. This has resulted in some substantive enhancements and additions to nearly every chapter. Some of the highlights of this edition include:
● Integration of methodological and technological advances including remote sensing tools and their implications for noninvasive studies of primate behavior, populations, and habitats.
● Syntheses of new insights from theoretical and analytical approaches including the extended evolutionary synthesis, social network analyses, reconsiderations of female dominance, multi-modal signaling, and ethnoprimatology.
● Expanded coverage of primate behavior, diet, microbiomes, and health in anthropogenic landscapes.
● Fully updated taxonomic classifications including new tables and an up-to-date Appendix, and greater integration of evolutionary history and conservation, including the Anthropocene.
● Focused attention on contemporary conservation issues throughout, including disease, climate change, forest corridors, and ecotourism.
● New boxes on drones, terminology in primatology, positional behavior and behavioral thermo-regulation, and zoonotic disease.
● Companion website with chapter summaries, flashcards, study and discussion questions,
links to resources, recommended readings, and educational videos.
More than 300 new references provide authoritative sources and additional examples. However, I have also retained most of the citations to the original studies on particular topics to provide the historical context and time-depth we have in the field. In our digital age, it is more important than ever for newcomers to the field to learn about some of the classic studies that established the field and continue to shape it, but that were often published as books or book chapters and may therefore not be accessible online
Download Ebook | Read Now | File Type | Upload Date |
---|---|---|---|
Download here
|
Read Now | August 31, 2021 |
How to Read and Open File Type for PC ?