LTREB Renewal: Evolutionary Ecology of Seabird Reproductive Life Histories

该项目延续了对长寿海鸟的30年研究，重点是衰老的原因和后果。在加拉帕戈斯群岛，纳斯卡鲣鸟活到25岁左右，比同样大小的哺乳动物要长得多，这种长寿的原因和鸟类在老年的表现特别有趣。 成千上万的亲子关系是通过该项目的长期历史，将永久编号的腿带放在雏鸟身上，其父母也通过腿带识别。在接下来的五年里，研究人员将利用这些家庭关系来估计衰老的遗传基础。通过将数千只动物的完整生殖生活史与跨越5代的社会谱系和完整的遗传谱系相结合，研究小组将量化生殖史和基因型在衰老衰退中的作用。他们将继续研究早期生活经历对成年人行为的影响，包括人类“暴力循环”的唯一已知模拟，将年轻时的虐待与自然人群中的虐待行为联系起来。 该项目的成果为厄瓜多尔和秘鲁政府提供了仅有的人口数据，这两个国家都是《养护信天翁和海燕协定》的签署国;这些数据有助于这两个国家制定海鸟生物学政策。该研究小组在收集保护濒危和受威胁信天翁物种所需的生态数据方面发挥了关键作用，包括加拉帕戈斯鲣鸟物种。本项目将继续提供这些数据。计划提出推广到当地的高中，直接解决国家教育标准的理解如何环境，和等位基因的相互作用，影响遗传性状的表达。 讲习班将在两所高中举行，时间安排与相关的课堂材料一致。 首席研究员将培训大约12名维克森林大学的本科生来举办这些讲习班，将本科生带到K-12教室环境和那里的职业机会。 每年有500多名高中生从这些小组讲习班中受益。

This project continues a 30-year study of long-lived seabirds, focusing on the causes and consequences of aging. On the Galapagos Islands, Nazca boobies live into their mid-20s, much longer than similarly-sized mammals do, and the reasons for this extended lifespan and the birds' performance in old age are of special interest. Thousands of parent-offspring relationships are known through the project's long history of placing permanent numbered leg bands on nestlings whose parents are also identified by leg bands. Over the next five years, the investigators will use these family relationships to estimate the genetic basis of aging. By combining the complete reproductive life histories of thousands of animals with social pedigrees spanning 5 generations and complete genetic pedigrees, the research team will quantify the roles of reproductive history and genotype in senescent decline. They will continue research on the effects of early life experiences on adult behavior, including the only known analog of the human "cycle of violence," connecting abuse when young to perpetration of abuse later, in a natural population. Results from this project provide the only demographic data available to the governments of Ecuador and Peru, both signatories to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels; they are instrumental in the design of policy on seabird biology in both countries. The research team has played a pivotal role in collecting the ecological data needed for conserving endangered and threatened albatross species, including Galapagos booby species. The current project will continue to deliver these data. Plans are presented for outreach to local high schools that directly addresses state education standards on understanding how the environment, and the interaction of alleles, influences the expression of genetic traits. Workshops will be conducted in two high schools and timed to coincide with related classroom material. The lead investigator will train approximately 12 Wake Forest University undergraduates to conduct these workshops, bringing the undergraduates to the K-12 classroom environment and career possibilities there. Over 500 high school students benefit annually from these small-group workshops.