U.S.-Ecuador Cooperative Research; Cooperative Polyandry in the Galapagos Hawk-Population Studies of Genetics and Ecology

这个美洲项目奖将资助哥伦比亚密苏里大学的John Faaborg博士和厄瓜多尔天主教大学的Tjitte de Vries博士之间为期三年的合作研究项目。他们将对加拉帕戈斯鹰的合作多夫制进行遗传学和生态学的种群研究。合作型多夫制，即每只雌性有几个配偶，而每只雄性只有一个配偶，是研究脊椎动物社会性进化和评估两性之间利益冲突的有用系统。这种“合作式”一妻多夫制非常罕见，除了加拉帕戈斯群岛的鹰外，只有七个物种被描述过。为了理解这种合作繁殖形式的进化，我们需要知道群体中个体繁殖的亲缘程度，一夫多妻制雄性之间的实际亲子关系模式，以及群体生活和成对生活的雄性和雌性的终生繁殖成功率。研究人员建议每年监测100多个社会群体，以衡量群体规模的繁殖成功率，并比较雄性和雌性繁殖成功率的分布。他们将在四个岛屿种群中进行调查工作，以便了解栖息地多样性的高低。这项提议的工作很可能会产生一些关于生态力量如何影响交配系统的有趣和具有挑衅性的想法。＊＊＊

9722735 Faaborg This Americas Program award will fund a 3-year cooperative research project between Dr. John Faaborg, University of Missouri, Columbia, and Dr. Tjitte de Vries, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador. They will conduct population studies on genetics and ecology on cooperative polyandry in Galapagos hawks. Cooperative polyandry, where each female has several mates, but each male has only one, is a useful system for studying the evolution of sociality in vertebrates, and evaluating the conflict of interests between the sexes. "Cooperative" polyandry of this type is rare, having been described in only seven species besides Galapagos hawks. In order to understand the evolution of this form of cooperative breeding, there is need to know the degree of relatedness of individuals breeding in groups, the actual patterns of parentage among polyandrous males, and the lifetime reproductive success of males and females living in groups and those living in pairs. The investigators propose to monitor more than 100 social groups per year to measure reproductive success as a function of group size and compare distribution of reproductive success in males and females. They will do survey work in four islands populations in order to have both high and low habitat diversity. The proposed work most likely will generate some interesting and provocative ideas about how ecological forces may affect mating systems. ***