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Mechanisms and Functions of Sexual Segregation in Habitat Use

栖息地使用中性别隔离的机制和功能

基本信息

批准号：
NE/E001181/1
负责人：
Darren Croft
金额：
$ 8.69万
依托单位：
Bangor University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2007
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2007 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FE001181%2F1
关键词：
Mechanisms Functions Sexual Segregation Habitat

项目摘要

In many animals males and females may live apart for some or most of their lives termed sexual segregation. Sex segregation may occur when the sexes use different parts of their environment. Ancient Greek mythology tells of a nation of female warriors known as the Amazons who lived on an island. The Amazons only met with men to trade and reproduce and kept all daughters on the island. Whilst the degree of truth in this ancient myth is open to debate, in animals sex differences in habitat use are common and understanding why and how this behaviour occurs is essential if we are going to conserve and protect species and habitats. For example, if sex segregation occurs it may be necessary to protect different habitats for males and females. However, we have to understand why and how this behaviour occurs to be able to do this. For some time scientists have tried to understand why the sexes segregate in habitat use. In the 1900's Charles Darwin pondered over why red deer live apart for much of the year. In recent years many explanations have been proposed, of which three are probably important. The first idea hinges on the fact that in many species males and females are attacked at different rates by predators. Males may be larger and be equipped with weapons such as the antlers, which may allow them to use habitats with increased predation risk. The second idea suggests that males and females may differ in their nutritional requirements, for example due to pregnancy, which may lead to the sexes selecting different habitats to meet these nutritional needs. Finally, harassment of females by males is common in the animal kingdom and frequently causes injury to females or their offspring. The final idea suggests that females occupy habitats with no males to reduce this harassment. Previous work on sex segregation has generally focused on hoofed animals such as deer and sheep, but because of their large size and the amount of space they need to roam, scientists have generally been able to do little more than describe patterns of segregation. In contrast the proposed study will experimentally test these hypotheses using a small species of freshwater fish 'guppies' on the island of Trinidad in the Carribean as a model system. Guppies form relatively small populations in different streams that vary in the number of predators they face. Furthermore, guppies can easily be kept in the laboratory, making them particularly suitable for this investigation. We know that guppies living under high predation risk segregate by sex, with male guppies (which are more vulnerable to predation) occupying areas of shallow water, which are thought to be safer from predators, suggesting that predation risk is important in driving sexual segregation. However, the benefits that they gain from segregation remain unknown. For example, why do females accept a greater risk of predation? Is it to reduce sexual harassment or because there is less competition for food? Or is it a combination of the two? We also do not know how patterns of sex segregation arise, or why some males and females live in the same parts of the river. Does it dependent on environmental conditions? How is it affected by differences in the number of males and females and the density of the population? I will compare the degree of sex segregation between 10 populations of wild guppies living under different risks of predation in the rivers of Trinidad. In each river I will assess the levels of sex segregation and compare it to the risk of predation, population structure and habitat type (e.g. water depth) testing predictions from the main ideas thought to drive sex segregation. In addition to observing patterns of behaviour in the wild this study will observe the behaviour of guppies in the laboratory where it is possible to measure the level of sex segregation in a standard environment and test the factors thought to drive sex segregation in isolation.

在许多动物中，雄性和雌性可能在一生中的部分或大部分时间里分开生活，这被称为性隔离。当两性使用环境的不同部分时，可能会发生性别隔离。古希腊神话讲述了一个居住在岛屿上的女战士民族，称为亚马逊人。亚马逊人只与男性会面进行贸易和繁殖，并将所有女儿留在岛上。虽然这个古老神话的真实程度有待商榷，但在动物中，栖息地利用的性别差异很常见，如果我们要保护物种和栖息地，了解这种行为发生的原因和方式至关重要。例如，如果发生性别隔离，可能有必要保护男性和女性的不同栖息地。然而，我们必须了解这种行为发生的原因和方式才能做到这一点。一段时间以来，科学家们一直试图了解为什么两性在栖息地的使用上存在隔离。 1900 年代，查尔斯·达尔文 (Charles Darwin) 思考为何马鹿一年中的大部分时间都分开生活。近年来，人们提出了许多解释，其中三个可能很重要。第一个想法取决于这样一个事实：在许多物种中，雄性和雌性受到捕食者攻击的程度不同。雄性可能体型较大，并配备鹿角等武器，这可能使它们能够使用被捕食风险增加的栖息地。第二个想法表明，雄性和雌性的营养需求可能不同，例如由于怀孕，这可能导致性别选择不同的栖息地来满足这些营养需求。最后，雄性骚扰雌性在动物界很常见，并且经常对雌性或其后代造成伤害。最终的想法是，雌性栖息在没有雄性的栖息地，以减少这种骚扰。之前关于性别隔离的研究通常集中在鹿和羊等有蹄类动物上，但由于它们体型较大，需要漫游的空间很大，科学家们通常只能描述性别隔离的模式。相比之下，拟议的研究将使用加勒比特立尼达岛上的一种小型淡水鱼“孔雀鱼”作为模型系统来实验测试这些假设。孔雀鱼在不同的溪流中形成相对较小的种群，它们面临的捕食者数量也有所不同。此外，孔雀鱼可以很容易地饲养在实验室中，这使得它们特别适合这项研究。我们知道，生活在高捕食风险下的孔雀鱼会根据性别进行隔离，雄性孔雀鱼（更容易受到捕食）占据浅水区域，人们认为这些区域更安全，免受捕食者的侵害，这表明捕食风险在推动性别隔离方面很重要。然而，他们从隔离中获得的好处仍然未知。例如，为什么雌性会接受更大的被捕食风险？是为了减少性骚扰还是因为食物竞争减少了？或者是两者的结合？我们也不知道性别隔离的模式是如何产生的，也不知道为什么一些雄性和雌性生活在河流的同一部分。它取决于环境条件吗？男性和女性数量以及人口密度的差异如何影响它？我将比较特立尼达河流中生活在不同捕食风险下的 10 个野生孔雀鱼种群之间的性别隔离程度。在每条河流中，我将评估性别隔离的水平，并将其与捕食风险、种群结构和栖息地类型（例如水深）进行比较，以测试驱动性别隔离的主要想法的预测。除了观察野外的行为模式之外，这项研究还将观察实验室中孔雀鱼的行为，在实验室中可以测量标准环境中的性别隔离水平，并测试被认为导致隔离的性别隔离的因素。