Multifaceted Parental Investment and its Effects on Population-level Sex Allocation Ratios in Ants.

多方面的亲代投资及其对蚂蚁种群性别分配比的影响。

• 批准号: 0108165
• 负责人: Peter Nonacs
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-08-15 至 2002-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0108165&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Multifaceted; Parental; Investment; its; Effects

This project focuses on theories of parental investment strategy that predict different patterns of size distributions in offspring. This one-year, Proof-of-Concept grant will examine variance in size of males and females in natural populations of ants. The work will consist of: (1) Collections of specimens from the area surrounding the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab and at Stunt Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains; (2) Morphometric measurement of specimens; and (3) Sophisticated statistical analyses of data to detect patterns.The project will examine a fundamental trade-off facing parents in their reproductive strategy: quantity of offspring (in terms of total numbers) versus quality (in terms of individual size of offspring). Older theoretical models predict that size should not vary. Parents should make all offspring roughly the same size. Newer models, however, identify conditions under which it is often advantageous to also vary offspring size. Ants are ideal for testing these competing ideas because colonies are plentiful and produce many offspring per year (i.e., patterns are readily identifiable). The results, however, will be relevant across all species, and a greater understanding of parental behavior will provide insight into the growth and regulation of species populations.

本项目的重点是父母的投资策略的理论，预测不同模式的大小分布在后代。 这一为期一年的概念验证资助将研究蚂蚁自然种群中雄性和雌性大小的差异。 这项工作将包括：（1）从Sierra内华达州水产研究实验室周围地区和Santa Monica山脉的Stunt Ranch收集标本;（2）对标本进行形态测量;（3）对数据进行复杂的统计分析以发现模式。后代的数量（就总数而言）与质量（就后代的个体大小而言）。 较早的理论模型预测，大小不应该变化。 父母应该让所有的后代大致相同的大小。 然而，较新的模型，确定的条件下，它往往是有利的，也改变后代的大小。 蚂蚁是测试这些竞争想法的理想选择，因为蚁群数量丰富，每年产生许多后代（即，图案是容易识别的）。 然而，研究结果将与所有物种相关，对父母行为的更深入了解将为物种种群的增长和调节提供洞察力。