Cognition, Ecology and Evolution in Wild Passerine Birds

野生雀形目鸟类的认知、生态和进化

• 批准号: 435596-2013
• 负责人: MorandFerron, Julie
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 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=552815
• 关键词: Cognition; Ecology; Evolution; Wild; Passerine

Learning and memory are essential for successful reproduction, resource acquisition and predator avoidance in a wide diversity of species. Although the links between cognition and the nervous system have been studied intensively in the last century, we still know very little on why contemporary species differ in cognitive abilities. The long-term objective of my research program is to understand how cognition is shaped by natural selection in the wild. Our short-term objectives include the study of the evolution of spatial memory, learning, and innovativeness in wild passerine birds. Spatial memory is thought to be critical for food-hoarding birds, because these species make thousands of caches and relocate them by remembering their exact locations several weeks later. Research on food-hoarding relies on the untested assumption that individuals with better spatial memory survive better through harsh winters; I propose to test this using a local population of wild black-capped chickadees. We will also use this newly-monitored population to examine the relative contribution of spatial memory and learning to survival in habitats characterised by different levels of anthropogenic modification. My team will also examine the evolution of spatial cognition in a population of gray jays that has been shown to decline recenty due to climate change and the resulting elevated fall temperature that degrades the jays' food caches. We will examine the jays' ability at using a novel, non-perishable food type to make their caches and will assess the impact of this foraging innovation on their reproductive success. We will also continue ongoing research on the evolution of learning ability in non-hoarding great tits of Oxford's Wytham Woods, United Kingdom, where >1000 individual birds are studied every year by a group of international researchers. I expect our research to contribute to a better understanding of how cognition evolves in natural populations of vertebrates, which is relevant to understanding the evolution of our own intelligence.

学习和记忆对于多种物种的成功繁殖、资源获取和躲避捕食者至关重要。尽管上个世纪人们对认知与神经系统之间的联系进行了深入研究，但我们对当代物种认知能力差异的原因仍然知之甚少。我的研究计划的长期目标是了解野外自然选择如何塑造认知。我们的短期目标包括研究野生雀形目鸟类的空间记忆、学习和创新能力的进化。空间记忆被认为对于储存食物的鸟类至关重要，因为这些物种会储存数千个食物，并在几周后通过记住它们的确切位置来重新定位它们。关于食物囤积的研究依赖于未经检验的假设，即具有更好空间记忆的个体能够更好地度过严冬。我建议用当地的野生黑顶山雀来测试这一点。我们还将利用这个新监测的种群来研究空间记忆和学习对以不同程度的人为改造为特征的栖息地中的生存的相对贡献。我的团队还将研究灰松鸦种群空间认知的演变，由于气候变化以及由此导致的秋季气温升高导致松鸦的食物储藏量下降，灰松鸦种群的空间认知能力最近有所下降。我们将研究松鸦使用一种新颖的、不易腐烂的食物类型来储存食物的能力，并将评估这种觅食创新对其繁殖成功率的影响。我们还将继续对英国牛津威瑟姆森林的非囤积大山雀学习能力的演变进行持续研究，该森林的一组国际研究人员每年都会研究超过 1000 只鸟类。我希望我们的研究有助于更好地理解自然脊椎动物群体的认知如何进化，这与理解我们自身智力的进化相关。