How Signaling Geometry Shapes the Efficacy and Evolution of Animal Communication Systems
How Signaling Geometry Shapes the Efficacy and Evolution of Animal Communication Systems
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DOI：
10.1093/icb/icab090
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发表时间：
2021-05-21
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Morehouse, Nathan, I
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Echeverri, Sebastian A.;Miller, Audrey E.;Morehouse, Nathan, I
动物的交流本质上是空间性的。信号传输和信号接收都有空间偏差，包括方向、距离和位置，它们相互作用决定了信号的有效性。信号，无论是视觉的、听觉的还是化学的，通常都具有高度的方向性。同样，接收器可能仅能够检测来自某些方向的信号。因此，这些方向偏差之间的对齐对于有效的通信至关重要，即使是轻微的错位也会破坏对信号信息的感知。此外，信号在从发信机传输到接收机时往往会降级，影响传输的环境条件甚至可以在很小的时空尺度上变化。因此，动物在交流过程中如何定位自己很可能处于强选择之下。尽管如此，我们的知识在通信过程中的信号和接收器的空间布局仍然令人惊讶的粗糙的大多数系统。我们对信号源和接收器的行为如何随着时间的推移对有效的信号对齐做出贡献，或者信号本身如何进化以影响和/或响应动物交流的这些方面，了解得更少。在这里，我们首先描述了为什么研究人员应该采用更明确的动物信号的几何视图，包括位置，方向和距离的问题。然后，我们描述了环境和社会的影响如何引入进一步的复杂性的几何信号。我们将讨论多模态如何为信号发送者和接收者提供新的挑战和机遇。最后，我们通过关注信号的几何形状来提出建议和未来的方向。
Animal communication is inherently spatial. Both signal transmission and signal reception have spatial biases-involving direction, distance, and position-that interact to determine signaling efficacy. Signals, be they visual, acoustic, or chemical, are often highly directional. Likewise, receivers may only be able to detect signals if they arrive from certain directions. Alignment between these directional biases is therefore critical for effective communication, with even slight misalignments disrupting perception of signaled information. In addition, signals often degrade as they travel from signaler to receiver, and environmental conditions that impact transmission can vary over even small spatiotemporal scales. Thus, how animals position themselves during communication is likely to be under strong selection. Despite this, our knowledge regarding the spatial arrangements of signalers and receivers during communication remains surprisingly coarse for most systems. We know even less about how signaler and receiver behaviors contribute to effective signaling alignment over time, or how signals themselves may have evolved to influence and/or respond to these aspects of animal communication. Here, we first describe why researchers should adopt a more explicitly geometric view of animal signaling, including issues of location, direction, and distance. We then describe how environmental and social influences introduce further complexities to the geometry of signaling. We discuss how multimodality offers new challenges and opportunities for signalers and receivers. We conclude with recommendations and future directions made visible by attention to the geometry of signaling.