U.S.-Chile Cooperative Research: Reproductive Energetics of a South American Caviomorph Rodent Population

9600578凯纳吉这个美洲项目奖将支持西雅图华盛顿大学的乔治·凯纳吉博士和智利卡托利卡大学的弗朗西斯科·博齐诺维奇博士之间的合作研究项目。拟议项目的目标是描述在德古繁殖的能量消耗情况，德古是一种属于南美鱼子酱种群的啮齿动物。这一群体经历了漫长的孕期，导致早熟幼崽的出生，只需要短暂的哺乳。这项研究将寻求确定能源的峰值需求和消耗，并了解这些与所选物种的最大表现能力之间的对应关系。将使用稳定同位素技术来测量能源消耗率。将对能量学和在海绵体啮齿动物中进化的生活史模式之间的联系进行初步评估。生活史理论产生了一种观点，即对于陆栖动物来说，当前繁殖产量的增加应该对未来的繁殖潜力和生存产生负面影响。来自遗传相关性和个体表现差异的证据继续支持这样一种可能性，即能量关系确实是生物体表现和健康之间的联系。这项研究将通过深入了解自然哺乳动物种群的能量使用过程及其与雌性在怀孕或哺乳期间最大能量能力的关系，来探讨能量在塑造生活史中的作用。这将包括哺乳动物孕育早熟幼崽的母性策略。***

9600578 Kenagy This Americas Program award will support a collaborative research project between Dr. George Kenagy, University of Washington, Seattle, and Dr. Francisco Bozinovic, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. The objective of the proposed project is to characterize the profile of energy expenditure for breeding in the degu, a rodent belonging to a South American group, the Caviomorpha. This group undertakes a lengthy gestation leading to birth of highly precocial young requiring only a brief period of suckling. The study will seek to identify the peak demand and expenditure of energy and to see how these correspond to the maximal performance capacities of the selected species. Stable isotope technology will be used to measure rates of energy expenditure. An initial assessment will be made of the link between energetics and the mode of life history that has evolved in caviomorph rodents. Life history theory has produced the idea that for iteroparous animals an increase in current reproductive output should have a negative impact on future reproductive potential and survival. Evidence from genetic correlations and individual variation in performance continues to lend support to the possibility that energy relations are indeed a link between organismal performance and fitness. This study will address the role of energy in shaping life histories by providing insights into the process of energy use in a natural mammalian population and its relation to maximum energetic capacities of females during gestation or lactation. This will include the mammalian maternal strategy of producing precocial young. ***