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1. Home Range Overlap in Female Bornean Orangutans: Responses to Fluctuations in Food Availability

   Zdanowicz, V; Blackburn, A; Susanto, TW; Knott, CD (January 2020, 6th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists)

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   Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) are large bodied great apes that live in rainforests dominated by mast-fruiting dipterocarp trees with extreme fluctuations in fruit availability. Orangutans respond to this temporal and spatial variability in fruit production by ranging over large areas and adopting a semi-solitary social structure. Females have overlapping home ranges, engage in both scramble and contest competition for food, and actively avoid each other. Overlap requires individuals to share access to resources and adjust ranging to optimize energy intake, thus habitat quality likely influences ranging patterns. Here we investigate whether habitat and food availability are significant predictors of female orangutan home range overlap using data collected at Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia, a site with 7 distinct habitats. Researchers collected GPS waypoints of orangutan movements during all day focal follows. Fruit availability was measured through monthly monitoring of over 6000 trees, across 60 plots. We used R to calculate range overlap per habitat between pairs of adult female orangutans over three-month periods (2013-2019). Our results show a trend towards a negative relationship between overlap and fruit availability (N=15, Pearson’s R= -0.322, p=0.242). We also found habitat to be a predictor of female range overlap, with overlap most likely to occur in the alluvial bench habitat and significantly less likely in the peat swamp (p<0.05). These findings reveal the independent influences of fruit availability and habitat type on female orangutan home range overlap, highlighting the potential importance of habitat-specific food availability on ranging behavior and contest competition. Funders: NSF (9414388, BCS-1638823, BCS-0936199); National Geographic; USFish/Wildlife (F18AP00898, F15AP00812, F13AP00920, 96200-0-G249, 96200-9-G110); Leakey; Disney Conservation Fund; Wenner-Gren; Nacey-Maggioncalda; Conservation-Food-Health; Orangutan Conservancy; Woodland Park Zoo; Boston University GRAF 

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2. A comparative perspective on orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) as seed dispersers

   Blackburn, Andrea; Rizal, Ahmad; Susanto, Tri Wahyu; Mitra Setia, Tatang; Knott, Cheryl D (October 2019, International Conference on Biodiversity for Life: Sustainable Development of Indonesia Biodiversity 2019)

   Seed dispersal is a process essential for the maintenance and regeneration of tropical forests. Many primates are important seed dispersers, and orangutans are predicted to be important seed dispersers as they are large-bodied and highly frugivorous. However, minimal previous research has been conducted on orangutan seed dispersal behavior. Here, we present our preliminary analyses on orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) seed dispersal behavior. Our data were collected in Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan from August 2018 to August 2019. We collected 549 wild Bornean orangutan fecal samples, of which 75.2% of the fecal samples contained intact seeds. Dispersed seeds ranged in length from 0.1mm to 32.5mm. Next, we used a comparative perspective to understand orangutan seed dispersal effectiveness by placing orangutans in the context of the other apes. Orangutans disperse seeds with similar frequency as some populations of chimpanzees and gorillas. Overall, orangutans appear to be effective seed dispersers based on quantitative seed dispersal measures. Orangutans appear to have a vital ecological role in tropical forests, thus we advocate for the conservation of wild orangutans and the forests they inhabit. Funders: National Science Foundation (BCS-1638823); National Geographic Society; US Fish and Wildlife Services (F19AP00798; F18AP00898); Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund 

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3. The Gunung Palung Orangutan Project: Twenty-five years at the intersection of research and conservation in a critical landscape in Indonesia

   Knott, Cheryl; Kane, Erin E.; Achmad, Mariamah; Barrow, Elizabeth J.; Bastian, Meredith L.; Beck, Josephine; Blackburn, Andrea; Breeden, Terri L.; Conklin Brittain, Nancy Lou; Brousseau, Jennifer J.; et al (March 2021, Biological conservation)

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   The Gunung Palung Orangutan Project has conducted research on critically endangered wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) since 1994 in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. A major goal of our broad-ranging research on orangutan behavior and ecology is to understand how the unique rainforest environment of Southeast Asia, characterized by dramatic changes in fruit productivity due to unpredictable mast fruiting, impacts orangutan behavior, physiology, and health. Much of our research has been devoted to the development of non-invasive techniques and an integrated biology approach – using hormonal assays, fecal processing, nutritional analysis, genetics, and behavioral ecology – and has led to an increased understanding of the ecological and evolutionary pressures shaping orangutan adaptations. Our results show that the extended life history and very slow reproductive rate of orangutans are adaptations to their environment. Orangutans in the Gunung Palung landscape, as elsewhere across Borneo and Sumatra, also face a series of conservation challenges, including extensive habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. We highlight how our investigations of orangutan health status, ecosystem requirements, and the assessment of orangutan density using ground and drone nest surveys have been applied to conservation efforts. We describe our project’s direct conservation interventions of public education and awareness campaigns, sustainable livelihood development, establishment of village-run customary forests, investigation of the illegal pet trade, and active engagement with Indonesian government organizations. These efforts, in concert with the development of local scientific and conservation capacity, provide a strong foundation for further conservation as orangutans face a challenging future. 

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4. Orangutan Seed Dispersal in Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia: Dispersal Quantity, Germination Rates, Gut Transit Times, and Dispersal Distances

   Blackburn, Andrea; Susanto, Tri Wahyu; Knott, Cheryl D (March 2020, 7th Frugivores And Seed Dispersal Symposium 2020)

   Orangutans are large-bodied frugivores predicted to be important seed dispersers, however little is known about their seed dispersal effectiveness. To understand wild Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) seed dispersal effectiveness, we measured the quantity of seeds dispersed, and we considered the quality of dispersal by measuring germination rates of gut-passed and control seeds, gut transit times, and dispersal distances. Research was conducted in Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia (August 2018 to August 2019). We systematically collected orangutan fecal samples, feeding behavior, and GPS tracks during consecutive full-day focal follows. We sieved 549 fecal samples collected from 36 orangutans to count and identify seeds (>2mm). Out of the fecal samples collected, 413 (75.2%) contained seeds. A total of 24 genera were dispersed via endozoochory. Orangutan fecal samples contained a mean of 1.17 genera (range 0-7). Germination experiments were conducted with orangutan defecated seeds and seeds from fruit. A significantly higher percent of orangutan defecated seeds germinated for 5 out of 6 genera than control seeds with pulp (p<0.01). A significantly higher percent of orangutan defecated seeds germinated for 3 out of 6 genera compared to control seeds without pulp (p<0.01). Gut transit times in wild orangutans ranged from 39.5 to 87 hours (n=6). Finally, we modeled seed dispersal distances using orangutan movement tracks (n= 30) with gut passage durations of 45 and 60 hours. Gut retention times of 45 hours resulted in a mean dispersal distance of 507 ± 123m (range 69 - 1341), and 60 hours resulted in a mean distance of 592 ± 115m (range 83 - 1260). We conclude orangutans are effective seed dispersers with similar efficacy to other great apes. Orangutans disperse a wide variety of genera over medium to long distances and gut passed seeds germinate at higher rates compared with controls. Keywords: Ecology, Seed dispersal effectiveness, Movement, Tropical, Asia Funders: National Science Foundation (BCS-1638823); National Geographic Society; US Fish and Wildlife Services (F19AP00798; F18AP00898); Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund 

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5. Quantifying free simple sugars in orangutan foods using spectrophotometry: Implications for orangutan feeding ecology

   Robinson, Natalie; Lang, Lexi; Kane, Erin; Knott, Cheryl (April 2018, 87th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists)

   Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia experience significant seasonal and annual fluctuations in the availability of their preferred food, ripe fruit. When ripe fruit is limited, orangutans increase their consumption of bark, pith, and leaves, which are continuously available and may act as fallback foods. While these foods are presumed to be less nutritious, it is not clear whether this is the case. Free simple sugars (FSS) provide orangutans with readily-metabolizable energy, and are thus an important nutritional compound for food choice. Here, we examine FSS concentrations in a variety of orangutan foods (n=54) to better understand orangutan foraging and nutritional ecology. We predicted that preferred foods would have higher concentrations of FSS than fallback foods. We analyzed FSS concentrations using a modified phenol-sulfuric acid method, and tested sample absorbency using a spectrophotometer at 490 nm. We analyzed 54 samples from 48 species, examining six plant parts: bark, flowers, leaves, pulp, seeds, and skin/pulp. Although preliminary results indicated no statistically significant differences in sugar content across the six food categories (F(5,47)=1.78, p=0.14), we did find that preferred foods (fruit pulp and seeds) had an average sugar concentration that was significantly higher (4.7%) than fallback foods (leaves and bark) (t=2.355, p=0.04). Therefore, as predicted, we find that orangutans prefer food types with higher concentrations of FSS. Obtaining adequate caloric and nutritional intake is crucial for orangutan reproduction and development, and thus this study provides new insight into what drives orangutan dietary choices. National Science Foundation (BCS-1638823, BCS-0936199, 9414388), National Geographic Society, US Fish and Wildlife (F15AP00812, F12AP00369, 98210-8-G661), Leakey Foundation, Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Nacey- Maggioncalda Foundation. 

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