Function of Early Incubation: Tests of Social and Environmental Constraints

小行星9407349 摘要 后代代表着父母对未来的投资。 从进化的角度来看，这意味着父母通常应该以最大限度地提高后代数量的方式行事。 这一基本生物学问题的某些方面可以在鸟类中得到特别好的研究，因为鸟类通过何时以及如何孵化鸡蛋来控制其后代的发育。 Beissinger博士将通过一系列实地实验来检验关于父母行为的适应性的几个假设，这些实验将检查孵化行为的不同适应功能。 研究结果将被整合到一个生殖的层次模型中，并将有助于发展我们对生殖生物学的理解。 此外，由于Beissinger博士研究的物种的许多近亲都濒临灭绝，这项研究将对保护生物学产生影响。

9407349 Beissinger Abstract Offspring represent parental investment in the future. In evolutionary terms, this means that parents should generally behave in ways that maximize the number of offspring they raise. Certain aspects of this fundamental biological question can be particularly well-studied in birds because birds control the development of their young by when and how they incubate eggs. Dr. Beissinger will test several hypotheses about the adaptive nature of parental behavior through a series of field experiments which will examine different adaptive functions of incubation behavior. The results will be integrated into a hierarchical model of reproduction and will help to develop our understanding of the biology of reproduction. In addition, because many close relatives of the species Dr. Beissinger works with are endangered, this research will have implications for conservation biology.