The Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Habitat- and Density-Dependent Animal Behaviour

密度依赖是一个影响动物生存和死亡的生态过程，影响种群的增长或下降速度。密度的作用是通过影响动物的行为，改变它们的成本和收益。根据个体或个体子集表现出的行为，密度可以不同地影响繁殖或生存。当某些行为的选择压力出现时，这些行为在种群中的分布可能会随着时间的推移而改变。我的长期目标是测试密度依赖行为之间的关系，同时量化种群中基于个体的行为的表型分布如何随密度而变化，以及这些行为如何影响种群增长。我将应用生态进化框架来研究行为生态学和人口动态之间的联系。例如，个体的栖息地选择和社会行为可能会影响其繁殖、生存，从而影响种群的增长。随着种群的增长，密度的变化可能会影响栖息地选择和社会行为对繁殖和生存的影响，即行为的适应价值。最近的证据表明，来自社会网络和资源使用的社会性行为在个体之间表现出一致的差异，即所谓的个性。这些行为与密度相关并受其影响。为了实现我的长期目标，我提出了3个短期计划来测试社会行为和栖息地选择的适应价值如何受到密度的影响；社会行为与栖息地选择之间的关系；以及生态进化反馈如何影响这些行为的适应价值。为了实现这一点，我将结合现有的和新的数据，使用社会有蹄类作为模型系统。现有的数据包括驯鹿和麋鹿的历史遥测数据。新的数据将从低成本的全种群捕获-标记-再捕获北美驯鹿中收集。我将使用1965年至1967年被引入纽芬兰岛的一个驯鹿种群作为研究对象。它是研究精细尺度生态学、进化和种群动态的中观。这将成为一个长期的个人研究项目。我的研究计划将有两个目的：在生态进化框架内测试和推进关于密度依赖行为和种群动态的基本问题，同时顺便关注关键的保护问题，因为北美驯鹿是一个全球衰退的物种。

Density dependence is an ecological process that affects how animals live and die, influencing the rates populations increase or decline. Density acts by affecting animal behaviors, altering their costs and benefits. Depending on what behaviors an individual or subset of individuals expresses, density can differentially affect reproduction or survival. As selective pressure for certain behaviors occurs, the distribution of these behaviors in a population may change through time. My long-term objective tests the relationships between density-dependent behaviors, while quantifying how the phenotypic distribution of individual-based behaviors in a population changes as a function of density, and how these affect population growth. I will apply an eco-evolutionary framework to the link between behavioral ecology and population dynamics. For example, an individual’s habitat selection and social behavior likely affect its reproduction, survival, and consequently the population’s growth. As populations grow, changing density may influence how habitat selection and social behavior affect reproduction and survival, i.e., the adaptive value of the behavior. Recent evidence suggests that sociality derived from social networks and resource use are behaviors that exhibit consistent differences among individuals, so-called personalities. These behaviors are correlated and affected by density. To achieve my long-term objective, I propose 3 short-term initiatives that test how the adaptive value of social behavior and habitat selection are influenced by density; how social behaviors and habitat selection are correlated; and how an eco-evolutionary feedback affects the adaptive value of these behaviors. To achieve this I will combine existing and new data, using social ungulates as a model system. Existing data consists of historical telemetry data on caribou and elk. New data will be collected from a low-cost whole-population capture-mark-recapture of caribou. I will use a research population of caribou that was introduced onto an island off Newfoundland from 1965-1967. It is a mesocosm to study fine-scale ecology, evolution, and population dynamics. This will become a long-term individual-based research program. My research program will serve two purposes: Test and advance fundamental questions about density-dependent behaviors and population dynamics within an eco-evolutionary framework, while incidentally attending to critical conservation issues, as caribou are a species in global decline.