COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Evolution of Cooperation in Social Woodpeckers

该项目的目标是使用橡子啄木鸟（Melanerpes formicivorus）作为模型物种来了解复杂的社会进化的演变，橡子啄木鸟是美国西南部常见的一种高度社会性的鸟类。橡子啄木鸟生活在最多 15 只个体的家庭群体中，其中包括“帮手”（留在出生群体中的幼鸟，帮助抚养弟弟妹妹）和多个雌雄繁殖者，这是一种在几种灵长类动物中发现的罕见的交配系统，称为一夫多妻制。研究人员将把尖端追踪技术与长期人口统计数据、实验研究和基因分析结合起来，以了解为什么帮手们会牺牲繁殖来养活不属于自己的孩子，以及为什么帮手们在帮助父母抚养其他兄弟姐妹的意愿上差异如此之大。该项目将涉及培训一名博士后助理、一名博士。学生，以及 36 - 60 名本科生和应届研究生，他们将参与现场和实验室方面的研究。主要研究人员将通过出版物、康奈尔鸟类学实验室的外展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）助鸟本身的供养行为，而不是与助鸟在其领地内从事的供养无关的其他行为，在多大程度上对留在出生群体中的助鸟获得的间接健康益处负责； (2) 助人行为的个体差异是否是由于助人者离开其出生地的时间长短或在其出生地期间的供给努力的差异所致； （3）直接适应度收益（例如通过帮助或“付费留下来”获得的经验）在供应行为演变中发挥的作用。这些目标将通过以下方式实现：(i) 结合对色带种群 40 多年的连续监测，其中亲子关系是通过基因分配的； (ii) 对供应行为进行行为观察； (iii) 部署太阳能“纳米标签”，使研究人员能够持续监测人群中个体的位置。该项目将理清帮助者提供供给行为的健身效益和驱动因素，从而为这种假定的利他行为的演变提供新的理解。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通过为 LTER 计划（当它扩展到包括其他长期项目时）设计的网络信息系统 (NIS) 进行存档，或者作为由 NSF 生物基础设施部门资助的 iPlant 数据存储内的集合进行存档。

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.