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Parental effects and the adaptive generation of helpers in a cooperative bird

合作鸟中的亲本效应和助手的适应性生成

基本信息

批准号：
NE/K005766/1
负责人：
Andrew Russell
金额：
$ 54.15万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2013
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2013 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FK005766%2F1
关键词：
Parental effects adaptive generation helpers

项目摘要

It is often said that one day, whether we like it or not, we will turn into one of our parents. Research in both laboratory animals and humans, suggests that this is not only because of our genetic similarities with our parents, but because our early life experiences shape the way we look and behave in adulthood. However, two major uncertainties exist in the development of these patterns. First, do we simply resemble our parents because we share the same environment? Second, do parents actually shape our development through varying their levels of investment in us, and if so, when does this happen and for whose benefit is it? To answer these questions we must use an animal in which we can ethically move offspring around in a natural setting at different stages of their development and then measure their behaviour in adulthood. I will use a 50g Australian bird that lives, like humans, in family groups in which offspring are reared by a variable number of helpers in addition to parents. I have been studying ~90 breeding groups of the chestnut-crowned babbler in the arid zone of south-eastern Australia for the last 8 years. This species is perfect for the aims of this project because mothers vary tremendously in their investment in offspring, varying the timing and amount of investment in eggs, as well as the number and sex of competitors with which offspring will be reared. Similarly, mothers, fathers and helpers vary significantly in how much food they provide to offspring after hatching, with some providing almost nothing and others contributing the majority of it. Finally, the success of a group depends on how many helpers it has: the survival of offspring increases until group size reaches 8, after which there are no further increases. Because helpers are almost always offspring from previous years, a small group of babblers should try to produce helpers, whereas a large group should try to produce dispersers that go off to start a new babbler group. By moving offspring between groups of different sizes and at different stages of their development, I will provide an answer to the following questions. (1) To what degree do mothers, fathers and helpers try to create helpful versus selfish offspring, and do they all agree when this should be? (2) Do offspring ignore this 'arrangement' or benefit from it, or are they being manipulated to behave in a way dictated by their up-bringing? (3) If one's upbringing influences the way they look and behave in adulthood, when is this effect generated, is it by the mum's before hatching, is it when they receive food in the nest, or is it determined after they leave the nest and begin to fend for themselves? The answers to these questions will shed new light on how the upbringing of animals and humans shapes the way we look and behave in adulthood and help answer the long-standing questions of what makes a good mother, father and helper and who is it good for? If, from these results, we are able to predict the cooperative versus selfish tendencies of offspring given their development, we can begin to direct future studies in humans to ask whether there is a sensitive period during child development that shapes our behaviour in adulthood? When is it and what types of experiences is it most sensitive to?

人们常说，总有一天，不管我们喜欢与否，我们都会变成父母中的一员。对实验室动物和人类的研究表明，这不仅是因为我们与父母的遗传相似性，而且是因为我们早期的生活经历塑造了我们成年后的外表和行为方式。然而，在这些模式的发展中存在两个主要的不确定因素。第一，我们像我们的父母仅仅是因为我们共享相同的环境吗？第二，父母是否真的通过改变他们对我们的投资水平来塑造我们的发展，如果是的话，这种情况是什么时候发生的，是为了谁的利益？为了回答这些问题，我们必须使用一种动物，在这种动物中，我们可以在自然环境中在不同的发育阶段道德地移动后代，然后测量他们成年后的行为。我将使用一只50克重的澳大利亚鸟，它像人类一样生活在家庭群体中，除了父母之外，后代还由不同数量的帮手抚养。在过去的8年里，我一直在研究澳大利亚东南部干旱地区的90个栗冠穗鹛繁殖群体。这个物种非常适合这个项目的目标，因为母亲在后代的投资上有很大的差异，在鸡蛋上投资的时间和数量，以及抚养后代的竞争对手的数量和性别。同样，母亲、父亲和帮手在孵化后为后代提供的食物量也有很大差异，有些几乎什么都不提供，有些则提供了大部分食物。最后，一个群体的成功取决于它有多少帮手：后代的存活率会增加，直到群体规模达到8，之后就没有进一步的增加。因为帮手几乎总是前几年的后代，所以一小群幼穗鹛应该试图产生帮手，而一大群幼穗鹛应该试图产生扩散者，这些扩散者离开幼穗鹛去建立一个新的幼穗鹛群体。通过在不同大小和不同发育阶段的群体之间移动后代，我将为以下问题提供答案。(1)在多大程度上，父母和帮手会努力创造出有益的后代，而不是自私的后代，他们是否都同意这种情况？(2)后代是忽略了这种“安排”，还是从中受益，还是他们被操纵，按照他们的教养所决定的方式行事？(3)如果一个人的成长影响了他们成年后的外表和行为，那么这种影响是什么时候产生的，是在孵化前由母亲产生的，是在他们在巢中接受食物时产生的，还是在他们离开巢并开始照顾自己之后决定的？这些问题的答案将为动物和人类的成长如何塑造我们成年后的外观和行为方式提供新的线索，并有助于回答长期存在的问题，即什么是好母亲，父亲和帮手，以及谁是好的？如果从这些结果中，我们能够根据后代的发展预测他们的合作与自私倾向，我们就可以开始指导未来的人类研究，询问在儿童发育过程中是否有一个敏感时期塑造了我们成年后的行为？什么时候以及什么类型的经历是最敏感的？

项目成果

期刊论文数量（10）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Manipulating carer number versus brood size: complementary but not equivalent ways of quantifying carer effects on offspring.

DOI：
10.1093/beheco/arw038
发表时间：
2016-07
期刊：
Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
影响因子：
0
作者：
Liebl AL;Browning LE;Russell AF
通讯作者：
Russell AF

Experimental Evidence for Phonemic Contrasts in a Nonhuman Vocal System.