Hormonal Provisioning and Cross-Generational Influences in the Wood Duck

伍德鸭的荷尔蒙供给和跨代影响约翰·m·伊迪和妮可·苏珊娜·奥德尔。这项研究将研究除了基因遗传或亲代抚育的直接影响外，雌性如何改变后代的发育。核心问题是雌性木鸭（Aix sponsa）是否操纵其卵中的激素来影响其后代的发育速度、个性类型或成年生殖行为。对于那些表现出幼虫寄生的物种来说，这是一个有趣的问题，这种行为是两只或更多的雌性在同一个巢穴中产卵，但只有一只雌性孵蛋。在这些物种中，母体的激素可能对后代未来的繁殖行为产生深远的影响。为了评估这种可能性，本研究将：(1)检查单个雌性卵窝内和卵窝之间卵子激素的变化，(2)确定卵黄激素是否影响后代的发育或性格类型，以及(3)评估雌性生殖策略（宿主与寄生虫）是否反映激素水平并可从母亲转移到后代。从成年母鸭、蛋和雏鸭身上采集激素样本，对成年母鸭进行行为观察，监测其繁殖策略，对雏鸭从孵化到45日龄进行行为测试。这项研究的智力价值是双重的：(1)它将通过整合生理学和动物行为学这两个研究领域，为一个研究得很好的系统提供一个新的视角；(2)这将有助于建立一个框架，为未来的工作，可能转移到后代的母亲的特征。该研究的更广泛影响包括：(1)评估保护管理行动如何在生理水平上影响生物体；(2)开发实习机会，让来自不同领域和未被代表群体（如女性和少数民族）的本科生参与大型实地研究，获得动物行为研究的实践经验。

Hormonal Provisioning and Cross-Generational Influences in the Wood DuckJohn M. Eadie and Nicole Suzanne Odell. Proposal # IOS-0710455This study will examine how females may alter the development of their offspring other than by the direct effects of genetic inheritance or parental care. The central question is whether female Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) manipulate hormones in their eggs to influence the development rate, personality-type, or adult reproductive behavior of their offspring. This is an intriguing question for species exhibiting brood parasitism, a behavior in which two or more females lay eggs in the same nest but only one female incubates the eggs. In such species, maternal hormones could have a profound influence on their offspring's future reproductive behavior. To evaluate this possibility, this study will: (1) examine variation in egg hormones within and among clutches of individual females, (2) determine if yolk hormones influence the development or personality-type of offspring, and (3) evaluate whether female reproductive tactics (host versus parasite) reflect hormone levels and are transferable from mother to offspring. Hormone samples will be taken from adult females, eggs and ducklings, behavioral observations will be conducted on adult females to monitor their reproductive tactics, and behavioral tests will be completed on ducklings from hatch to 45 days of age. The intellectual merits of this study are twofold: (1) it will provide a fresh outlook on a well-studied system by integrating two fields of inquiry, physiology and animal behavior; and (2) it will help to develop a framework for future work on the possible transfer of maternal traits to offspring. The broader impacts of the study include: (1) an evaluation of how conservation management actions may impact organisms on a physiological level; and (2) the development of internship opportunities to allow undergraduates from different fields and unrepresented groups, such as women and minority groups, to participate in a large field study and gain hands-on experience in animal behavior research.