Dissertation Research: Song Dialects, Mating Success and Gene Flow in Mountain White-Crowned Sparrows

非技术摘要：山上白冠麻雀的方言、交配成功和基因流动鸟类的歌声是文化传递的，即幼鸟通过模仿成鸟来学习物种-典型的歌声。因此，经常出现地理变异或歌曲方言(类似于人类口音)。人们提出了几个假说来解释宋语方言的进化意义。这些假设所产生的预测不同于宋语在雄性交配成功中的作用，也不同于方言群体在遗传上的差异程度。歌唱方言对雄性繁殖成功的影响，以及方言作为交配障碍的作用，将在山地白冠麻雀Zonotricia leucophrys oriantha中进行调查。分子遗传学技术将被用来衡量单个雄性产生的宋语如何影响它们的繁殖成功(在自己的巢中和在整个种群中繁殖的雄性后代的数量)，并评估不同方言种群内和不同方言种群之间的杂交。这项研究将特别增加我们对歌唱方言如何影响鸣禽物种的配偶选择和种群结构的了解。更广泛地说，可以证明文化进化和生物进化之间令人兴奋的联系。栖息地碎片化对方言持久性和种群结构的影响也将被讨论，并可能对保护生物学产生影响。

Non Technical Abstract Song dialects, mating success and gene flow in mountain white-crowned sparrows Bird song is culturally transmitted; that is, young songbirds learn species-typical song by copying adults. Thus, geographic variations or song dialects (analogous to human accents) often arise. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the evolutionary significance of song dialects. The predictions generated by these hypotheses differ in the proposed role of song dialect in male mating success and in the degree to which dialect groups are genetically distinct. The effects of song dialects on male reproductive success, and the role of dialects as barriers to mating, will be investigated in mountain white-crowned sparrows Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha. Molecular genetic techniques will be used to measure how song dialects produced by individual males affect their reproductive success (the number of offspring males sire in their own nests and in the population at large) and to assess interbreeding within and among different dialect populations. This research will specifically increase our knowledge of how song dialects affect mate choice and population structure in songbird species. More generally, an exciting link between cultural and biological evolution may be demonstrated. The effect of habitat fragmentation on dialect persistence and population structure will also be addressed, with possible implications for conservation biology.