RAPID: Effects of increased human presence on the brain and behavior of a wild songbird

人类通过修建道路和建筑物等基础设施来改变环境，也通过我们在荒地上的娱乐活动来改变环境。虽然有些物种被人类对环境的影响所排斥，但许多野生动物物种很容易改变它们的行为来应对城市化等变化。研究允许某些物种适应环境变化的神经和生理机制，解决了行为灵活性如何实现的基本科学问题。此外，了解物种如何适应环境变化的不同方面可以为保护和管理工作提供信息。拟议的工作将利用弗吉尼亚州蒙哥马利县公园中人类娱乐活动的增加，这是由COVID-19隔离所推动的，既比较了人类存在相对于建筑环境的影响，又确定了调节普通鸣禽（歌雀）对环境变化的行为调整的大脑机制。通过与当地土地信托基金合作，向社区宣传我们的研究，这项工作将使使用公园的观鸟者和步行者受益，并为野生鸣禽的保护提供见解。人类引起的快速环境变化对生物多样性，尤其是鸣禽构成了威胁。虽然由于城市化等影响，一些物种正在减少，但其他物种的特征使它们能够应对不断变化的环境。面对快速的环境变化，行为可塑性对于物种和个体的持久性至关重要，但我们尚未完全了解这种灵活性背后的机制。此外，尽管区分不同类型的人为变化的影响对保护至关重要，但我们不了解它们对野生动物的影响。拟议的工作利用了2019冠状病毒病大流行期间农村环境中户外娱乐活动的暂时增加，以确定人类存在的增加如何影响自由生活的歌麻雀（Melospiza melodia）的行为和潜在的大脑机制。我们对人为变化对野生动物的影响的了解大部分来自城市化的研究。生活在城市栖息地的野生动物比农村的野生动物更具攻击性，但调节这些差异的机制尚不清楚。我们的研究小组证明，长期生活在我们的城市研究地点的雄性歌雀的领土侵略行为的增加与精氨酸血管催产素（AVT）系统功能的差异有关。因此，为了表征AVT系统在应对人为变化时对行为可塑性的贡献，我们将比较生活在复制的城市栖息地、人类存在较少的农村栖息地和人类存在暂时增加的农村栖息地的成年鸟（Aim 1）和孵化期鸟（Aim 2）的大脑和行为测量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Humans alter the environment by building infrastructure, such as roads and buildings, and also through our presence in wildlands for recreation. Though some species are excluded by human impacts on the environment, many species of wildlife readily modify their behavior to cope with changes such as urbanization. Studying the neural and physiological mechanisms that permit some species to adjust to environmental change addresses the fundamental scientific question of how behavioral flexibility is achieved. Additionally, understanding how species adjust to different aspects of environmental change can inform conservation and management efforts. The proposed work will take advantage of an increase in human recreation in parks in Montgomery County, VA that has been driven by the COVID-19 quarantine to both compare the effects of human presence relative to those of the built environment, and identify brain mechanisms that regulate behavioral adjustments to environmental change in a common song bird, the song sparrow. By working with a local land trust to educate the community about our research this work will benefit the birders and walkers using the park, as well as provide insight into the conservation of wild songbirds.Human-induced rapid environmental change is a threat to biodiversity and especially songbirds. While some species are in decline because of impacts such as urbanization, others have traits that allow them to cope with changing conditions. Behavioral plasticity is critical for the persistence of species and individuals in the face of rapid environmental change, yet we do not fully understand the mechanisms underlying such flexibility. Moreover, though distinguishing the effects of different types of anthropogenic change is critical for conservation, we do not understand their consequences for wildlife. The proposed work capitalizes on a temporary increase in outdoor recreation in rural environments during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine how increased human presence impacts the behavior and underlying brain mechanisms in free-living song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Much of what we know about the effects of anthropogenic change on wildlife comes from studies of urbanization. Wild animals living in urban habitats are more aggressive than rural counterparts but the mechanisms regulating these differences remain unclear. Our research group demonstrated that increased territorial aggression in male song sparrows living at our long-term urban study sites is associated with differences in the function of the arginine vasotocin (AVT) system. Therefore, to characterize the contribution of the AVT system to behavioral plasticity in response to anthropogenic change we will compare brain and behavioral measures from adult birds (Aim 1) and hatch-year birds (Aim 2) living in replicate urban habitats, rural habitats with low human presence, and rural habitats with temporary increases in human presence.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.