Dissertation Research: The Ecological Basis of Delayed Dispersal and Sensitivity to Landscape Structure

论文研究：延迟扩散的生态学基础和对景观结构的敏感性

• 批准号: 9801083
• 负责人: Jeffrey Walters
• 金额: $ 0.7万
• 依托单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-06-15 至 2000-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9801083&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Ecological; Basis; Delayed

Walters9801083Biologists have been intrigued by cooperative breeding systems of birds and mammals because of the apparent altruism of helpers, non-breeding adults who seemingly give up their own reproduction in order to assist others, much like worker bees and ants. Explanations of the behavior of helpers based on future benefits resulting from their actions, particularly inheritance of the breeding position on the territory on which they help, have enjoyed considerable success when applied to North American species. In this study we test this theory on an Australian bird species. Cooperative breeding is far more common in Australia than anywhere else, so any theory of its origin must apply there to be at all general. We also compare the biology of the species in fragmented habitat where it is declining to that in intact habitat where it continues to thrive in order to discover the basis of its sensitivity to habitat fragmentation. Loss of species to habitat fragmentation is a universal problem, whose solution requires a better understanding of the biological basis of sensitivity to fragmentation.

Walters9801083生物学家对鸟类和哺乳动物的合作繁殖系统很感兴趣，因为助手和非繁殖成年个体具有明显的利他主义，它们似乎为了帮助他人而放弃自己的繁殖，就像工蜂和蚂蚁一样。 基于助人者行为所带来的未来利益，特别是他们所帮助的领土上繁殖地位的继承，对助人者行为的解释在应用于北美物种时已经取得了相当大的成功。在这项研究中，我们在澳大利亚鸟类身上测试了这一理论。合作育种在澳大利亚比其他任何地方都普遍得多，因此任何关于其起源的理论都必须适用于澳大利亚才能具有普遍性。 我们还比较了该物种在破碎化栖息地中的生物学特性（在破碎化栖息地中，该物种的数量正在下降）与在完整栖息地中（在该栖息地中该物种继续繁盛）的生物学特性，以发现其对栖息地破碎化敏感的基础。 栖息地破碎化造成的物种丧失是一个普遍问题，解决该问题需要更好地了解对破碎化敏感的生物学基础。