Animal communication networks: social, environmental, and anthropogenic drivers of behaviour

交流在调节动物的社会和交配行为方面起着至关重要的作用。我们对鸟类发声交流的生态学和进化的大部分了解都来自于对鸣禽白天鸣叫行为的研究。然而，昼夜活动的物种经常在每天太阳升起前激烈歌唱，这是一种令人印象深刻的表演，被称为黎明合唱。一些白天歌唱的物种也在晚上歌唱。影响黎明合唱和夜间歌唱的社会因素(例如领土边界、邻居的相对质量)和环境因素(例如天气、环境光线)还没有被很好地理解。然而，在决定健康方面，这两种显示器可能至少扮演着与日间信号同样重要的角色。我和我的学生将进行的研究旨在测试为什么鸟类在这些背景下歌唱的假说。我们使用观察和实验相结合的方法和多重假设检验的方法来评估影响三种鸣鸟的发声表现的因素：黑帽山雀、白喉麻雀和燕雀。我们专注于通信网络(其中多个信令者和接收者同时交换信息)的背景下的语音信令。为了做到这一点，我们使用强大的新录音和歌曲回放技术来记录领土持有人的网络，这样就可以同时考虑影响展示的社会环境和非生物因素。通过这种方式分析发声行为，我们可以为动物交流提供新的见解，并研究网络的涌现特性。除了了解这些声音显示如何在自然条件下发挥作用外，我还提出了一些实验，以测试声音显示如何受到光和噪音的影响。人们越来越多地认识到，人为噪音和光照会改变野生动物种群的行为和健康状况。然而，这些特征在景观中的共生模式或它们对领地持有人聚落模式的影响，使许多研究感到困惑。我提议的实验将涉及在一个原本不受干扰的自然种群中，利用滑雪道单独和一起操纵噪音和光照水平。结合对黎明和夜间鸣叫的观察和实验研究，实验操作将提供对动物在景观中面临的越来越大的人为压力的生态影响的洞察。了解动物是如何交流的，以及不同的表现如何影响自然系统的适应性，这一点至关重要。此外，对改变系统如何影响动物行为和生态的洞察可以为长期的保护和减轻损害战略提供参考。

Communication plays a vital role in mediating the social and mating behaviour of animals. Most of our understanding of the ecology and evolution of vocal communication in birds comes from studies of daytime singing behaviour of songbirds. However, species that are diurnally active often sing intensely just before the sun rises each day in an impressive display known as the dawn chorus. A number of daytime singing species also sing at night. The social (e.g. territory boundaries, relative quality of neighbours) and environmental (e.g. weather, ambient light) factors influencing both the dawn chorus and nocturnal singing are not well understood. However, both displays likely play at least equally important roles as daytime signalling does in determining fitness. The studies that my students and I will conduct are designed to test hypotheses for why birds sing in these contexts. We use a combined observational and experimental approach and multiple hypotheses testing to assess the factors influencing vocal displays in three songbird species: black-capped chickadees, white-throated sparrows, and ovenbirds. We focus on vocal signalling in the context of communication networks (where multiple signallers and receivers exchanging information simultaneously). To do so, we use powerful new recording and song playback techniques to record networks of territory holders, such that the social environment and the abiotic factors that influence displays can be considered in concert. By analyzing vocal behaviours in this way, we can provide new insights into animal communication and study emergent properties of networks. In addition to understanding how these vocal displays function in natural conditions, I propose experiments to test how vocal displays are influenced by light and noise. Anthropogenic noise and light are increasingly understood to alter behaviour and fitness of wild-animal populations. However, many studies are confounded by the co-occurrence patterns of these features in the landscape or their influence on settlement patterns of territory holders. The experiments I propose will involve manipulating noise and light levels independently and together using a ski-trail in an otherwise undisturbed natural population. Together with the observational and experimental studies of dawn and nocturnal song, the experimental manipulation will provide insight into ecological effects of the increasing anthropogenic pressures animals face in the landscape. It is imperative to understand how animals communicate and how different displays influence fitness in natural systems. In addition, insights into how altering the system can influence behaviour and ecology of animals can inform conservation and damage mitigation strategies in the longer term.