RPG: Tactical Defensibility: Landmarks and Territorial Behavior

RPG：战术防御：地标和领土行为

• 批准号: 9707464
• 负责人: Perri Eason
• 金额: $ 1.76万
• 依托单位: University of Louisville Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-09-01 至 1999-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9707464&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RPG; Tactical; Defensibility; Landmarks; Territorial

9707464 Eason Many animal species are territorial, with individuals defending areas against conspecifics. Territory owners incur costs from defending the territory, but also benefits from the territory's resources; benefits must outweigh costs for defense to be feasible. Previous work has ignored a characteristic of territories that may be critical in determining the costs of their owners: tactical defensibility, or the relative difficulty of defending a particular site. One factor that may be the primary determinant of defensibility is the presence or absence of landmarks in the habitat. Anecdotal reports from a wide variety of taxa (insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals) have suggested that animals use naturally occurring and man-made features as territorial boundaries. This common phenomenon has received very little attention from scientists, and this study will address this lapse. The system to be studied is the territorial behavior of the cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus). Males of this species defend mating territories on flat, featureless ground. This species responds strongly to landmarks: male wasps will move their territories so that the boundaries coincide with landmarks, if landmarks such as dowels are provided. This study will determine the degree to which the size and shape of territories can be manipulated by introducing landmarks. For experiments, grids will be constructed of dowels, and the size and shape of the units in the grid will be varied. Behavioral data will also be collected. The data obtained will be used to examine the effects of tactical defensibility on defensive costs and male mating success in cicada killers. The results will provide information about the effects of habitat heterogeneity on territory size and thus on the density of males. Such data are of value to theoretical ecologists and in addition will be of practical use to conservation biologists: an understanding of how habitat heteroge neity affects territorial species may enable wildlife biologists to create habitats that are more suitable to threatened or economically important species.

9707464 Eason许多动物物种都是领土性的，个体会保护区域不受同类的侵害。领地所有者在保卫领地的过程中会产生成本，但也会从领地的资源中获益;收益必须超过防御的成本才可行。 以前的工作忽视了领土的一个特征，而这个特征对于确定其所有者的成本可能至关重要：战术防御能力，或者保卫特定地点的相对困难性。 一个因素，可能是防御性的主要决定因素是存在或不存在的地标在栖息地。 来自各种各样的分类群（昆虫、鱼类、爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物）的轶事报告表明，动物使用自然发生的和人为的特征作为领土边界。 这一普遍现象很少受到科学家的关注，这项研究将解决这一问题。 拟研究的系统是嗜杀胡蜂（Sphecius speciosus）的领土行为。 这一物种的雄性在平坦、无特征的地面上捍卫交配领地。 这一物种对地标有强烈的反应：如果提供了像销钉这样的地标，雄性黄蜂会移动它们的领土，以便边界与地标重合。 这项研究将确定在何种程度上的大小和形状的领土可以通过引入地标操纵。 对于实验，网格将由销钉构成，网格中单元的大小和形状将是不同的。还将收集行为数据。 所获得的数据将被用来研究战术防御性的防御成本和男性交配成功率的影响。 结果将提供有关栖息地异质性对领土大小的影响，从而对男性的密度的信息。 这样的数据是有价值的理论生态学家，此外将实际使用的保护生物学家：栖息地异质性如何影响领土物种的理解，使野生动物生物学家创造栖息地，更适合于受威胁的或经济上重要的物种。