Environmental science graduate students Will Meyer and Rio Palmeira examine lemur behavior at the Tennessee Aquarium. Photo by Angela Foster.
What makes a house a home?
Environmental science graduate students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are exploring a different kind of house.
Rio Palmeira, Will Meyer, Elizabeth Meyer and Caspar Alsobrooks—students in the environmental science master’s program—spend two days a week observing lemur behavior at the Tennessee Aquarium.
Dr. Hope Klug, UC Foundation and Guerry professor in the UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, has partnered with the aquarium for the past 14 years.
As part of her environmental statistics course, her students are studying the relationship between animal behavior and the space used in microhabitats.
In her 14 years working with the aquarium, Klug has had her students conduct field-based research at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute and, most recently, with lemurs at the aquarium itself.
Before researching lemurs and their habitats, her work inside the aquarium started with flashlight fish in captivity. Klug described the fish as the “fireflies” of the sea and observed behavioral changes caused by environmental factors, similar to what the students are looking for in lemurs.
“They flash and not a lot is known about them,” Klug said. “In the wild, they flash in relation to the lunar cycle, and all of the fish that are in captivity at the aquarium are wild-caught fish. The students come in every evening around 7 p.m., after the aquarium closes, and gather data on flashing patterns.
“Our goal is to see if that lunar-cycle-based flashing, if it’s maintained in captivity, even though they’ve lost the light cues from the moon. We’re also looking at whether the flashing frequency varies in relation to anything else, like day of the week or time of the year.”
Partnering with aquarium animal care specialists, the goal is to provide the aquarium with data that may help improve the microhabitats of its animals.
Like with the flashlight fish, Klug and her students are looking for similar behavior changes in lemurs.
Dr. Hope Klug talks to students Rio Palmeira and Will Meyer.
Native to Madagascar, there are over 100 lemur species, each with a unique diet, behavior and social structure, according to the Lemur Conservation Network.
The Tennessee Aquarium has three lemur species under its care: ring-tailed, red-collared brown and red-ruffed lemur.
“There are a few main things that they’re interested in,” Klug said. “One is just where the animals are located. Obviously, these microhabitats are pretty large, but they tend to spend a lot of time in certain areas. We’re very interested in looking over time—are they using all the space or do they seem to consistently use a fraction of it?
“The other thing that we’re very interested in is whether they exhibit natural behaviors like grooming or scent marking. Are they climbing, jumping or exploring the habitat? We also want to know if they are exhibiting any unusual behaviors. One thing you see a lot in animals in captivity is stereotypic behavior.”
An example of stereotypic behavior is a tiger in captivity pacing back and forth along the same path. Klug said this behavior, along with other unusual behaviors due to their habitat, can be detrimental and lead to muscle damage.
She explained that enrichment tools are added to microhabitats to provide stimulation, aiming to keep animals happy and engaged. The tools include cardboard, streamers and various methods of delivering food to the animals.
In addition to enrichment tools, the lemurs have two microhabitats that allow them to move between a spiny forest and a rainforest environment.
“The spiny forest has less foliage and trees, and the rainforest exhibit has more foliage, more trees,” Klug said. “Our partners at the aquarium are really interested in whether—because of the differences in habitat—there might be differences in space use and behavior.”
Palmeira and Will Meyer spend two days each week observing lemur behavior and recording data for their conclusions.
Palmeira hopes to continue researching after she graduates, specifically in water microbiology and ecology. She explained that the practices at the aquarium will apply in her future research.
“Data collection, attention to detail and practicing: It’s a way to have structured field work without having to deal with actual issues you have in real nature,” Palmeira said.
Meyer echoed those thoughts, noting that it’s easier to connect with the data when you collect it.
“It’s always good practice to watch and observe meticulously in a scientific way,” Meyer said. “With it being for a stats class, we’re going to use the data. We’re going to practice all the stats that we’ve been learning.
“It’s all very valuable to know how to do those analyses. More of a dog in the fight, when we go to do these statistical tests. We actually care a little bit more about it.”
Both highlighted the opportunity to work regularly at the aquarium.
“Taking the long way down once we’re done, going through all the big exhibits, it’s a nice little reset to see some fish and then go back to campus,” Meyer said. “My thesis project involves fish. It’s nice to have an actual break where I get to see some fish in the middle of the day.”
Palmeira said she could “sit here all day and watch the lemurs.”
Klug hopes students take away what actual field work looks like without always having “clean” data sets.
“From an educational perspective, I know that the data we’re going to get from this is real-world data,” Klug said. “It’s going to be really messy. I’m excited to see how they approach their analysis with the data.
“The students will hopefully take away from this that keeping animals in captivity can be pretty complex. It’s very important to ensure that their habitat provides enrichment that supports good animal welfare. I hope that they’ll also appreciate how important good habitats are in captive settings for environmental education.”
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UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science
Photo gallery by Angela Foster
