Collaborative Research: Allometry of Behavior in Spatially Patterned Resource Landscapes

合作研究：空间格局资源景观中行为的异速生长

• 批准号: 1656527
• 负责人: Robert Pringle
• 金额: $ 55万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1656527&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Allometry; Behavior; Spatially

In natural ecosystems, resources are not uniformly available across space and time. Consequently, animals must adjust their behavior in response to changing environmental conditions to maximize survival and reproductive success. Theory holds that the ability to make such adjustments should be constrained by body size, because fundamental traits such as energy requirements are strongly influenced by size. Nevertheless, how body size limits animals' ability to respond to environmental variation remains poorly understood. This research will improve understanding of (a) how body size limits the range of behaviors available to animals for coping with environmental change or variation, and (b) how the distribution of resources such as food, concealment cover from predators, and favorable microclimates interacts with behavior to determine the success of individuals and populations that differ in body size. The project is based in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, which was devastated during civil war (1977-1992) and is being rehabilitated with assistance from USAID and other agencies, in light of recognition that stability in eastern Africa and cessation of the illegal ivory trade are vital to U.S. interests. Beyond this specific ecosystem, the study will yield generalizable insights that can inform the management and conservation of North American species with high recreational and economic value (e.g., deer, elk, and moose) that also span a range of body sizes. Finally, the project facilitates STEM training and education for U.S. students alongside Mozambican students in an international setting, which will contribute to the development of a diverse and globally engaged STEM workforce.Behavioral plasticity is constrained by morphology and physiology; because these often scale allometrically with body size, so should behavior. Indeed, the allometry of behavior is predicted to emerge from the interaction of (a) size-varying traits that influence animal performance (e.g., energy requirements), and (b) biotic and abiotic habitat attributes, such as the distribution of resources and microclimates. This project integrates observational, experimental, molecular, and modeling approaches to shed new light on the mechanisms that underpin animal behavior and population dynamics in an African savanna ecosystem that is both spatially and seasonally heterogeneous. The study system (Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique) is characterized by spatially patterned termite mounds that govern the distribution of vegetation, nutrients, and microclimates at broad spatial scales, and that are heavily used by three congeneric antelope species (bushbuck, nyala, and kudu, all Tragelaphus spp.) that vary five-fold in body size. This combination of factors presents an ideal opportunity to study the effects of body size and resource distribution on behavior and population dynamics. The unifying concepts of allometric scaling and resource heterogeneity mean that our insights will be generalizable and applicable across ecosystems, including to the management of North American wildlife populations. Broader impacts include development of an immersive, interdisciplinary field course offered to both U.S. and Mozambican students, broad public dissemination of research results via scientifically rigorous short films, and collaboration with park officials to develop effective wildlife-management policies.

在自然生态系统中，资源在空间和时间上并不均匀。因此，动物必须调整自己的行为，以应对不断变化的环境条件，以最大限度地提高生存和繁殖的成功率。理论认为，做出这种调整的能力应该受到身体大小的限制，因为基本特征，如能量需求，受到大小的强烈影响。然而，对于体型如何限制动物对环境变化的反应能力，人们仍然知之甚少。这项研究将提高对以下问题的理解：（a）体型如何限制动物应对环境变化或变异的行为范围;（B）资源的分布，如食物、躲避捕食者的隐蔽物和有利的小气候，如何与行为相互作用，以确定体型不同的个体和种群的成功。该项目设在莫桑比克戈龙戈萨国家公园，该公园在内战（1977-1992年）期间遭到破坏，目前正在美国国际开发署和其他机构的援助下进行修复，因为人们认识到东非的稳定和停止非法象牙贸易对美国的利益至关重要。除了这个特定的生态系统，这项研究还将产生可推广的见解，可以为具有高娱乐和经济价值的北美物种的管理和保护提供信息（例如，鹿、麋鹿和驼鹿），它们的体型也各不相同。最后，该项目促进了美国学生和莫桑比克学生在国际环境中的STEM培训和教育，这将有助于发展多元化和全球参与的STEM劳动力。行为可塑性受到形态和生理的限制;因为这些通常与身体大小异速生长，所以行为也应该如此。事实上，行为的异速生长被预测来自以下因素的相互作用：（a）影响动物表现的大小变化性状（例如，能量需求），和（B）生物和非生物生境属性，例如资源和小气候的分布。该项目整合了观察，实验，分子和建模方法，揭示了非洲稀树草原生态系统中动物行为和种群动态的机制，该生态系统在空间和季节上都是异质的。研究系统（戈龙戈萨国家公园，莫桑比克）的特点是空间图案的白蚁土丘，管理分布的植被，营养物质，和小气候在广泛的空间尺度，并大量使用的三个同类羚羊物种（羚羊，尼亚拉，和捻，所有Tragelaphus属）。它们的体型相差五倍这些因素的结合为研究体型和资源分布对行为和种群动态的影响提供了理想的机会。异速生长尺度和资源异质性的统一概念意味着我们的见解将是可推广的，适用于整个生态系统，包括北美野生动物种群的管理。更广泛的影响包括为美国和莫桑比克学生提供沉浸式的跨学科实地课程，通过科学严谨的短片广泛传播研究成果，以及与公园官员合作制定有效的野生动物管理政策。

项目成果

BoomBox: An Automated Behavioural Response (ABR) camera trap module for wildlife playback experiments

• DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13789
• 发表时间: 2022-01-07
• 期刊: METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
• 影响因子: 6.6
• 作者: Palmer, Meredith S.;Wang, Chris;Pringle, Robert M.
• 通讯作者: Pringle, Robert M.

Multiple dimensions of dietary diversity in large mammalian herbivores

• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13206
• 发表时间: 2020-06-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
• 影响因子: 4.8
• 作者: Kartzinel, Tyler R.;Pringle, Robert M.
• 通讯作者: Pringle, Robert M.

Dietary abundance distributions: Dominance and diversity in vertebrate diets

饮食丰度分布：脊椎动物饮食的优势和多样性

• DOI: 10.1111/ele.13948
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Ecology Letters
• 影响因子: 8.8
• 作者: Hutchinson, Matthew C.;Dobson, Andrew P.;Pringle, Robert M.;Chase, ed., Jonathan
• 通讯作者: Chase, ed., Jonathan

Trophic rewilding revives biotic resistance to shrub invasion

• DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-1068-y
• 发表时间: 2020-01-13
• 期刊: NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
• 影响因子: 16.8
• 作者: Guyton, Jennifer A.;Pansu, Johan;Pringle, Robert M.
• 通讯作者: Pringle, Robert M.

Covariation of diet and gut microbiome in African megafauna

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1905666116
• 发表时间: 2019-11-19
• 期刊: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• 影响因子: 11.1
• 作者: Kartzinel, Tyler R.;Hsing, Julianna C.;Pringle, Robert M.
• 通讯作者: Pringle, Robert M.