DISSERTATION RESEARCH: How do a signal and whole-organism performance interact to determine reproductive success?

论文研究：信号和整个生物体的表现如何相互作用来决定繁殖成功？

• 批准号: 1011246
• 负责人: Duncan Irschick
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-06-15 至 2012-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1011246&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; How; do; signal

Animals use certain traits or behaviors to signal to one another. Such signaling may be used to advertise specific qualities of the signaler and may impact the reproductive success of the individual. Though much research has focused on this relationship, the causal links between the signal and an animal's fitness (i.e., survival and reproduction) are unclear. This project will address this gap by studying a signal that advertises a functional trait. Functional traits are the combined output of different systems in an individual and can be the targets of selection. The goal of this research is to determine how signals and functional traits interact to determine fitness. Green anole lizards are well-suited to explore these relationships. The size of the extendable throat-fan, or dewlap, is related to the ability of a male to bite hard. Males that bite hard tend to win aggressive encounters with males that bite with less force. Experimental manipulations of dewlap size, combined with behavioral observations and genetic tests of reproductive success, will be used to determine how a signal and its correlated function influence male reproductive success. This area is relatively unexplored and has implications for theoretical work on animal signaling and sexual selection. Anole lizards are well-known by many and serve as model organisms for studies of behavior, ecology and evolution. Hence, they are ideal organisms to teach students of biology about animal communication and sexual selection. This study will involve undergraduates and outreach to the general public.

动物使用某些特征或行为来向彼此发出信号。此类信号可用于宣传信号发送者的特定品质，并可影响个体的繁殖成功。尽管许多研究都集中在这种关系上，但信号与动物健康（即生存和繁殖）之间的因果关系尚不清楚。该项目将通过研究宣传功能特征的信号来解决这一差距。功能性状是个体不同系统的综合输出，可以作为选择的目标。这项研究的目标是确定信号和功能特征如何相互作用以确定健康状况。绿变色龙非常适合探索这些关系。可伸展的喉扇或垂肉的大小与雄性咬合力有关。咬合力强的雄性往往会在与咬合力较小的雄性的攻击性遭遇中获胜。对赘肉大小的实验操作，结合行为观察和生殖成功的基因测试，将用于确定信号及其相关功能如何影响男性生殖成功。该领域相对未经探索，对动物信号和性选择的理论工作具有影响。安乐蜥蜴众所周知，是行为、生态和进化研究的模式生物。 因此，它们是向生物学学生教授动物交流和性选择的理想生物体。 这项研究将涉及本科生和公众。