Interactions and Flexibility in the Orientation System of Migratory Birds

候鸟定向系统的相互作用和灵活性

• 批准号: 9119508
• 负责人: Kenneth Able
• 金额: $ 23万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1992
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1992-02-01 至 1996-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9119508&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Interactions; Flexibility; Orientation; System; Migratory

The orientation and navigation behavior of vertebrate animals is remarkable in its complexity and reliance on multiple, interacting cues. The system enables animals to respond flexibly to the variety of environmental conditions that may be encountered during a migratory journey. This flexibility in behavior enables the animal to perform accurately in the face of variability and changing availability of the cues upon which it relies. Only in birds have the relationships among orientation cues been explored in detail. How does a young bird come to possess a suite of compasses sufficient, on its first migration, to successfully determine in which direction to fly? Dr. Able will employ a developmental approach to this problem, hand-raising birds under controlled conditions in which their experiences with relevant orientation cues (earth's magnetic field, sun, stars, polarized-light patterns in the sky) can be manipulated. In this way Dr. Able can delineate the interactions and calibrations that occur during the development of compass-orientation abilities in the young animal. As in most complex behavior, this development involves a rich interplay of genetically-based predispositions and templates with experience and learning. The research will contribute importantly both to improved understanding of the development of complex behavior, and to a greater understanding of bird migration that will be crucial in efforts to conserve neotropical migratory birds.

脊椎动物的定向和导航行为因其复杂性和对多种相互作用线索的依赖而引人注目。 该系统使动物能够灵活应对迁徙过程中可能遇到的各种环境条件。 这种行为的灵活性使动物能够在面对其所依赖的线索的可变性和不断变化的可用性时准确地表现。 只有在鸟类中，方向线索之间的关系才被详细探索。 一只幼鸟如何在第一次迁徙时拥有一套足以成功确定飞行方向的指南针？ 艾布尔博士将采用一种发展方法来解决这个问题，在受控条件下用手饲养鸟类，在这些条件下，它们对相关方向线索（地球磁场、太阳、星星、天空中的偏振光模式）的体验可以被操纵。 通过这种方式，艾布尔博士可以描述幼年动物指南针定向能力发展过程中发生的相互作用和校准。 与大多数复杂的行为一样，这种发展涉及基于遗传的倾向和模板与经验和学习的丰富相互作用。 这项研究将有助于提高对复杂行为发展的理解，并加深对鸟类迁徙的理解，这对于保护新热带候鸟的努力至关重要。