COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Evolution of Cooperation in Social Woodpeckers

这个项目的目标是了解复杂的社会进化的演变，作为一个模式物种，橡子啄木鸟（Melanerpes formicivorus），一种在美国西南部常见的高度社会性的鸟类。橡子啄木鸟生活在多达15个个体的家庭群体中，其中包含“帮手”的组合-年轻人留在他们的纳塔尔群体中并帮助抚养年幼的兄弟姐妹-以及多个繁殖者，这是一种罕见的交配系统，称为一夫多妻制，在几种灵长类动物中发现。研究人员将把联合收割机尖端跟踪技术与长期的人口统计数据、实验研究和遗传分析相结合，以了解为什么帮助者牺牲生殖来喂养不是自己的孩子，以及为什么帮助者在帮助父母抚养其他兄弟姐妹的意愿上差异如此之大。该项目将包括培训一名博士后助理，一名博士。学生，以及36 - 60名本科生和最近的研究生谁将参与该研究的领域和实验室方面。主要研究人员将通过出版物、康奈尔鸟类学实验室的外联活动和电视纪录片向公众传达他们的发现。该项目将特别侧重于确定：（1）帮助者本身的供应行为，而不是帮助者在其领土上从事的与供应无关的其他行为，对留在其纳塔尔群体中的帮手所获得的间接健身益处负责;（二）帮助行为的个体差异是否是由于帮助者离开其纳塔尔地的时间长短不同，或者是由于他们的供给努力不同，目前在领土上;和（3）的作用，直接健身的好处，如经验获得的帮助或“付费住宿”发挥的演变提供行为。这些目标将通过以下方式实现：（i）结合40多年来对色带种群的连续监测，其中父母的遗传分配;（ii）对供应行为进行行为观察;以及（iii）部署太阳能“纳米标签”，使研究人员能够持续监测种群中个体的位置。该项目将解开健身的好处和供应行为的驱动程序的助手，从而提供了一个新的理解这种纯粹的利他行为的演变。与特定出版物相关的数据将在Dryad中提供，而作为项目一部分获得的更一般的数据集将在为LTER计划设计的网络信息系统（NIS）中存档（当它扩展到包括其他长期项目时），或者作为由NSF生物结构部门资助的iPlant数据存储中的集合。

The goal of this project is to understand the evolution of complex social evolution using, as a model species, the acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), a highly social bird common in the southwestern United States. Acorn woodpeckers live in family groups of up to 15 individuals containing a combination of "helpers"--young that remain in their natal group and help raise younger siblings--and multiple breeders of both sexes, a rare mating system known as polygynandry found in several primate species. Researchers will combine cutting edge tracking technology with long-term demographic data, experimental studies, and genetic analyses to understand why helpers sacrifice reproduction to feed young that are not their own, and why helpers vary so much in their willingness to help their parents raise other siblings. The project will involve the training of a postdoctoral associate, a Ph.D. student, and 36 - 60 undergraduate and recent postgraduate students who will participate in the field and laboratory aspects of the study. The lead researchers will communicate their findings to the public through publications, outreach activities of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and television documentaries.The project will focus specifically on determining: (1) the extent to which provisioning behavior by helpers per se, rather than other behaviors unrelated to provisioning that helpers engage in on their territory, is responsible for the indirect fitness benefits gained by helpers that remain in their natal group; (2) whether individual variability in helping behavior is due to differences in the amount of time helpers spend away from their natal territory or differences in their provisioning effort while present at the territory; and (3) the role that direct fitness benefits such as experience gained by helping or "pay-to-stay" play in the evolution of provisioning behavior. These goals will be achieved by (i) combining over 40 years of continuous monitoring of a color-banded population in which parentage is assigned genetically; (ii) conducting behavioral watches of provisioning behavior; and (iii) deploying solar-powered "nanotags" that will allow researchers to continuously monitor the location of individuals in the population. The project will disentangle the fitness benefits and drivers of provisioning behavior by helpers, thus providing a new understanding of the evolution of this putatively altruistic behavior. Data associated with specific publications will be made available in Dryad, whereas the more general datasets acquired as part of the project will be archived either with the Network Information System (NIS) designed for the LTER program (when it is expanded to include other long-term projects) or, alternatively, as a collection within the iPlant Data Store funded by the NSF Division of Biological Infrastucture.