Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Karisoke Research Center, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, BP 105, Musanze, North Province, Rwanda; School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Physiol Behav. 2014 Mar 29;127:13-9. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.01.009. Epub 2014 Jan 25.
Maintaining a balanced energy budget is important for survival and reproduction, but measuring energy balance in wild animals has been fraught with difficulties. Female mountain gorillas are interesting subjects to examine environmental correlates of energy balance because their diet is primarily herbaceous vegetation, their food supply shows little seasonal variation and is abundant, yet they live in cooler, high-altitude habitats that may bring about energetic challenges. Social and reproductive parameters may also influence energy balance. Urinary C-peptide (UCP) has emerged as a valuable non-invasive biomarker of energy balance in primates. Here we use this method to investigate factors influencing energy balance in mountain gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes, Rwanda. We examined a range of socioecological variables on energy balance in adult females in three groups monitored by the Karisoke Research Center over nine months. Three variables had significant effects on UCP levels: habitat (highest levels in the bamboo zone), season (highest levels in November during peak of the bamboo shoot availability) and day time (gradually increasing from early morning to early afternoon). There was no significant effect of reproductive state and dominance rank. Our study indicates that even in species that inhabit an area with a seemingly steady food supply, ecological variability can have pronounced effects on female energy balance.
维持能量平衡对于生存和繁殖至关重要，但测量野生动物的能量平衡一直充满困难。雌性山地大猩猩是研究环境与能量平衡相关性的有趣对象，因为它们的饮食主要是草本植物，食物供应几乎没有季节性变化且丰富，但它们生活在较凉爽、高海拔的栖息地，这可能带来能量挑战。社会和生殖参数也可能影响能量平衡。尿 C 肽 (UCP) 已成为灵长类动物能量平衡的一种有价值的非侵入性生物标志物。在这里，我们使用这种方法来研究卢旺达维龙加火山的山地大猩猩的能量平衡的影响因素。我们在 Karisoke 研究中心监测的三个大猩猩群中，研究了 9 个月内影响成年雌性能量平衡的一系列社会生态变量。有三个变量对 UCP 水平有显著影响：栖息地（竹子区最高）、季节（在竹笋供应高峰期的 11 月最高）和白天（从清晨到下午早些时候逐渐增加）。生殖状态和优势等级没有显著影响。我们的研究表明，即使在生活在食物供应似乎稳定的区域的物种中，生态变化也可能对雌性能量平衡产生显著影响。
