The role of camouflage in the survival and conservation of ground-nesting birds

伪装在地面筑巢鸟类的生存和保护中的作用

• 批准号: 2241750
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2241750
• 关键词: role; camouflage; survival; conservation; ground

Human activity influences the visual appearance and physical structure of almost all habitats in the UK. The behaviour, movement and survival of many animals depends critically on their camouflage and ability to go unnoticed by visually guided predators. Changes in land-use practice could therefore interfere with an animal's defensive camouflage and anti-predator behaviour; making them more easily found by predators, or less likely to remain in a location that doesn't offer adequate camouflage. For many ground nesting birds camouflage is their only line of defence, making them highly vulnerable to land-use change. The UK's Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) population has declined by 80% since 1960, and increased predation by visually guided predators is thought to be a contributing factor to their survival. Research into animal camouflage has grown considerably in recent years thanks to advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning different camouflage strategies, and novel in imaging techniques. This project will make use of these advances to investigate the importance of camouflage in the behaviour and survival of lapwings and other ground-nesting birds using a range of field studies and controlled experiments. The project's findings will contribute to the development of land-use strategies which aid the survival of locally endangered species, and more generally will contribute to our understanding of how human activity affects the evolved anti-predation adaptations of animals.This project aims to: -Determine how different land-use techniques affect the camouflage of ground nesting birds. -Test which aspects of camouflage best predict nest survival in the wild. -Determine how camouflage affects the perceived predation risk and behaviour of adult birds and chicks (e.g. selection of nesting location, and anti-predator behaviour). -Establish a causal link between specific aspects of land-use strategies and camouflage efficacy using controlled predation experiments. -Identify and develop new land-use strategies which attract ground nesting birds, compliment their camouflage, and improve their survival chances.There is considerable scope within this project for the doctoral researcher to assist in developing the overall research direction and experimental designs. The project will partner with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust's established nest monitoring study system, which locates and tracks a 150-200 nests each season. A range of experimental designs and cutting-edge techniques for camouflage analysis will be used. Naturalistic data on real nest camouflage will be collected from the wild study system, using calibrated animal-vision imaging and 3D scanning techniques to determine which aspects of camouflage, light environment and three-dimensional habitat structure correlate best with clutch survival, and which visual characteristics of a background the birds use when selecting a nesting location. Controlled predation experiments using artificial prey can then be used to test specific hypotheses on how different types of habitat and lighting interact with specific types of camouflage. These experiments can make use of 3D printing, animal-vision calibrated colour printing, and light-environment data logging.

人类活动影响了英国几乎所有栖息地的视觉外观和物理结构。许多动物的行为、运动和生存关键取决于它们的伪装和不被视觉引导的捕食者注意的能力。因此，土地利用方式的改变可能会干扰动物的防御性伪装和反捕食者行为;使它们更容易被捕食者发现，或者不太可能留在没有足够伪装的地方。对许多地面筑巢的鸟类来说，伪装是它们唯一的防线，使它们极易受到土地使用变化的影响。自1960年以来，英国北方麦鸡（Vanellus vanellus）的数量下降了80%，视觉引导捕食者的捕食增加被认为是它们生存的一个因素。近年来，由于我们对不同伪装策略的基础机制的理解的进步，以及成像技术的新颖性，对动物伪装的研究有了相当大的增长。该项目将利用这些进展，通过一系列实地研究和对照实验，调查伪装在麦鸡和其他地面筑巢鸟类的行为和生存中的重要性。该项目的研究结果将有助于制定土地利用战略，以帮助当地濒危物种的生存，更广泛地说，将有助于我们了解人类活动如何影响动物进化的抗捕食适应能力。该项目旨在：-确定不同的土地利用技术如何影响地面筑巢鸟类的伪装。- 测试伪装的哪些方面最能预测野外巢穴的生存。- 确定伪装如何影响成年鸟类和雏鸟的感知捕食风险和行为（例如筑巢位置的选择和反捕食者行为）。- 利用受控捕食实验，在土地使用战略的具体方面与伪装功效之间建立因果关系。- 找出及发展新的土地使用策略，以吸引地面筑巢的鸟类，配合它们的伪装，并提高它们的生存机会。在这个项目中，博士研究员有相当大的空间来协助发展整体研究方向和实验设计。该项目将与游戏和野生动物保护信托基金会建立的巢穴监测研究系统合作，该系统每个季节定位和跟踪150 - 200个巢穴。将使用一系列实验设计和尖端技术进行伪装分析。将从野外研究系统收集关于真实的巢穴伪装的自然数据，使用校准的动物视觉成像和3D扫描技术来确定伪装、光环境和三维栖息地结构的哪些方面与离合器生存最相关，以及鸟类在选择筑巢位置时使用的背景的哪些视觉特征。控制捕食实验使用人工猎物，然后可以用来测试特定的假设，不同类型的栖息地和照明如何与特定类型的伪装。这些实验可以利用3D打印，动物视觉校准彩色打印和光环境数据记录。