Collaborative Research: RUI: Evolvability of Social Networks

合作研究：RUI：社交网络的进化性

• 批准号: 1355003
• 负责人: Edmund Brodie
• 金额: $ 54.5万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-02-15 至 2019-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1355003&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RUI; Evolvability; Social

Social organisms, including humans, organize themselves in social networks that dramatically affect disease transmission, access to resources and information, and ultimately biological fitness. Whether properties of social networks are determined by individual characteristics alone, or are emergent features of interacting groups is not clear. The answer to this question informs one of the most contentious issues in biology, does selection act on individuals or on groups and how does the response drive the evolution of social behavior? The proposed work uses remote video sensing technology to monitor multiple populations of forked fungus beetles under natural conditions and combines these behavioral data with molecular genetic analyses of relatedness and pedigree reconstruction. Together, these data will be used to determine whether and at what level genetic variation exists for social network properties. The results of the proposed work have the potential to redirect the focus of behavioral ecologists from individuals to interacting groups, or alternatively to show that what seem to be emergent phenotypes are simply explained through individual differences. The behavioral data archive will be cross-referenced with genotypes and pedigrees, representing a significant infrastructure contribution for future studies of behavior genetics, remote sensing methodologies, and image analysis development. Fieldwork will be conducted at the Mountain Lake Biological Station and allows collaboration with the highly successful MLBS-REU program to provide training opportunities for new scientists from diverse backgrounds. The work also provides training and mentorship opportunities for technicians, graduate students, and additional undergraduates from both PIs institutions. Data from the research phase will be used as the core scaffold for newly developed courses at a RUI institution, and outreach activities will connect the field station community and the Science for Kids program in urban Philadelphia each year.

包括人类在内的社会有机体在社会网络中组织起来，极大地影响了疾病的传播、资源和信息的获取，并最终影响了生物适应性。目前尚不清楚社交网络的属性是由个人特征单独决定，还是由相互作用的群体的新兴特征决定。这个问题的答案揭示了生物学中最具争议性的问题之一，选择是对个人还是对群体起作用，以及这种反应如何推动社会行为的演变？这项拟议的工作使用遥感视频传感技术在自然条件下监测分叉真菌甲虫的多个种群，并将这些行为数据与亲缘关系的分子遗传分析和系谱重建相结合。总而言之，这些数据将被用来确定社交网络属性是否存在遗传变异，以及存在何种水平的遗传变异。这项拟议工作的结果有可能将行为生态学家的重点从个人转向相互作用的群体，或者表明似乎出现的表型只是通过个体差异来解释的。行为数据档案将与基因类型和家系相互参照，代表着对未来行为遗传学、遥感方法学和图像分析开发研究的重大基础设施贡献。野外工作将在山湖生物站进行，并允许与非常成功的MLBS-REU计划合作，为来自不同背景的新科学家提供培训机会。这项工作还为技术人员、研究生和两个PIS机构的其他本科生提供培训和指导机会。研究阶段的数据将被用作RUI机构新开发课程的核心框架，外展活动将每年将外勤站社区与费城市区的儿童科学计划联系起来。