Behavioral Ecology of Vocal Diversity

摘要声乐交流研究的一个主要焦点是为什么以及如何复杂的曲目在一些生物体中进化而不是在其他生物体中进化。人类、一些灵长类动物、鲸目动物、许多鸣禽和鹦鹉都有复杂的发声能力。过去几十年的比较研究表明，复杂的词库用于识别个体和群体、分享环境信息、表达意图和争夺配偶（性选择）。性选择，单独或与个体识别相结合，似乎解释了许多鸣禽的复杂曲目。非人类灵长类动物在意图上有微妙的变化，并具有一些简单的环境意义。研究鲸目动物仍然很困难，但现在有证据表明，它们的性选择能力和社会关联特征都存在。尽管已知圈养鹦鹉和野生鹦鹉都能发展出复杂的声音，并在成年后继续学习新的信号，但人们对它们在野外如何使用复杂的声音几乎一无所知。杰克·布拉德伯里博士和他的学生在哥斯达黎加找到了一个研究地点，那里有四种鹦鹉，有开阔的森林，可以直接观察，有广阔的道路系统，可以跟踪鸟类，有足够的偷猎控制，可以近距离接近鸟类而不会受到干扰。鸟类将配备新设计的无线电发射器，并进行密集跟踪。所有的发声都将被记录下来，并与群体的社会组成、环境背景和行为相关联。功能可以通过对野生鸟类的自然和修改的呼叫回放来验证。鹦鹉对这样的回放反应非常灵敏。因此，布拉德伯里博士希望澄清复杂的声音交流在一群动物中的作用，尽管这对理解声音交流过程至关重要，但在很大程度上仍然是一个谜。研究结果将为后续的大脑行为关系的实验室研究提供基础，并允许与其他鸟类和哺乳动物群体进行对比。此外，在这项研究中收集的广泛的生态数据将对哥斯达黎加的保护生物学家有用。

9406217 Bradbury Abstract A major focus of research on vocal communication concerns why and how complex repertoires evolve in some organisms and not in others. Complex vocal repertoires are found in humans (e.g. speech), some other primates, cetaceans, many songbirds, and parrots. Comparative work over the last decades has shown that complex repertoires are used in recognition of individuals and associations, sharing of environmental information, declaring of intentions, and competition for mates (sexual selection). Sexual selection, alone or in combination with individual recognition, seems to account for many of the complex repertoires in songbirds. Nonhuman primates declare subtle variations in intention and have some simple environmental meanings. Cetaceans remain difficult to study, but there is now evidence of both sexually selected repertoires and social association signatures. Although both captive and wild parrots are known to develop complex vocal repertoires and continue to learn new signals as adults, nearly nothing is known about how their complex repertoires are used in the wild. Dr. Jack Bradbury and his students have located a study site in Costa Rica that hosts four species of parrots, has an open forest making direct observations feasible, provides an extensive road system for following the birds, and has sufficient control of poaching that the birds can be approached closely without perturbation. Birds will be outfitted with newly designed radio transmitters and followed intensively. All vocalizations will be recorded and correlated with social composition of groups, environmental contexts, and behaviors. Functions can be verified by playback of natural and modified calls to wild birds. Parrots are extremely responsive to such playbacks. Dr. Bradbury thus hopes to clarify the role of complex vocal communication in a group of animals that, although critical to the general understanding of vocal commu nication processes, has largely remained a mystery. The results will provide a basis for subsequent lab studies on brain-behavior relationships and allow contrasts with other avian and mammalian groups. Furthermore, the extensive ecological data to be collected in this study will be useful to Costa Rican conservation biologists.