โ Scribed by Kristen E. Lukas
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Stuart Altmann's comprehensive account of baboon foraging behavior represents an exhaustive analysis of 333 observation hours obtained over 1 year on 11 yearling baboons almost 25 years ago. It is composed of 10 chapters, 10 appendixes, and 75 tables. Methodologically intense, Foraging for Survival provides a framework for interpreting the impact of early nutrition on biological fitness in primates.
The first chapter adequately sets the stage for why this research is important. At this point, Altmann's writing is similar to the teaching style of your favorite professor, proceeding in a and thorough manner without being complicated or wordy. He explains that feeding and foraging contribute to the adaptation and evolution of animals and then proceeds to explain precisely what he means by adaptation and heritability. Altmann also describes the study area, population, climate, and phenology, as well as habitat and population changes that may have influenced food availability and contributed to a reduction in size of the Amboseli baboon population. In this chapter, Altmann clearly outlines the goals of his research, then specifically indicates how each subsequent chapter addresses the questions he has posed.
In chapter two, eclectic omnivory is described as an extremely selective foraging pattern combined with a highly diverse diet, leading to the consumption of the best parts of a large number of food plants. Using this technique, baboons minimize exposure to risks while obtaining valuable nutrients from potentially hazardous food sources. According to Altmann, this method is advantageous in patchy environments composed of nutritionally incomplete food items.
Chapter three is a comprehensive presentation of methods, written in a manner that contradicts the ease with which the first two chapters are digested. Proving quite laborious for the non-statistician, this excruciatingly detailed section outlines the methods used by the author in obtaining and analyzing his data. Altmann's description of activity budgets, terminology, sampling methods, effects of out-of-sight periods, and sources of error are most helpful. However, his discussion of survival analysis of bouts and the factors used to calculate activity budgets are overwhelming for the reader with less than the most sophisticated understanding of such statistical analyses. The casual reader should be encouraged to gloss over certain sections of this chapter lest he or she become overwhelmed by their complexity. Altmann himself graciously suggests (in the first of his "Notes" provided at the end of the text) that
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES