Perceptual Processes in Search and Detection: Density- and Frequency-Dependence

行为生态学解决的问题是行为如何介导具有重要生态和进化后果的过程。例如，我们想知道觅食行为是如何适应资源分布的，以及这些行为调整如何影响资源密度分布与收获率之间的关系。这种关系的细节对各种行为、生态和进化问题都很重要。早期试图理解这种关系的尝试采用了一种“黑箱”方法，用数学方法描述猎物分布和捕食率之间的关系。这个项目的目标是打开黑盒子，分析其组成部分（过程和机制），重点关注感知在搜索和猎物检测中的作用。生态觅食理论很少关注感知如何影响觅食行为。为指导海军搜索行动而开发的模型包括在生态模型中不明确的感知过程和约束。这个项目将检验运筹学中发展的方法是否有助于我们理解感知在动物觅食行为中的作用。正在研究的特定系统是一种觅食隐蔽杂草种子的本地麻雀。在实验过程中，个体寻找散落在土壤中的种子的过程被录了下来。通过对单个种子的位置、搜索策略和成功率的详细分析，盖蒂博士可以开发出替代模型，并测试它们在不同条件下描述和预测行为策略和捕食率的能力。通过这些分析，他可以确定感知过程在多大程度上改变了资源、行为和资源开发之间的关系。

Behavioral ecology addresses questions about how behavior mediates processes with important ecological and evolutionary consequences. For instance, we would like to know how foraging behavior is adapted to the distribution of resources and how these behavioral adjustments influence the relationship between the distribution of a resource density and the rate at which it is harvested. The details of this relationship are important for a variety of behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary problems. Earlier attempts to understand this kind of relationship have taken a "black box" approach to describing mathematically the relationship between prey distribution and predation rate. The goal of this project is to open up the black box and analyze the component parts (processes and mechanisms), focusing on the role of perception in search and prey detection. Ecological foraging theory has paid little attention to how perception influences foraging behavior. Models developed to guide naval search operations include perceptual processes and constraints that are not explicit in ecological models. This project will examine whether the approach developed in operations research helps us to understand the role of perception in animal foraging behavior. The particular system under study is a native sparrow species foraging for cryptic weed seeds. During experiments, individuals are video-taped as they search for seeds scattered on the soil. From detailed analysis of the location of individual seeds and of search tactics and success, Dr. Getty can develop alternative models and test their ability to describe and predict behavioral tactics and predation rates under various conditions. From these analyses, he can determine the extent to which perceptual processes alter the relationship between resources, behavior, and resource exploitation.