COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Evolution of Cooperation in Social Woodpeckers

这个项目的目标是以橡子啄木鸟(Melanerpe Formicivorus)为模式物种，了解复杂的社会进化。橡子啄木鸟是美国西南部常见的一种高度社会化的鸟类。橡子啄木鸟生活在最多15个个体的家庭群体中，其中包括“帮手”--幼鸟留在他们出生的群体中，帮助抚养更年轻的兄弟姐妹--和多个性别的繁殖者，这种罕见的交配系统被称为一夫多妻制，在几个灵长类物种中发现。研究人员将把尖端跟踪技术与长期的人口统计数据、实验研究和基因分析相结合，以了解为什么帮助者牺牲生殖来喂养非自己的孩子，以及为什么帮助者在帮助父母抚养其他兄弟姐妹的意愿方面存在如此大的差异。该项目将包括培训一名博士后助理、一名博士生以及36-60名本科生和新近毕业的研究生，他们将参与研究的实地和实验室方面。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)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提供无关的行为，在多大程度上对留在其出生群体中的帮助者获得的间接健康益处负责；(2)帮助行为的个体差异是由于帮助者在离开其出生地的时间长短上的差异，还是由于其在当地的提供努力的差异；以及(3)直接健身福利在供应行为演变中的作用，例如通过帮助或“付费住宿”获得的经验。这些目标将通过(I)结合40多年来对遗传分配的色带种群的持续监测；(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个体在种群中的位置，从而实现这些目标。该项目将理清帮助者供应行为的健身益处和驱动因素，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通用的数据集将与为LTER计划设计的网络信息系统(NIS)一起存档(当它扩展到包括其他长期项目时)，或者作为由NSF生物基础设施部资助的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.