REU: Spatial Position and Fitness: A Dynamic Optimization Model

在自然界中，社会性有其优势（增加了食物收集的潜力，免受捕食者的侵害），但也有社会环境的代价（增加了对食物和/或空间的竞争，寄生虫和疾病传播的可能性，对捕食者的可见度提高）。在一个群体或社会群体中，并不是所有的动物都能平等地体验到这些好处和/或代价。例如，在殖民地边缘的动物可能面临更大的天敌捕食的风险，而在中心的其他动物可能面临更大的食物竞争。Uetz博士的研究旨在了解动物是如何做出决定的（独居还是群居；在群体中改变位置等），以及这些决定的累积效应如何影响生存和繁殖成功。这些研究涉及蜘蛛的间隔行为，以及蜘蛛在三维网群中的位置如何影响捕食成功率和捕食风险之间的平衡。利用这些信息，Uetz博士将开发一个数学模型来预测产生最佳生存和繁殖成功机会的最佳决策策略。社会行为的进化受到了广泛的关注，科学家们继续根据自然选择理论来研究群体生活的成本和收益。这个话题引起了人们的兴趣和争议，因为在动物身上观察到社会行为的多样性，因为人类也是社会性的。这项研究将有助于了解行为策略的成本和收益如何影响动物社会的进化，并为蜘蛛等典型的非社会性动物的社会行为如何进化提供见解。

In nature, there are advantages of sociality (increased food gathering potential, protection from predators), yet there are also costs of the social environment (increased competition for food and/or space, potential for spread of parasites and diseases, increased visibility to predators). Not all animals within a colony or social group experience these benefits and/or costs equally. For example, animals on the edge of colonies may be at greater risk of predation from their natural enemies, while others in the center may face greater competition for food. Dr. Uetz's research is directed at understanding how animals make decisions (live alone or in a group; change location within a colony, etc.), and how the cumulative effects of those decisions affect survival and reproductive success. The studies concern spacing behavior, and how location of spiders within three- dimensional web colonies affects the balance between feeding success and predation risk. Using this information, Dr. Uetz will develop a mathematical model to predict the optimal decision-making strategies yielding the best chance of survival and reproductive success. The evolution of social behavior has received much attention, and scientists continue to examine the costs and benefits of group-living in light of natural selection theory. This topic arouses both interest and controversy, because of the diversity of social behaviors observed in animals, and because humans as well are social. This research will contribute to growing knowledge of how costs and benefits of behavioral strategies shape the evolution of animal societies, and also provide insight into how social behavior can evolve in typically asocial animals such as spiders.