Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds

鸟类繁殖的生理适应

• 批准号: 155395-2012
• 负责人: Williams, Tony
• 金额: $ 4.37万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=545677
• 关键词: Physiological; Adaptations; Breeding; Birds

I have a book in press (Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds) that provides a comprehensive review of avian reproduction and concludes, rather remarkably, that we have only a rudimentary, and in some cases non-existent, understanding of the physiological mechanisms underpinning reproductive traits which population studies have shown are most closely related to individual variation in reproductive success, e.g. timing of breeding, number of eggs laid, and parental care. I develop two main themes: that we must consider this topic from a female perspective and that we need to focus on individual variation, and I argue for a shift of focus in research on avian reproduction if we are to successfully integrate physiology and ecology. I will combine laboratory studies of captive-breeding zebra finches (500+ birds) with studies of free-living, nest-box breeding European starlings. In a series of correlative and experimental studies I will investigate physiological mechanisms underpinning individual variation in, a) timing of breeding, and b) parental care, integrating data on temperature, prey availability, foraging behavior, and physiology (hormone levels, metabolites, hematology) approaching this from a novel "exercise physiology" perspective derived from human sports medicine studies. A second set of experiments will validate, and then use, physiological techniques for manipulation of individual variation in clutch size to identify the hormonal control mechanisms regulating the number of eggs birds lay. The long-term goal of this research is to better integrate physiology and evolutionary biology to increase our knowledge of the physiological response mechanisms underpinning the avian life-history traits that contribute most to variation in fitness. This work is critical to enable us to develop an ability to predict, not simply track, how climate change will affect avian populations: this requires that we obtain a far better understanding of the basic, underlying physiological and hormonal mechanisms that link environmental cues and environmental conditions to reproduction.

我有一本正在出版的书《鸟类繁殖的生理适应》，这本书全面回顾了鸟类的繁殖，得出的结论是，我们对支撑繁殖特征的生理机制只有一个基本的了解，在某些情况下是不存在的，而种群研究表明，这些机制与繁殖成功的个体差异最密切相关，例如繁殖的时机、产卵的数量和父母的照顾。我提出了两个主要主题：我们必须从女性的角度来考虑这个话题，我们需要关注个体差异，我主张转移对鸟类繁殖的研究重点，如果我们要成功地将生理学和生态学结合起来。我将结合实验室对圈养繁殖的斑马雀(500多只鸟)的研究，以及对自由生活、巢箱饲养的欧洲八哥的研究。在一系列相关的实验研究中，我将研究个体差异的生理机制，包括a)繁殖时机和b)父母照料，综合温度、猎物可获得性、觅食行为和生理学(激素水平、代谢物、血液学)的数据，从源于人类运动医学研究的新的“运动生理学”角度来探讨这一点。第二组实验将验证并使用生理技术来操纵个体在产卵大小上的差异，以确定调节鸟类产卵数量的荷尔蒙控制机制。这项研究的长期目标是更好地整合生理学和进化生物学，以增加我们对支撑鸟类生活史特征的生理反应机制的了解，这些特征对适应能力的变化贡献最大。这项工作对于使我们能够发展预测而不是简单地跟踪气候变化将如何影响鸟类种群的能力至关重要：这要求我们更好地了解将环境线索和环境条件与繁殖联系起来的基本的、潜在的生理和激素机制。