DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Why do dominant individuals cooperate? Fitness consequences of cooperative courtship in a system with variable cooperative partnerships

长期以来，人们对合作的理解一直很感兴趣，但这一领域的大多数研究都集中在为什么帮助者会帮助我们，因为对我们来说，帮助是一个悖论，因为帮助者似乎牺牲了自己的生殖机会，以增加他人的生殖成功率。 然而，同样重要的是要了解合作是否以及如何使这种帮助的接受者（占主导地位的个人）受益，因为合作是个人之间互动的结果，而这些个人可能有非常不同的参与理由。 本研究调查的原因和后果的合作占主导地位的男性，那些有选择合作或不合作。 利用新热带区鸟类白颈侏儒鸟群体内合作交配展示的变化，本项目解决了三个目标：（1）量化占主导地位的雄性的合作成本，（2）量化占主导地位的雄性的合作的生殖后果，（3）评估导致占主导地位的个体间接生殖效益的潜在机制。 这项研究将通过将传统的行为观察和实验的现场技术与现代遗传技术相结合来完成。 这项研究解决了合作展示行为的一个以前未被探索的方面，因此对合作的成本和收益的普遍理解做出了重大贡献。 研究活动包括高中生，本科生，应届毕业生和研究生的积极导师。 这项研究的实地部分是在哥斯达黎加的拉拉阿维斯保护区进行的，这是一个生态旅游机构，研究人员每天都与国际和美国游客接触，他们解释这项研究及其重要性。 了解侏儒鸟群体如何合作，有助于了解合作是如何进化的，并继续在其他动物群体和人类社会中发挥作用。

Understanding cooperation has long interested humans, but the majority of research in this field has focused on why helpers help, because to us helping is a paradox because helpers appear to be sacrificing their own reproductive opportunities to increase others' reproductive success. However, it is equally important to understand whether and how cooperation benefits the recipients of this help (dominant individuals), as cooperation results from the interaction of individuals that may have very different reasons for participating. This research investigates the causes and consequences of cooperation by dominant males, those that have an option to cooperate or not. Using variation in cooperative mating displays within a population of a neotropical bird, the White-ruffed Manakin, this project addresses three objectives: (1) quantify the costs of cooperation for dominant males, (2) quantify the reproductive consequences of cooperation for dominant males, and (3) evaluate potential mechanisms that result in indirect reproductive benefits for dominant individuals. The research will be completed by combining traditional field techniques of behavioral observations and experiments with modern genetic techniques. This research addresses a previously unexplored aspect of cooperative display behavior, and therefore represents a significant contribution to the general understanding of the costs and benefits of cooperation. The research activities include active mentorship of high school students, undergraduates, recent graduates, and graduate students. The field component of this research is conducted at Rara Avis Reserve in Costa Rica, an eco-tourism establishment that puts researchers in contact with international and US tourists on a daily basis where they explain this research and its importance. Understanding how manakin groups function cooperatively sheds light on how cooperation may have evolved and continues to function in other animal groups and in human societies.