Collaborative Research: Competition for acoustic space as a driver of species diversity in vibrationally-signaling insects

全球范围内令人震惊的昆虫减少对生态群落产生了广泛的影响，从鸟类数量减少到生态功能下降。了解环境如何塑造昆虫多样性对于应对这些迅速下降的昆虫种群至关重要。在这个项目中，研究人员测试昆虫的振动交流是否有助于这些模式。虽然许多昆虫使用声音进行交流，但绝大多数唱歌的昆虫（90%）使用的声音是通过植物茎和叶传播的微小振动。这些振动信号对于领土争端和配偶吸引等过程很重要。然而，如果生活在同一植物上的其他昆虫产生类似的振动信号，则信号可能被破坏。研究人员测试振动信号昆虫群体是否会避免信号重叠。如果是这样的话，那么这种振动声空间的划分可能会决定哪些昆虫生活在一起。因此，任何影响植被上可以发生多少不同类型的振动信号的事情也会直接影响生活在那里的昆虫物种的数量。这项工作的结果可以开辟昆虫多样性研究的新途径，突出振动信号监测昆虫群落的未开发潜力，并深入了解人类对植被的影响如何影响昆虫群落。除了测试一个新的假设的环境变量塑造昆虫群落，这个项目将提供多种培训机会的多样性students.The拟议的工作测试声学生态位假说塑造草原昆虫群落通过一个新的透镜振动信号空间。在任何给定的植物上，对振动空间的竞争都会限制可以共存的振动信号的类型。由于振动信号的物种特异性，竞争也会限制昆虫的多样性。研究人员在生活在草原上的昆虫群落中测试了这一新的假设，这些昆虫群落具有不同的管理历史和当前实践。振动和昆虫将收集从多个1米半径的地块上的每六个草原。研究人员使用压电记录仪从植物中拾取微小的昆虫振动，将在24-48小时内记录每个地块的振动。然后，他们将立即收集昆虫从情节使用一个标准化的时间周期的节拍网。将对一部分站点进行额外的密集记录，以优化长期振动采样策略。研究人员将使用机器学习算法处理振动数据，寻找振动空间分区，将振动声学多样性指数与昆虫物种多样性指数进行比较，并开发使用振动监测昆虫群落的新工具集。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

Alarming worldwide insect declines have widespread effects on ecological communities, ranging from bird population reductions to decreased ecological functioning. Understanding how the environment shapes insect diversity is critical to combat these rapidly declining insect populations. In this project, the researchers test whether vibrational communication in insects contributes to these patterns. While many insects use sound to communicate, the vast majority of singing insects (90%) use sound that travels as tiny vibrations through plant stems and leaves. These vibrational signals are important for processes like territorial disputes and mate attraction. However, the signals may be disrupted if other insects living on the same plant produce similar vibrational signals. The researchers test whether communities of vibrationally signaling insects avoid overlap in their signals. If so, then this partitioning of vibrational acoustic space could shape which insects live together. Thus, anything affecting how many different types of vibrational signals can occur on the vegetation would also directly affect the number of insect species living there. The results of the work could open new avenues of research on insect diversity, highlight the untapped potential of vibrational signals to monitor insect communities, and provide insight into how human impacts on vegetation affects insect communities. In addition to testing a novel hypothesis for the environmental variables shaping insect communities, this project will provide multiple training opportunities for a diversity of students.The proposed work tests the acoustic niche hypothesis in shaping prairie insect communities through a novel lens—vibrational signaling space. Competition for the vibrational space on any given plant can restrict the types of vibrational signals that can coexist. Due to the species-specificity of vibrational signals, competition should therefore also restrict insect diversity. The researchers test this novel hypothesis in insect communities living in prairies with varying management histories and current practices. Vibrations and insects will be collected from multiple 1-m radius plots on each of six prairies. Using piezo recorders that pick up tiny insect vibrations from plants, the researchers will record the vibrations in each plot over 24-48 hours. Then, they will immediately collect insects from the plot using a standardized time period of beat netting. Additional intensive recordings from a subset of sites will be conducted to optimize longer-term vibrational sampling strategies. The researchers will process the vibrational data using machine learning algorithms and look for vibrational space partitioning, compare vibrational acoustic diversity indices to insect species diversity indices, and develop novel toolsets for using vibrations to monitor insect communities.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.