CRU-I: Exploring the Ecology of Flash Communication in Photinus Fireflies Through Collaborative Undergraduate Research with Computer-Simulated Signaling Behavior.

Fitchburg州立学院正在为合作研究项目申请资金，以1)探索同种和异种石楠的雄性求偶行为是如何影响的，以及这种行为如何影响潜在的捕食性石楠、田鼠和蝙蝠，2)开发研究生物之间交流的新方法，3)为Fitchburg州立学院的生物学和计算机科学专业的学生提供跨学科的研究机会。总而言之，这些结果代表了更广泛的需求，即培养学生能够批判性地思考实验设计和实施，并将最新技术应用于解决科学问题。这项建议提供了一种工具，让这些学生接触到科学研究和研究生学习的潜力，将其作为任何科学职业生涯中不可或缺的一部分：通过为我们的本科生提供有偿研究机会，我们将提高我们为这些学生在生物学方面的深造做准备的能力。使学生接触到研究方法，包括假设的开发和测试。他们将有机会发表成果，并在全国会议上与其他人讨论他们的工作。通过提供开发项目从概念到部署的所有阶段的经验，为学生在计算机科学领域的职业生涯做好准备。生物系统中的求偶交流代表着行为生态学中一个迅速发展的领域。虽然技术越来越多地允许我们窃听这些通信系统、模拟信号并识别行为结果，但这种方法主要关注接收者对信号变化的响应行为。当我们试图监控信号发送者如何响应接收者的行为来修改信号时，涉及到额外的复杂性。为了将这种增加的复杂性融入到我们的实验设计中，我们必须模拟和操纵接收器对信号的响应。这需要开发基于微型计算机的仪器，能够检测和分析信号并输出模拟的行为反应。这种类型的系统还可以让我们测试信号者和接收者之间的相互作用如何影响观察到这种交流的同种和异种生物的行为。进行这种类型的研究需要生物学家和计算机科学家之间的合作，前者能够提供对通信系统元素的理解，后者能够设计适当的基于微型计算机的仪器。我们提出的用石楠萤火虫进行的实验需要基于微型计算机的仪器，这些仪器可以对行为数据进行实时整合，以便产生模拟行为并测量随后的行为活动。开发这些仪器需要了解感兴趣的行为曲目的生物学家和有能力开发适当工具的计算机科学家之间的密切合作。这项合作的目标是1)开发模仿雌雄萤火虫之间交流的系统，2)改进这些系统，以更接近地模拟闪电交流的动态本质，3)整合来自其他生物的行为数据，以产生反应。

Fitchburg State College is requesting funding for collaborative research project in order to 1) explore how male courtship behavior in Photinus fireflies is influenced by the behavior of conspecific and heterospecific Photinus fireflies as well as how this behavior influences potentially predatory Photuris fireflies, field mice and bats, 2) to develop new methods for investigating communication between organisms and 3) to provide interdisciplinary research opportunities for students of Biology and Computer Science at Fitchburg State College. Together these outcomes represent the broader need to prepare students who can think critically about experimental design and implementation and apply the latest technology to solving scientific problems. This proposal provides a vehicle to expose these students to the potential for scientific research and graduate study as an integral part of any career in the sciences by: By providing paid research opportunities for our undergraduates we will increase our ability to prepare these students for advanced study in Biology. Exposing students to research methods including the development and testing of hypotheses. They will have the opportunity to publish results and discuss their work with others at a national conference. Preparing students for careers in computer science by giving them experience in all phases of a development project from concept to deployment. Courtship communication in biological systems represents a rapidly growing field within behavioral ecology. While technology increasingly allows us to eavesdrop on these communication systems, simulate signals, and identify behavioral outcomes, this approach focuses predominantly on the behavior of the receiver in response to signal variation. An added level of complexity is involved when we attempt to monitor how the signaler may modify the signal in response to the behavior of the receiver. In order to incorporate this added complexity into our experimental designs we must simulate and manipulate the receiver's response to the signal. This requires developing microcomputer-based instruments capable of detecting and analyzing signals and outputting simulated behavioral responses. This type of system can also allow us to test how the interaction between signalers and receivers influences the behavior of conspecific and heterospecific organisms that are observing this communication. Conducting this type of research requires collaboration between Biologists who can provide an understanding of the elements of the communication system and Computer Scientists capable of designing appropriate microcomputer-based instruments. The experiments we are proposing with Photinus fireflies require microcomputer-based instruments that can perform real-time integration of behavioral data in order to produce simulated behaviors and to measure subsequent behavioral activity. Developing these instruments requires close collaboration between Biologists with knowledge of the behavioral repertoires of interest and Computer Scientists with the capability to develop appropriate tools. The objectives of this collaboration are to 1) develop systems that mimic communication between male and female fireflies, 2) refine these systems to more closely simulate the dynamic nature of flash communication, and 3) integrate behavioral data from other organisms to produce responses.