REU: Energetics of Competitive Behavior

REU：竞争行为的能量

• 批准号: 9107246
• 负责人: Douglas Mock
• 金额: $ 4.5万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1991
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1991-08-01 至 1994-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9107246&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Energetics; Competitive; Behavior

In many organisms, siblings compete actively for limited parental resources, often with fatal results for some brood members. Sometimes this rivalry is accentuated by overt aggression and the establishment of dominance hierarchies. The evolution of self-promoting behavior that sacrifices close kin is believed to be constrained by two main factors: (i) the genetic relatedness between survivor and victim and (ii) the energetic costs associated with vigorous competitive begging and/or fighting. In this study, these energetic costs will be measured in three-chick broods of cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis), an abundant colonial bird that practices siblicide, using "doubly labelled water" (a mixture of stable isotopes). The behavior of chicks injected with small amounts of this compound will be monitored closely during all waking hours over a two-day period, after which analysis of a tiny blood sample will reveal the total energy spent. This method will be applied to chicks of various activity levels, so that the unit costs of each focal activity (begging and fighting) can be determined. This exercise will allow testing and modification of current intra-family conflict theory, as it directly addresses the premise that begging and fighting are expensive. It will also provide information about the efficiency of parental care, by showing how much of parentally supplied food energy is used for growth, as opposed to self-protection. On a more practical level, this knowledge, and the approach itself, is likely to be applicable to various rare and endangered species (e.g., whooping cranes, various eagles, brown pelicans) whose nestlings compete fatally.

在许多生物中，兄弟姐妹为了争夺有限的亲本资源而积极竞争，对某些育雏成员来说往往是致命的结果。有时，这种竞争会因公开的侵略和统治等级的建立而加剧。牺牲近亲的自我促进行为的进化被认为受到两个主要因素的制约：(i)幸存者和受害者之间的遗传相关性；（ii）与激烈的竞争性乞讨和/或打斗相关的精力成本。在这项研究中，这些能量消耗将在三窝牛白鹭（Bubulcus ibis）中进行测量，牛白鹭是一种数量众多的殖民地鸟类，使用“双重标记水”（稳定同位素的混合物）进行杀硅。注射了少量这种化合物的雏鸡的行为将在两天内所有醒着的时间内被密切监测，之后对微小血液样本的分析将揭示所消耗的总能量。该方法将应用于不同活动水平的雏鸡，以便确定每个焦点活动（乞讨和战斗）的单位成本。这项工作将允许测试和修改目前的家庭内部冲突理论，因为它直接解决了乞讨和打架是昂贵的前提。它还将提供有关亲代照料效率的信息，通过显示亲代提供的食物能量有多少用于生长，而不是用于自我保护。在更实际的层面上，这种知识和方法本身可能适用于各种稀有和濒临灭绝的物种（例如，鸣鹤、各种鹰、褐鹈鹕），它们的雏鸟相互竞争是致命的。