Ecology and Evolution of Social Behavior

这项工作包括调查橡子啄木鸟（Melanerpes formicivorus）的社会行为，这是一种合作繁殖的物种，使用一个完全彩色条纹的种群，自1971年以来进行了密集监测。根据行为观察，这一物种的群体似乎由多个生殖雄性和雌性组成，同时还有明显来自前几年的非繁殖后代。然而，由于以前无法精确确定群体内的亲子关系，对这一物种行为的全面了解受到了损害。这项研究将开始努力解决这个问题，使用新的分子技术，能够解决亲子关系的不确定性。通过澄清在高度复杂的橡子啄木鸟社会中竞争与合作的相互冲突的角色，亲子关系的确定将大大有助于理解社会行为。这些知识在所有涉及社会性研究的领域都有潜在的应用，包括人类学、社会学和行为生态学。

This work involves investigation of the social behavior of the acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), a cooperatively breeding species, using a completely color-banded population intensively monitored since 1971. Based on behavioral observations, groups of this species appear to consist of multiple reproductive males and females along with apparently nonbreeding offspring from prior years. However, complete understanding of the behavior of this species has been compromised by previous inability to precisely determine parentage within groups. This study will initiate efforts to address this problem using new molecular techniques that are able to resolve uncertainties of parentage. Determination of parentage will contribute substantially to the understanding of social behavior by clarifying the conflicting roles of competition and cooperation within the highly complex acorn woodpecker society. Such knowledge has potential applications to all fields involving the study of sociality including anthropology, sociology, and behavioral ecology.