Parental care decisions in mammals and birds

哺乳动物和鸟类的父母照顾决定

• 批准号: 7475-2007
• 负责人: Storey, Anne
• 金额: $ 2.17万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=474238
• 关键词: Parental; care; decisions; mammals; birds

I study the social, hormonal and environmental factors that affect how birds and mammals make parental care decisions. Parents in biparental species (in which both parents provide care) should balance the needs of their offspring with their own and their partners' requirements for maintaining health and good body condition. I focus on two mammalian systems where paternal care is flexible and shows considerable individual variation: humans and rodents. We have shown that human fathers require more parental experience than mothers to develop the same level of hormonal responsiveness (i.e., changes in prolactin levels) to infant contact. In this grant period I will examine how hormone levels and partner contact affect men's responsiveness to infants and men's willingness to perform extra parental work. Demonstrating a link between parental interactions and fathering behaviour could help shape social policy that promotes increased father involvement in wider segments of our society. In the proposed animal studies, I will examine how the distribution and abundance of resources (food) affect how time is budgeted between foraging and bouts of offspring care, research that may have implications for nursing success in human mothers. My third study species is a seabird (common murre), in which extensive paternal care is critical to offspring survival. Results from the seabird studies will add to our understanding of how within-pair interactions and yearly differences in food availability affect parental decisions. Through my continuing collaborative studies with government environmental agencies, my seabird research can also contribute to conservation and wildlife management decisions that will protect the marine environment.

我研究影响鸟类和哺乳动物如何做出父母照顾决定的社会，荷尔蒙和环境因素。 双亲物种的父母（父母双方都提供照顾）应该平衡后代的需求与自己和伴侣保持健康和良好身体状况的要求。 我专注于两个哺乳动物系统，父亲的照顾是灵活的，并显示出相当大的个体差异：人类和啮齿动物。 我们已经表明，人类父亲需要比母亲更多的父母经验来发展相同水平的激素反应（即，催乳素水平的变化）与婴儿接触。 在这段时间里，我将研究荷尔蒙水平和伴侣接触如何影响男性对婴儿的反应以及男性是否愿意承担额外的育儿工作。 展示父母互动和父亲行为之间的联系可以帮助制定社会政策，促进父亲更多地参与我们社会的更广泛部分。 在拟议的动物研究中，我将研究资源（食物）的分布和丰富程度如何影响觅食和后代护理之间的时间预算，研究可能对人类母亲的护理成功产生影响。 我的第三个研究物种是海鸟（普通海雀），其中广泛的父亲照顾对于后代的生存至关重要。 海鸟研究的结果将增加我们对配对内相互作用和食物可获得性的年度差异如何影响父母决定的理解。通过我与政府环境机构的持续合作研究，我的海鸟研究也可以为保护海洋环境的保护和野生动物管理决策做出贡献。