Balancing Social and Ecological Information to Collectively Manage Dynamic Environments

平衡社会和生态信息以共同管理动态环境

• 批准号: 2212640
• 负责人: Chelsea Cook
• 金额: $ 75.34万
• 依托单位: Marquette University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-01 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2212640&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Balancing; Social; Ecological; Information; Collectively

Animals, whether behaviorally or physiologically, manage daily and seasonal environmental fluctuations, such as temperature changes, by using receptors on their bodies. For social animals, individuals often work together in a group to manage these fluctuations much more effectively, such as through huddling, yet little is known about exactly how animals accomplish this. Honeybees, for example, are an excellent model system to study social temperature regulation because they engage in a cooling behavior called fanning, in which a group of bees fan their wings to circulate air in the colony. If they do not cool effectively, the colony can die. This project will identify the mechanisms that honeybees use to sense environmental fluctuations, how their brains change in response to this information, how they communicate this information to each other, and how entire colonies regulate temperature when information changes. Physiological and genetic testing techniques will be used to understand both individual and collective behavior, especially in changing environments. The project will engage the public 1) by developing a local prison beekeeping program to provide tangible workforce skills for inmates, 2) by working with the ROSE Project, which focuses on introducing underrepresented middle school students and parents to STEM research, 3) by presenting at local beekeeping and ecology meetings, and 4) by training and supporting undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scientists in these cutting-edge research and outreach techniques.Organisms must be able to behaviorally and physiologically manage daily and seasonal fluctuations in climate. Sensory reception and integration of information is critical to maintain homeostasis during typical thermal shifts across days or seasons. Collective behavioral responses to changing temperatures require effective reception and integration of both social and ecological information. Although we know why animals thermoregulate, it is less clear how animals integrate social information to be able to thermoregulate effectively. Honeybees must maintain 34°C in their colony, or risk death of their developing brood. In the summer, honeybees engage in a cooling behavior called fanning, in which they fan their wings to circulate air to cool the colony. Fanner honeybees utilize both information from their nestmates and information from their ecological environment to collectively thermoregulate. The fanning response shifts when the social and thermal information changes; however, the ways in which individuals or groups perceive, integrate, or communicate about these changes to behave collectively is unknown. This proposal will identify these mechanisms by addressing four aims: 1) Determine how the social interactions shape the fanning response; 2) Uncover the neural gene networks associated with the fanning response; 3) Define TRP channel involvement in the fanning response; and 4) Evaluate colony-level fanning response in a changing environment. This research will provide critical knowledge about how complex animal systems manage dynamic environments, identify gene and sensory pathways that mediate effective responses, and generate hypotheses about how animal groups may manage global climate change.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.

动物，无论是在行为上还是在生理上，都通过使用身体上的受体来管理日常和季节性的环境波动，例如温度变化。对于社会性动物来说，个体经常在一个群体中一起工作，以更有效地管理这些波动，例如通过蜷缩，但很少有人知道动物是如何做到这一点的。例如，蜜蜂是研究社会温度调节的一个很好的模型系统，因为它们从事一种称为扇风的冷却行为，即一群蜜蜂扇起翅膀，使殖民地中的空气流通。如果它们不能有效地冷却，殖民地就会死亡。该项目将确定蜜蜂用于感知环境波动的机制，它们的大脑如何响应这些信息，它们如何相互传达这些信息，以及当信息变化时整个蜂群如何调节温度。生理和基因测试技术将用于了解个人和集体行为，特别是在不断变化的环境中。该项目将通过以下方式吸引公众：1）制定当地监狱养蜂计划，为囚犯提供切实的劳动力技能，2）与ROSE项目合作，该项目侧重于向代表性不足的中学生和家长介绍STEM研究，3）在当地养蜂和生态会议上演讲，4）培训和支持本科生，研究生，生物必须能够在行为和生理上管理气候的日常和季节性波动。感官的接收和信息的整合是至关重要的，以保持体内平衡，在典型的温度变化跨越天或季节。对温度变化的集体行为反应需要有效地接收和整合社会和生态信息。虽然我们知道动物为什么要进行体温调节，但动物如何整合社会信息以有效地进行体温调节却不太清楚。蜜蜂必须保持34°C在他们的殖民地，或冒着死亡的风险，他们的发展育雏。在夏天，蜜蜂会进行一种称为扇风的降温行为，它们扇翅膀使空气流通，以冷却殖民地。扇巢蜜蜂利用来自其巢友的信息和来自其生态环境的信息来集体调节体温。当社会和热信息发生变化时，扇风反应发生变化;然而，个人或群体感知、整合或交流这些变化以集体行动的方式是未知的。该提案将通过解决四个目标来识别这些机制：1）确定社会相互作用如何塑造扇风响应; 2）揭示与扇风响应相关的神经基因网络; 3）定义TRP通道参与扇风响应;以及4）评估变化环境中的群体水平扇风响应。这项研究将提供关于复杂的动物系统如何管理动态环境的关键知识，确定介导有效反应的基因和感觉途径，并产生关于动物群体如何管理全球气候变化的假设。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。