Using real predators and robot prey to investigate the importance of predators in prey responses

使用真实的捕食者和机器人猎物来研究捕食者在猎物反应中的重要性

• 批准号: NE/K009370/1
• 负责人: Christos Ioannou
• 金额: $ 59.68万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 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%2FK009370%2F1
• 关键词: Using; real; predators; robot; prey

Predator and prey are locked in a dynamic interplay of evolved behaviour; predators attempt to maximise their net intake while unsuccessful prey do not live to see another day. This often culminates in dramatic behavioural displays, as cheetahs chase gazelles across the savannah, gannets dive bomb sardine shoals, and bats hunt moths through echolocation. However, while recording and analysing this is possible, studying this type of behaviour is problematic as ideally we would manipulate the response and movement of prey, which is technically very difficult. Without manipulation, it is difficult to say with any certainty that such behaviour has evolved to help animals avoid predation. This has limited our understanding of dynamic responses to predation as the behaviour of predators is often based on unsupported assumptions rather than empirical data. By using recent technological developments, this project will explore how short-term behavioural avoidance by prey has evolved to minimise risk, how predators learn to counteract these strategies, and whether this locks predator and prey into a cycle of adaptation and counter-adaptation.Predatory fish (the European perch, Perca fluviatilis) will be allowed to encounter, detect, attack and try to consume (i.e. 'kill') artificial robotic prey, small items of food magnetically connected to robots under the testing tank. While the predator's behaviour is unconstrained, the behaviour of the prey are under full control by a computer program. To allow responsive behaviour by the prey, the predatory fish will be tracked by a computer in real time and this information will be fed back and made available to the prey. The complexity of the prey's reaction will be manipulated, from relatively simple behaviours such as fleeing from the predator or aggregating toward other prey, to the more complex such as balancing aggregation with fleeing. In the latter stages of the project, the longer term dynamics of predator-prey interactions will be examined, where the frequency of different prey strategies will change over time based on the previous success of each strategy. This will simulate an evolutionary process and how the predators adapt their subsequent behaviour to these changes in prey strategies will allow an examination of the role of learning in these interactions.The main focus of interest will be on the responses of prey groups. These collectives (flocks, schools, herds, swarms) continue to fascinate scientists, filmmakers and the public alike. One shared reason is the almost incomprehensible degree of coordination between individuals in some of these species; the evening displays of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), for example, attract visitors to sites across the U.K. and is also the subject of a major European Commission research project. There is currently much research interest in these 'self-organised' systems across disciplines, including physics, computer science and engineering as well as biology, and there are applications in controlling pedestrian crowds and pest swarms such as locusts. The proposed method will allow us to examine with unprecedented detail how this group behaviour protects prey from predators. For example, it is often thought that polarisation (where individuals in groups line up to face the same direction) facilitates information transmission between individuals, as a response to detecting a predator or food source. By manipulating this behaviour, it can be tested whether this actually is effective at avoiding real predatory attacks.In addition to methodological advantages, importantly the system also circumvents the ethical problem posed by exposing live prey to predators which has previously hampered progress in this area. The project will develop a flexible system for studying behavioural interactions between individuals of the same or different species and will be of interest to a range of researchers working on other questions.

捕食者和猎物被锁定在进化行为的动态相互作用中；捕食者试图最大化他们的净摄入量，而不成功的猎物不能活着看到另一天。这通常会在戏剧性的行为展示中达到顶峰，猎豹在大草原上追逐瞪羚，燕鸥潜水轰炸沙丁鱼浅滩，蝙蝠通过回声定位捕食飞蛾。然而，虽然记录和分析这是可能的，但研究这种行为是有问题的，因为理想情况下我们会操纵猎物的反应和移动，这在技术上是非常困难的。如果没有操纵，很难肯定地说，这种行为已经进化成帮助动物避免捕食。这限制了我们对捕食的动态反应的理解，因为捕食者的行为往往基于未经证实的假设，而不是经验数据。通过利用最新的技术发展，这个项目将探索通过猎物的短期行为回避如何进化到最大限度地减少风险，捕食者如何学习抵消这些策略，以及这是否将捕食者和猎物锁定在适应和反适应的循环中。捕食性鱼类(欧洲鲈鱼，Perca flviatilis)将被允许遇到、检测、攻击和尝试消耗(即，‘杀死’)人工机器人猎物，这些小食物与测试水箱下的机器人有磁性联系。虽然捕食者的行为不受限制，但猎物的行为完全受计算机程序的控制。为了让猎物做出反应，捕食性鱼类将被计算机实时跟踪，这些信息将被反馈并提供给猎物。猎物反应的复杂性将被操纵，从相对简单的行为，如逃离捕食者或向其他猎物聚集，到更复杂的行为，如平衡聚集和逃跑。在该项目的后期阶段，将研究捕食者-猎物相互作用的长期动态，其中不同猎物策略的频率将根据每种策略以前的成功而随着时间的推移而变化。这将模拟一个进化过程，捕食者如何使他们随后的行为适应猎物策略的这些变化，将允许检验学习在这些相互作用中的作用。感兴趣的主要焦点将是猎物群体的反应。这些群体(羊群、学校、牛群、蜂群)继续吸引着科学家、电影制作人和公众。一个共同的原因是，这些物种中的一些个体之间的协调程度几乎令人费解；例如，欧洲八哥的晚间表演吸引了游客前往英国各地的景点，也是欧盟委员会一项重大研究项目的主题。目前，人们对这些“自组织”系统有很大的研究兴趣，涉及的学科包括物理、计算机科学和工程以及生物学，在控制行人和蝗虫等害虫群体方面也有应用。拟议的方法将使我们能够以前所未有的细节检查这种群体行为如何保护猎物免受捕食者的伤害。例如，人们经常认为，极化(群体中的个体排成一队面向同一方向)促进了个体之间的信息传输，作为对发现捕食者或食物来源的反应。通过操纵这种行为，可以测试这是否真的有效地避免了真正的捕食性攻击。除了方法上的优势，重要的是，该系统还绕过了将活猎物暴露给捕食者带来的伦理问题，而这一问题以前阻碍了这一领域的进展。该项目将开发一种灵活的系统来研究相同或不同物种的个体之间的行为互动，并将引起致力于其他问题的一系列研究人员的兴趣。

项目成果

Anthropogenic noise pollution from pile-driving disrupts the structure and dynamics of fish shoals.

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1627
• 发表时间: 2017-09-27
• 期刊: Proceedings. Biological sciences
• 作者: Herbert-Read JE;Kremer L;Bruintjes R;Radford AN;Ioannou CC
• 通讯作者: Ioannou CC

Supplementary Results, Tables and Figures from Regulation between personality traits: individual social tendencies modulate whether boldness and leadership are correlated

人格特质之间调节的补充结果、表格和数字：个人社会倾向调节大胆和领导力是否相关

• DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.6392567
• 发表时间: 2018
• 作者: Bevan P

How to catch more prey with less effective traps: explaining the evolution of temporarily inactive traps in carnivorous pitcher plants.

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2675
• 发表时间: 2015-02-22
• 期刊: Proceedings. Biological sciences
• 作者: Bauer U;Federle W;Seidel H;Grafe TU;Ioannou CC
• 通讯作者: Ioannou CC

Marginal predation: do encounter or confusion effects explain the targeting of prey group edges?

• DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx090
• 发表时间: 2017-09
• 期刊: Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
• 作者: Duffield C;Ioannou CC
• 通讯作者: Ioannou CC

Turbidity increases risk perception but constrains collective behaviour during foraging by fish shoals

• DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.08.012
• 发表时间: 2019-10-01
• 期刊: ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
• 影响因子: 2.5
• 作者: Chamberlain, Alice C.;Ioannou, Christos C.
• 通讯作者: Ioannou, Christos C.