CRU-I: Exploring the Ecology of Flash Communication in Photinus Fireflies Through Collaborative Undergraduate Research with Computer-Simulated Signaling Behavior.

菲奇堡州立学院正在申请合作研究项目的资金，以1）探索Photinus萤火虫的雄性求偶行为如何受到同种和异种Photinus萤火虫行为的影响，以及这种行为如何影响潜在的捕食性Photuris萤火虫，田鼠和蝙蝠，2）开发新的方法来调查生物体之间的通信和3）提供跨学科的研究机会，生物学和计算机科学的学生在菲奇堡州立学院。 这些成果共同代表了更广泛的需要，以培养能够批判性地思考实验设计和实施并应用最新技术解决科学问题的学生。这项建议提供了一个工具，让这些学生接触到科学研究和研究生学习的潜力，作为科学领域任何职业的一个组成部分：通过为我们的本科生提供有偿研究机会，我们将提高我们的能力，为这些学生在生物学方面的高级学习做好准备。 让学生接触研究方法，包括假设的发展和测试。 他们将有机会公布结果，并在全国会议上与其他人讨论他们的工作。 为学生在计算机科学的职业生涯做好准备，让他们在开发项目的各个阶段从概念到部署的经验。 生物系统中的求偶交流是行为生态学中一个快速发展的领域。 虽然技术越来越允许我们窃听这些通信系统，模拟信号，并确定行为结果，但这种方法主要关注接收器响应信号变化的行为。 当我们试图监视信号发送者如何修改信号以响应接收者的行为时，涉及到额外的复杂性。 为了将这种增加的复杂性纳入我们的实验设计中，我们必须模拟和操纵接收器对信号的响应。 这需要开发基于微计算机的仪器，能够检测和分析信号并输出模拟的行为反应。 这种类型的系统还可以让我们测试信号发送者和接收者之间的相互作用如何影响观察这种通信的同种和异种生物的行为。 进行这种类型的研究需要生物学家之间的合作，生物学家可以提供对通信系统元素的理解，计算机科学家能够设计适当的基于微型计算机的仪器。 我们提出的Photinus萤火虫实验需要基于微型计算机的仪器，可以执行行为数据的实时集成，以产生模拟行为并测量随后的行为活动。 开发这些工具需要具有感兴趣的行为库知识的生物学家和具有开发适当工具能力的计算机科学家之间的密切合作。 这项合作的目标是：1）开发模仿雄性和雌性萤火虫之间交流的系统; 2）改进这些系统，以更接近地模拟闪光交流的动态性质; 3）整合来自其他生物的行为数据，以产生响应。

Fitchburg State College is requesting funding for collaborative research project in order to 1) explore how male courtship behavior in Photinus fireflies is influenced by the behavior of conspecific and heterospecific Photinus fireflies as well as how this behavior influences potentially predatory Photuris fireflies, field mice and bats, 2) to develop new methods for investigating communication between organisms and 3) to provide interdisciplinary research opportunities for students of Biology and Computer Science at Fitchburg State College. Together these outcomes represent the broader need to prepare students who can think critically about experimental design and implementation and apply the latest technology to solving scientific problems. This proposal provides a vehicle to expose these students to the potential for scientific research and graduate study as an integral part of any career in the sciences by: By providing paid research opportunities for our undergraduates we will increase our ability to prepare these students for advanced study in Biology. Exposing students to research methods including the development and testing of hypotheses. They will have the opportunity to publish results and discuss their work with others at a national conference. Preparing students for careers in computer science by giving them experience in all phases of a development project from concept to deployment. Courtship communication in biological systems represents a rapidly growing field within behavioral ecology. While technology increasingly allows us to eavesdrop on these communication systems, simulate signals, and identify behavioral outcomes, this approach focuses predominantly on the behavior of the receiver in response to signal variation. An added level of complexity is involved when we attempt to monitor how the signaler may modify the signal in response to the behavior of the receiver. In order to incorporate this added complexity into our experimental designs we must simulate and manipulate the receiver's response to the signal. This requires developing microcomputer-based instruments capable of detecting and analyzing signals and outputting simulated behavioral responses. This type of system can also allow us to test how the interaction between signalers and receivers influences the behavior of conspecific and heterospecific organisms that are observing this communication. Conducting this type of research requires collaboration between Biologists who can provide an understanding of the elements of the communication system and Computer Scientists capable of designing appropriate microcomputer-based instruments. The experiments we are proposing with Photinus fireflies require microcomputer-based instruments that can perform real-time integration of behavioral data in order to produce simulated behaviors and to measure subsequent behavioral activity. Developing these instruments requires close collaboration between Biologists with knowledge of the behavioral repertoires of interest and Computer Scientists with the capability to develop appropriate tools. The objectives of this collaboration are to 1) develop systems that mimic communication between male and female fireflies, 2) refine these systems to more closely simulate the dynamic nature of flash communication, and 3) integrate behavioral data from other organisms to produce responses.