The dimensions of fear: from genes to ecosystems

由于认识到捕食者的影响可能比以前认识到的要深远得多，“生态学的范式转变”正在进行中。这部分源于新的证据，即猎物实际上可以“死于恐惧”。我的研究处于这种范式转变的前沿。我第一次证明了恐惧本身是强大到足以影响野生动物种群动态的，部分原因是害怕的父母会让他们的孩子饿死。多亏了新的生物遥测技术，我可以全年跟踪生存情况，现在我将量化恐惧对猎物种群动态的总体影响，通过测试幼鸟和成年鸟是否也可能“死于恐惧”，用鸣禽作为我的模型猎物。我的研究表明，恐惧是代价高昂的。在不必要的情况下，动物应该因此失去恐惧。为了探索恐惧对生态系统的影响，我将测试在顶级捕食者（如狼）灭绝后，较小（“中”）捕食者（浣熊）的恐惧丧失是否有助于解释“中捕食者释放”对生物多样性的破坏性影响。恐惧倾向于逃避而不是忍耐，因此可能会降低鸟类的迁徙飞行能力。利用全球独一无二的风洞和独一无二的繁殖设施，我将进行有史以来第一次实验测试，以确定迁徙的成本是否会对繁殖产生不利的“延续”影响，作为测试恐惧是否会加剧这种影响的一部分。捕食者引起的恐惧是创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）“动物模型”中最常见的压力源之一，这促使一些生物医学研究人员提出PTSD是对捕食者的反应而进化的。为了验证这一点，我将通过测试恐惧对野生鸟类和哺乳动物神经回路的持久影响来弥合医学和生态学之间的差距。因此，我高度原创和创新的研究将影响保护和野生动物管理，以及医疗实践。培养博士6人，硕士5人，学士论文8人，本科助教多名。这些HQP将接受遗传、生理、神经生物学、行为和生态研究方面的综合培训，为他们提供在学术或专业公共或私营部门职业生涯中取得成功所需的高度期望的技能。

A "paradigm shift in ecology" is in progress, resulting from the recognition that the impacts of predators may be far more profound than previously realized. This stems in part from new evidence that prey can actually 'die of fright'. My research is at the forefront of this paradigm shift. I demonstrated for the first time that fear itself is powerful enough to affect wildlife population dynamics, partly because frightened parents will literally let their young starve to death. Thanks to new biotelemetry technology I can track survival year-round, and I will now quantify the total impact of fear on prey population dynamics, by testing if juveniles and adults may also 'die of fright', using song sparrows as my model prey. My research shows that fear is costly. Where it is unnecessary, animals should thus lose their fear. To explore the ecosystem-level effects of fear I will test if the loss of fear in smaller ("meso") predators (raccoons) after the extirpation of apex predators (e.g. wolves), helps explain the devastating impacts of "mesopredator release" on biodiversity. Fear favours escape vs. endurance, and so may reduce migratory flight ability in birds. Using a globally-unique wind tunnel and a one-of-a-kind breeding facility, I will conduct the first ever experimental test of whether the costs of migration have adverse "carry-over" effects on reproduction, as part of testing if fear exacerbates such effects. Predator-induced fear is one of the most common stressors used in the 'animal model' of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prompting some biomedical researchers to propose that PTSD evolved as a response to predators. To help validate this I will bridge the gap between medical science and ecology by testing for the same lasting effects of fear on neural circuitry in wild birds and mammals. My highly original and innovative research will thus impact conservation and wildlife management, and medical practice as well. I will train 6 PhDs, 5 MScs, 8 BSc thesis students, and multiple undergraduate assistants. These HQP will receive integrative training in genetic, physiological, neurobiological, behavioural and ecological research, providing them with the highly desired skills needed to succeed in academic or professional public or private sector careers.