The Gibbons: New Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology

This volume will consist of an edited compilation of papers describing recent research on the socioecology, population biology, and conservation status of the small apes. As such, it will serve as a reference resource for researchers and students interested in the small apes specifically, as well as researchers interested in the gibbon perspective on a number of theoretical issues in primatology (e.g. mating systems, feeding ecology, biogeography, and conservation biology). As the volume will include research results from a diversity of small ape taxa, it will be useful for researchers interested in the diversity of adaptations displayed within the gibbon radiation, as well as those interested in specific taxa. The volume will be edited for internal consistency and clarity, and will be usable both as a compilation of individual articles and as a single document outlining the current state of research on wild gibbon populations.

The volume will be organized into three sections, encompassing gibbon socioecology and mating systems, gibbon population biology and phylogeography, and gibbon conservation, respectively. The first section will include discussions of the socioecology of both little-known (e.g. N. gabriellae) and relatively well-studied (H. lar) taxa, as well as discussions of topics about which information has previously been unavailable, including patterns of dispersal in gibbons, and the function of male parental care in S. syndactylus. As the past two decades have seen the rapid accumulation of evidence of gibbon adaptations other than strict social and sexual monogamy, a particular focus of this section will be the diversity of mating and grouping patterns in gibbons, and their social and ecological correlates. The second section will include chapters about demographic patterns, community ecology, and evolutionary relationships among gibbon populations and species. The third section will provide updated information on the conservation status of several gibbon species (including H. lar, H. agilis, H. klossii, S. syndactylus, Nomascus spp., and H. hoolock). This section will also include chapters on conservation management topics, such as reintroduction of captive gibbons and managing fragmented forest habitats.

The final contribution to the volume will be a concluding chapter summarizing the current state of research on gibbon socioecology, population biology, and conservation, and describing our revised understanding of the relationships among individual gibbons, gibbon groups, and gibbon populations. This chapter will also highlight areas where there is an urgent need for further information, especially in the field of gibbon conservation biology.