Collaborative Research: Toward a Spatially-Explicit Theory of Thermoregulatory Behavior

大量证据表明，许多动物都有体温调节行为，但只有一种模型可以解释为什么有些动物调节得很精确，而另一些动物调节得很差。这种简单的成本-收益热调节模型似乎不能解释在生物体中观察到的热调节策略的多样性。很可能，这个模型失败了，因为它没有明确地说明环境的空间结构。研究人员将结合实验和理论工作来证明空间结构对体温调节的适应性成本有重要影响。他们将独立操纵环境温度和环境补丁，以测试对室外围栏温度调节的预测。栅栏蜥蜴（Sceloporus undulatus）会根据环境温度的统计分布和空间分布来调节体温。该实验将为温度调节的成本效益模型提供最有力的实验测试之一。研究人员还将开发一个空间明确的温度调节模型，使研究人员能够预测自然环境中的行为，在自然环境中，捕食者、竞争对手和猎物随着热资源的变化而变化。该模型将由计算机模拟组成，以探索在特定环境中进化的热偏好和运动模式。研究人员最终将能够使用人工神经网络生成的自然环境热图来应用他们的模型。该项目将为当前的温度调节理论提供一个大大改进的测试，并通过明确地包括空间结构引起的温度调节成本来扩展理论。这一新理论将使研究人员能够预测复杂环境中的行为策略，包括空间结构和生物相互作用。该项目还将为印第安纳州立大学、南伊利诺伊大学以及其他大学的研究和教育任务做出重大贡献。首先，该项目将支持在本科和研究生两级培训代表性不足群体的学生。第二，该项目将增加高中教师的教育和外联机会。第三，该项目将促进生理和行为生态学计算机建模的跨机构研讨会，这将为研究生和教师之间的互动提供正式的机会。

A wealth of evidence suggests many animals behaviorally thermoregulate, but only one model exists to explain why some animals regulate precisely and other do so poorly. This simple cost-benefit model of thermoregulation does not seem to account for the diversity of thermoregulatory strategies observed among organisms. Likely, this model fails because it does not explicitly account for the spatial structure of the environment. The investigators will combine experimental and theoretical work to show that spatial structure has important consequences for the fitness cost of thermoregulation. They will independently manipulate environmental temperatures and environmental patchiness to test predictions about thermoregulation in outdoor enclosures. Fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) are expected to adjust their body temperatures according to both the statistical and the spatial distributions of environmental temperatures. This experiment will provide one of the strongest experimental tests of the cost-benefit model of thermoregulation. The investigators will also develop a spatially-explicit model of thermoregulation that enables researchers to predict behavior in natural environments, where predators, competitors and prey covary with thermal resources. The model will consist of computer simulations to explore both the thermal preferences and the movement patterns that evolve in particular environments. The researchers will ultimately be able to apply their model using thermal maps of natural environments, produced by artificial neural networks. The project will provide a vastly improved test of the current theory of thermoregulation, and expand theory by explicitly including costs of thermoregulation that arise from spatial structure. The new theory will enable researchers to predict behavioral strategies in complex environments, which include spatial structure and biotic interactions. The project will also make significant contributions to the missions of research and education at Indiana State University, Southern Illinois University, and beyond. First, the project will support the training of students who are members of under-represented groups at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Second, the project will enhance education and outreach opportunities for high school teachers. Third, the project will foster cross-institutional workshops on computer modeling of physiological and behavioral ecology, which will provide formal opportunities for interaction among graduate students and faculty.