SGER- "El Nino Influence on Group Formation in Facultative Group-Living Species"

动物行为程序非技术摘要建议#：IBN-9901618PI：Uetz，George W.标题：厄尔尼诺对兼性群居物种群体形成的影响厄尔尼诺现象等周期性气候事件，如厄尔尼诺现象，可能对自然生态系统和生物种群产生直接和间接影响。例如，加州海岸降雨量和湿度的增加可能会直接影响植物的生存和生产力，并通过食物链间接影响动物物种。这项研究关注厄尔尼诺=F1o对典型独居动物聚集行为的影响。在El Ni=F10年期间，捕食昆虫数量的增加已被证明导致蜘蛛种群密度较高，为聚集和社会行为创造了有利条件。最近在加利福尼亚州蒙特利半岛发现了与厄尔尼诺现象有关的群居建网蜘蛛Metepeira spinipe，这为理解蜘蛛群体生活的机制提供了一个独特的研究机会(S)。拟议研究的目标是收集关于种群遗传结构的先导数据，以解决与El Ni=F10循环有关的种群形成的假设。这将通过实地研究、标本采集和分子技术的开发来实现，以分析群体之间的遗传相似性，以及群体内个体之间的遗传联系。由于蜘蛛的社会行为是极其罕见的，对少数几个“例外”物种的研究可能会对动物社会行为的进化产生有价值的见解。

Animal Behavior ProgramNontechnical AbstractProposal #: IBN - 9901618PI: Uetz, George W.Title: El Nino influence on group formation in facultative group-living speciesCyclic climatic events, such as the El Ni=F1o phenomenon, may have both direct and indirect impacts on natural ecosystems and the populations of organisms within. For example, increased rainfall and moisture along the California coast may influence plant survival and productivity directly, and influence animal species indirectly through the food chain. This research concerns the impact of El Ni=F1o on aggregative behavior of typically solitary animals. Increases in prey insect abundance during El Ni=F1o years have been demonstrated to result in higher density of spider populations, creating conditions favorable to aggregation and social behavior. The recent discovery of aggregations of the colonial web-building spider Metepeira spinipes on the Monterey peninsula in California, linked to the El Ni=F1o phenomenon, presents a unique research opportunity to understand the mechanism(s) responsible for group-living in spiders. The goal of the proposed research is the collection of pilot data on genetic structure of populations, to address hypotheses concerning group formation related to the El Ni=F1o cycle. This will be accomplished with field studies, specimen collection, and the development of molecular techniques to analyze genetic similarity among colonies, and genetic relatedness among individuals within colonies. As social behavior is extremely rare in spiders, research on the few species that are "an exception to the rule" may yield valuable insights about the evolution of social behavior in=animals.