The role of biological interactions in the evolution of animal behavior

有些动物种群是由喜欢在不同栖息地定居的个体组成的（多态性）。另一些则是由个体根据其栖息地调整其行为（可塑性）组成。预测在什么情况下进化应该保持多态性和可塑性是具有挑战性的，因为生物体会影响彼此的特征和适应性。我的目标是测试是否捕食者-猎物的相互作用和竞争驱动的反掠夺，社会和觅食行为的共同进化，以确定如何相互作用可以有利于共同进化的偏好，某些栖息地的可塑性，并评估竞争如何影响进化的步伐变化。西方黑寡妇蜘蛛提供了一个难得的机会来测试我的假设实验。它们织出三维的网，保护蜘蛛免受捕食性黄蜂的攻击，并捕获猎物。我和我的研究团队将分析蜘蛛网的特征如何塑造蜘蛛对捕食的脆弱性、觅食的成功性以及对昆虫猎物群落的影响。我们还将每年监测一部分野生蜘蛛，以估计它们的繁殖力、存活率和蜘蛛网特征之间的关系。我的研究团队还将确定蜘蛛选择栖息地所使用的线索，并评估影响栖息地偏好和可塑性的选择梯度。实验室的工作将量化栖息地偏好和可塑性之间的遗传相关性。我们将描述蜘蛛如何调整其网络结构，以应对竞争，并评估这些调整对觅食行为和饮食的影响。我们还将量化竞争如何影响网络结构的遗传性。该计划整合了对动物行为，生态学和进化的研究，以深入了解为什么某些种群表现出比其他种群更强的多态性或可塑性。因此，它将为行为和社区生态学家以及进化生物学家提供一些重要的生物进化见解。

Some animal populations are composed of individuals preferring to settle in distinct habitats (polymorphism). Other are instead composed of individuals adjusting their behaviour to their habitat (plasticity). It is challenging to predict under what circumstances evolution should maintain polymorphism and plasticity because organisms affect each other's characteristics and fitness. My objectives are to test whether predator-prey interactions and competition drive the coevolution of anti-predatory, social, and foraging behaviours; to determine how interactions can favor the coevolution of preferences for certain habitats with plasticity; and to assess how competition affects the pace of evolutionary change. Western black widow spiders offer a rare opportunity to test my hypotheses experimentally. They spin three-dimensional webs protecting the spider from predatory wasps and capturing prey. My research team and I will analyse how the characteristics of webs shape spiders' vulnerability to predation, foraging success, and impact on insect prey communities. We will also monitor a subset of wild spiders each year to estimate the relationship between their fecundity, survival, and the characteristics of their webs. My research team will also identify the cues used by spiders to choose their habitat and assess the selection gradients acting on habitat preferences and plasticity. Work in the laboratory will quantify the genetic correlations among habitat preferences and plasticity. We will characterize how spiders adjust the structure of their webs in response to competition and assess the effects of these adjustments on foraging behaviour and diet. We will also quantify how competition affects the heritability of web structure. This program integrates research on animal behaviour, ecology, and evolution to generate insights into why some populations exhibit a stronger polymorphism or plasticity than others. It will thus provide several insights on biological evolution that will be important for behavioural and community ecologists, and evolutionary biologists.