NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2013

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Using energetics to understand the organization of stable mixed-species societiesMixed-species animal societies are ubiquitous in many communities, and range from fluid groups to ecologically stable associations with high fidelity by individual group members. In some societies, certain species eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species, yet it is unclear what the overall costs and benefits are for each species and thus the nature of species interactions. In rainforests, mixed species bird groups take on the most extreme form of stability known, and attract other species on a facultative basis. The permanence of such stable animal societies sets the stage for the evolution of complex communication in which species eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species and where some species potentially deceive others with false alarm calls. This project uses measurements of metabolic costs of flock members in and out of flocks to evaluate alternative hypotheses of how alarm calling and non-alarm calling bird species benefit from these associations. Multi-species flocks are crucial to the high diversity of tropical bird communities and are vulnerable to habitat degradation. This project uses an integrative approach to ecology, incorporating physiology with behavior to evaluate the costs and benefits that drive the organization of stable mixed-species vertebrate societies. It will also broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in science through the extension of inquiry-based science initiatives with rural Peruvian students and teachers, training opportunities for undergraduates, and the continuation of an inquiry-based field research design course for undergraduates from Latin America.