Research Starter Grant

许多物种的雄性会进行壮观的求偶表演来吸引雌性交配。雌性可能更喜欢有精心展示的雄性，因为这些展示可以作为信号，传达有关雄性作为配偶的“质量”的信息。雄性会发出这些信号，但这些信号必须通过环境才能传递给雌性。环境会影响信号在传输过程中：例如，声音在某些环境中比其他环境传播得更好，环境光会影响颜色的显示。因此，到达雌性的信号既取决于雄性发出的信号，也取决于信号传播的环境。这可能会选择男性选择具有良好传输特性（例如良好的照明或良好的声学）的显示位置，以增加其显示的吸引力。在这项研究项目中，大鼠尾草松鸡（Centrocercus urophasianus）将被用作一个模型系统，以研究声学环境的重要性，在影响男性的显示行为和男性成功地说服女性交配。在繁殖季节，雄性鼠尾草松鸡聚集在被称为“leks”的展示场地上，并竞争建立展示领土。在它们的领地上，雄性会发出壮观的声音，雌性在选择配偶时会进行评估。男性显示领土的“声学质量”是可变的整个列克，这种变化会影响音调和音量的女性感知到的发声;出于这个原因，声学质量的领土可能会影响交配成功的居民男性。声学定位系统（ALS）将被用来创建男性领土的详细地图和最喜欢的显示网站的位置。ALS是一种将声音记录在多个麦克风上的技术，并且声音到达每个麦克风的时间差用于重建声源的位置。该ALS数据将与雄性交配成功率和雄性展示场所的声学质量的测量相结合，以测试两个假设：1）领土的声学质量影响居民男性的吸引力，2）在他们的领土内，雄性会优先选择在信号传输更好的地方展示。这个项目的结果将有助于我们了解环境如何影响动物的声音交流和求偶。该项目将涉及研究声学通信和领土行为的方法的开发和改进，这些方法可供许多其他研究人员使用。在此过程中，本研究将为加州大学戴维斯分校的本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员提供研究和培训机会。最后，大鼠尾草松鸡被联邦政府认定为“关注物种”，鼠尾草松鸡栖息地的丧失和人类产生的噪音的增加可能是它们数量下降的原因。这项工作的结果将增加我们的理解如何不同的栖息地特性影响繁殖在鼠尾草松鸡，这些信息将告知未来的决定栖息地的适合鼠尾草松鸡。此外，该项目的结果将增加我们对声音如何通过圣松鸡栖息地传播的理解，并将为关于人类产生的噪音如何影响声学通信和繁殖的辩论提供信息。

Males of many species produce spectacular courtship displays to attract females to mate. Females may prefer males with elaborate displays because these displays act as signals, conveying information about the male's "quality" as a mate. Males produce these signals, but the signals must transmit through the environment to reach the female. The environment can affect signals during transmission: for example, sound carries better in some environments than others and ambient light can affect how colors appear. Therefore, the signal that reaches the female depends both on what is sent by the male and the environment through which it is transmitted. This may select for males that choose display locations with good transmission properties (e.g. good lighting or good acoustics) to increase the attractiveness of their display. In this research project, greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) will be used as a model system to examine the importance of the acoustic environment in influencing both male display behaviors and male success in convincing females to mate. During the breeding season, male sage grouse aggregate on display grounds called "leks" and compete to establish display territories. On their territories, males produce spectacular vocalizations, which females assess when choosing their mates. The "acoustic quality" of male display territories is variable across the lek, and this variation will impact the pitch and loudness of vocalizations perceived by females; for this reason, the acoustic quality of a territory may affect the mating success of the resident male. An Acoustic Localization System (ALS) will be used to create detailed maps of male territories and the locations of favored display sites. ALS is a technique whereby a sound is recorded on multiple microphones, and the difference in the time at which the sound reaches each microphone is used to reconstruct the location of sound source. This ALS data will be combined with measurements of male mating success and the acoustic quality of male display sites to test two hypotheses: 1) that the acoustic quality of a territory impacts the attractiveness of the resident male, and 2) that within their territories, males preferentially display from locations that improve signal transmission.The results of this project will contribute to our understanding of how the environment affects acoustic communication and courtship in animals. This project will involve the development and refinement of methods for studying acoustic communication and territorial behaviors that can be used by many other researchers. In the process, this research will provide research and training opportunities to undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at the University of California, Davis. Finally, greater sage grouse are federally recognized as a "species of concern", and both the loss of sage-grouse habitat and the increase in human-produced noise are likely causes of their declining numbers. Results from this work will increase our understanding of how different habitat characteristics affect reproduction in sage grouse; this information will inform future decisions about the suitability of habitat for sage grouse. In addition, results from this project will increase our understanding of how sound propagates through the sage-grouse habitat, and will inform the debate on how human-produced noise impacts acoustic communication and reproduction on the lek.