权益分类	功能权益	普通用户	{{item.name}}会员
{{category.name}}	{{benefitItem.name}}

Preparing for War: Pre-emptive Behaviour in a Landscape of Intergroup Conflict

战争准备：群体间冲突中的先发制人行为

基本信息

批准号：
NE/W00545X/1
负责人：
Andrew Radford
金额：
$ 69.97万
依托单位：
University of Bristol
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2022 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FW00545X%2F1
关键词：
Preparing War Pre emptive Behaviour

项目摘要

Violent confrontations between rival groups have arisen throughout human history but this is not a uniquely human phenomenon: conflict between groups occurs in all animal taxa, from ants to primates, and is a powerful evolutionary force. We now know a great deal about what happens during contests (e.g., who participates and what determines who wins) and, increasingly, about the consequences for behaviour and survival in the aftermath. However, a fundamental gap in our understanding is how non-human animals might act strategically in preparation for potential future contests. In this project, we will identify pre-emptive behaviours that could optimise intergroup encounters (balancing the risks of potential territory loss against those arising from engaging with rivals of different strengths) and maximise the likelihood of winning any contests that do arise. To do so, we will combine cutting-edge spatial mapping and movement modelling with long-term behavioural data and field experiments on a tractable wild population of dwarf mongooses.Dwarf mongooses, Africa's smallest carnivore, are ideal for this study for several reasons. Groups comprise 5-30 individuals who sleep in a burrow, forage and travel together within a shared territory that they collectively defend against rivals. Territorial behaviour involves scent-marking at communal latrines near borders and physical defence when rivals are encountered. We have studied these charismatic mini-beasts for 10 years (Dwarf Mongoose Research Project), so have large datasets (from 73 group-years) on group movements (from GPS tracking) and a variety of behaviours, including latrine-marking, sleeping-burrow choice, within-group affiliation and sentinel activity. Moreover, we have habituated the study population to our close presence, enabling collection of body-mass data and experimental manipulations in natural conditions.We will use existing and new data to tackle three objectives. First, we will use novel spatial modelling coupled with long-term movement and behaviour data to determine how territorial space use and defensive actions vary in a landscape of intergroup conflict. We will assess the importance of relative group size as well as historic and current rival-group activity in predicting how the mongooses exploit their environment and minimise intergroup risk. Second, we will use detailed long-term observations and a field manipulation of spatial threat level to determine how behaviour changes strategically when there is the prospect of an imminent intergroup contest. We will identify how different individuals enhance information gathering, group cohesion and the likelihood of groupmate participation in later contests, and assess the consequences for body-mass gains. Third, we will manipulate aggression and affiliation between selected groupmates to test experimentally how pre-emptive within-group behaviour affects subsequent contributions to intergroup interactions.We will therefore generate the first detailed and experimental datasets investigating the use of strategic pre-emptive behaviour by non-human animals in an intergroup context. As such, our work will be of relevance to biologists studying group living, conflict, territoriality, cooperation, social evolution and future planning. Moreover, our use of novel analytical models that quantify the encounter probability of rival groups in a heterogeneous landscape will be of benefit to spatial and movement ecologists. Since the management and consequences of conflict have interdisciplinary implications, our research will complement that by anthropologists, psychologists, and social and political scientists. Finally, because conflict is common in our own lives, from disputes among family members to wars between nations, we will use a programme of outreach and public engagement activities to enthuse and inform a wider audience about our research on social evolution and the importance of blue-skies research.

在整个人类历史上，敌对群体之间的暴力对抗一直存在，但这并不是人类独有的现象：群体之间的冲突发生在所有动物分类群中，从蚂蚁到灵长类动物，并且是一种强大的进化力量。我们现在知道了很多关于比赛中发生的事情（例如，谁参与，什么决定谁赢），并越来越多地关注后果对行为和生存的影响。然而，我们理解的一个根本性差距是，非人类动物可能如何采取战略行动，为未来潜在的竞争做准备。在这个项目中，我们将确定先发制人的行为，可以优化集团间的遭遇（平衡潜在的领土损失风险与与不同实力的竞争对手接触所产生的风险），并最大限度地提高赢得任何竞争的可能性。为此，我们将结合联合收割机先进的空间测绘和运动建模与长期的行为数据和实地实验的一个听话的野生种群的侏儒猫鼬。侏儒猫鼬，非洲最小的食肉动物，是理想的这项研究有几个原因。群体由5-30只个体组成，它们睡在一个洞穴里，在一个共同的领土内觅食和旅行，共同抵御竞争对手。领土行为包括在边界附近的公共厕所做气味标记，以及在遇到竞争对手时进行人身保护。我们已经研究了这些有魅力的迷你野兽10年（矮猫鼬研究项目），因此有大量的数据集（来自73组年）关于群体运动（来自GPS跟踪）和各种行为，包括厕所标记，睡眠洞穴选择，群体内隶属关系和哨兵活动。此外，我们已经使研究人群习惯于我们的近距离存在，从而能够在自然条件下收集体重数据和实验操作。我们将使用现有和新的数据来解决三个目标。首先，我们将使用新的空间建模加上长期的运动和行为数据，以确定如何在群体间冲突的景观领土空间的使用和防御行动的变化。我们将评估相对群体规模以及历史和当前竞争群体活动的重要性，以预测猫鼬如何利用其环境并最大限度地减少群体间风险。第二，我们将使用详细的长期观察和空间威胁水平的现场操作，以确定如何行为的战略变化时，有一个迫在眉睫的群体间的竞争的前景。我们将确定不同的个人如何增强信息收集，群体凝聚力和群体成员参与以后比赛的可能性，并评估体重增加的后果。第三，我们将操纵选定的群体成员之间的攻击和联系，以实验方式测试先发制人的群体内行为如何影响随后的群体间互动的贡献。因此，我们将生成第一个详细的实验数据集，调查非人类动物在群体间环境中使用战略先发制人的行为。因此，我们的工作将与研究群体生活，冲突，领土，合作，社会进化和未来规划的生物学家有关。此外，我们使用新的分析模型，量化遇到的竞争对手群体在异质景观的概率将有利于空间和运动生态学家。由于冲突的管理和后果具有跨学科的影响，我们的研究将补充人类学家，心理学家，社会和政治科学家。最后，由于冲突在我们自己的生活中是常见的，从家庭成员之间的争端到国家之间的战争，我们将利用一个外联和公众参与活动方案来激发和告知更广泛的受众我们对社会进化的研究和蓝天研究的重要性。