Collaborative Research: Sexual Selection on Male Ornamental Traits in Birds

合作研究：雄性装饰物的性选择参考文献：Peter Dunn， Corey freeman - gallan雄性通常具有装饰性特征，如长尾巴和鲜艳的颜色，它们用来吸引配偶。这些装饰品可能受到女性选择或男性竞争的青睐。女性的选择可能会对不同的装饰品起作用，而不是男性之间的竞争，特别是当一些装饰品比其他装饰品更能揭示男性品质时。例如，在以类胡萝卜素（红色、黄色）和黑色素（黑色、棕色）为基础的装饰物中，雌性似乎经常把择偶的重点放在类胡萝卜素的装饰物上，这通常被认为是比带有黑色素的装饰物更好的雄性状况指标。令人惊讶的是，我们发现了两个一夫一妻制的鸟类种群——普通黄喉鸟，其中雄性繁殖的成功与一个种群（纽约）的类胡萝卜素装饰物（黄色围嘴）的大小和另一个种群（威斯康星州）的黑色素装饰物（黑色面膜）的大小有关。我们的研究将检验两个种群中每种羽毛装饰的性选择。本研究将通过鸟舍实验来确定哪些装饰物受到雌性选择和雄性竞争的青睐；2)确定种群间的差异是否由不同装饰物的不同选择机制引起。普通黄喉鸟是为数不多的几种物种之一，研究人员已经能够识别大多数幼鸟的种类，包括额外的幼鸟，因此，可以对雄性装饰物的全部选择力量进行估计。这个项目的一个更广泛的影响将是促进学生在合作研究方面的训练，这将使他们更好地了解科学是如何进行的。为了促进这种培训，pi每年将在他们的两个机构（一个是小型本科机构，另一个是大型研究生项目）之间交换学生，用于项目的实地和实验室组成部分。

Collaborative Research: Sexual Selection on Male OrnamentsPI: Peter Dunn, Corey Freeman-GallantMales often possess ornamental traits such as long tails and bright colors that they use to attract mates. These ornaments may be favored by female choice or male-male competition. Female choice is likely to act on different ornaments than male-male competition, particularly when some ornaments are more revealing of male quality than others. For example, in species with both carotenoid (red, yellow) and melanin (black, brown)-based ornaments, it appears that females often focus their mate choice on the carotenoid-based ornaments, which are generally considered to be better indicators of male condition than ornaments with melanin pigments. Surprisingly, we have discovered two populations of a monogamous bird, the common yellowthroat, in which male reproductive success is related to the size of a carotenoid-based ornament (yellow bib) in one population (New York) and a melanin-based ornament (black facial mask) in another population (Wisconsin). Our study will examine sexual selection on each plumage ornament in both populations.This study will 1) use aviary experiments to identify which ornaments are favored by female choice and male-male competition, and 2) determine if the differences between populations are caused by different mechanisms of selection operating on different ornaments. Common yellowthroats are one of only a handful of species in which researchers have been able to identify the sires of most young, including extra-pair young, and, as a consequence, make an estimate of the full force of selection on male ornaments. One of the broader impacts of this project will be to foster training of students in collaborative research, which will give them a better perspective on how science is conducted. To facilitate this training, the PIs will exchange students between their two institutions (one a small undergraduate institution, the other a large graduate program) each year for both the field and laboratory components of the project.