Collaborative Research: Life history, kinship and the evolution of alternative female reproductive strategies

许多动物中的雌性都追求一种非凡的繁殖行为——它们在种群中其他个体的巢穴中产卵，从而寄生于这些雌性的亲代照料。尽管它在鸟类中广泛存在（200种），但促进这种行为的因素仍然知之甚少。最近关于寄生虫和它们的宿主可能在基因上有关联的发现，也提出了一种有趣的可能性，即亲属关系在其中发挥了一些作用，模糊了进化寄生和合作之间的区别。本项目对该育种系统进行了最全面的分析之一，重点关注木鸭（Aix sponsa），这是一个管理关注的物种，作为一个模型系统。该研究采用人口范围内的DNA基因分型，详细的观察和实验现场研究，以及RFID（无线射频识别）技术来跟踪所有繁殖雌性的所有筑巢行为和社会互动。这些数据可以对寄生虫繁殖行为的许多但很少经过测试的假设进行全面测试。RFID标签的新应用，所有的个体都将被标记，所有的巢箱都安装了读取器，代表了一项技术的首次广泛使用，这可能会彻底改变动物社会系统和野外人口统计学的研究。该项目提供了一个持续的本科培训计划，每年将吸引20-30名学生实习生进行他们的第一次研究经验。我们还与加州水禽协会建立了合作伙伴关系，通过“木鸭奇迹”和“青年领导力”项目，为K-12学校团体提供实践教育。这些项目将把城市学校团体带到研究地点，直接参与科学研究。在这些项目中，超过50%的学生是Title 1低收入家庭。这个项目为年轻人提供了巨大的潜力，他们很少有机会了解科学、自然世界和自己的潜力。

Females in a wide variety of animals pursue a remarkable reproductive behavior - they lay eggs in the nests of other individuals in the population and thereby parasitize the parental care of those females. Despite its widespread occurrence in birds ( 200 species), the factors that promote this behavior remain poorly understood. The recent discovery that parasites and their hosts may be genetically related also raises the intriguing possibility that kinship plays some role, blurring the distinction between evolutionary parasitism and cooperation. This project undertakes one of the most comprehensive analyses of this breeding system ever done, focusing on the wood duck (Aix sponsa), a species of management concern, as a model system. The study employs population-wide DNA genotyping, detailed observational and experimental field studies, and RFID (radio frequency identification) technology to follow all nesting behaviors and social interactions among all breeding females. These data enable comprehensive tests of numerous but rarely tested hypotheses for parasitic reproductive behavior. The novel application of RFID tagging, where all individuals will be tagged and all nestboxes installed with readers, represents the first population-wide use of a technology that could revolutionize studies of animal social systems and demography in the wild. The project provides a continuing undergraduate training program, which will engage 20-30 student interns each year in their first research experience. A collaborative partnership has also been formed with the California Waterfowl Association to provide hands-on education for K-12 school groups through the "Wood Duck Wonders" and "Youth Leadership" programs. These programs will bring urban school groups to the study site to participate directly in scientific research. Over 50% of the students in these programs are Title 1 low-income status. This project offers a huge potential to engage young people who have fewer opportunities to learn about science, the natural world and their own potential.