International Research Fellowship Program: The Quest of King Penguins: Orientation in a Crowded Environment

0700939 Nesterova（Vlasak）国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。 该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用独特或互补的设施，专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持安娜Nesterova博士（Vlasak）与Francesco Bonadonna博士在蒙彼利埃的CNRS - CEFE工作24个月的研究奖学金，法国。在一个群体中，群体鸟类的方向对目前对短程导航的理解构成了一个难题。许多动物的存在可能会阻碍熟悉的路线或任何当地可用的线索，无论是视觉，听觉还是嗅觉，使导航特别具有挑战性。王企鹅（Aptenodytes patagonicus）是特别感兴趣的空间定位的研究，因为他们生活在大型和人口密度极高的殖民地，可以延伸超过几公里。在繁殖期间，每对鸟都居住在几平方米的固定区域内。配偶轮流履行父母的职责，当父母中的一方从觅食之旅回来时，它必须在拥挤的群体中找到它的配偶。虽然王企鹅以其对配偶和雏鸟的声音识别而闻名，但基于声音的定向只能在几米范围内发生。企鹅是如何通过一个大的殖民地到达它们的居住地的，这仍然是未知的。 拟议的工作的目标是确定机制，使动物在拥挤的环境中成功地定向。三个非相互排斥的假设正在评估：视觉环境特征（地标）是重要的归巢;熟悉的路线是重要的归巢;和嗅觉线索是重要的归巢。在实验中，视觉地标，熟悉的路线或嗅觉线索被操纵，并测试企鹅在殖民地内找到其居住区的能力。在第一个实验中，通过给企鹅戴上磨砂护目镜，视觉地标的视野被挡住了。在第二个实验中，动物被释放到殖民地周围的新地点，以测试熟悉路线的重要性。在最后一个实验中，通过暂时堵住鸟的鼻孔来控制嗅觉线索的可用性。与控制条件（所有线索都可用）相比，在归航期间旅行持续时间和/或不寻常轨迹的增加将表明被测试线索的方向的重要性。除了实验操作，行为观察殖民地内的运动被用来调查视觉地标的使用。观测是在晴朗的夜晚进行的，当时有一些可视地标，而在阴天的夜晚则看不到可视地标。比较了这两种情况下动物的行为。 这项研究的结果对于我们理解让动物在拥挤的环境中成功导航的一般短程机制非常重要。

0700939Nesterova (Vlasak)The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Anna Nesterova (Vlasak) to work with Dr. Francesco Bonadonna at the CNRS - CEFE in Montpellier, France.Orientation of colonial birds within a colony poses a puzzle to the current understanding of short-range navigation. The presence of many animals can obstruct familiar routes or any locally available cues, whether they are visual, auditory, or olfactory, making navigation especially challenging. King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) are of particular interest to the studies of spatial orientation because they live in large and extremely densely populated colonies that can stretch over several kilometers. During breeding period each pair of birds reside within a fixed area of a few square meters. Mates alternate parental duties, and when one of the parents returns from a foraging trip it must find its mate in a crowded colony. While king penguins are famous for their vocal recognition of mates and chicks, the orientation based on vocalizations can take place only within several meters. It remains unknown how penguins proceed through a large colony to their residence areas. The objective of the proposed work is to identify mechanisms that allow animals to orient successfully in a crowded environment. Three non-mutually exclusive hypotheses are being evaluated: visual environmental features (landmarks) are important for homing; familiar routes are important for homing; and olfactory cues are important for homing. In the experiments, visual landmarks, familiar routes or olfactory cues are being manipulated, and the ability of penguins to find their residence area within a colony is tested. The view of visual landmarks is obstructed during the first experiment by fitting penguins with frosted goggles. In the second experiment, animals are released at novel locations around the colony in order to test the importance of familiar routes. In the last experiment, the availability of olfactory cues is controlled by temporarily plugging bird's nostrils. Increase in trips' duration and/or unusual trajectories during homing compared to the control condition (all cues are available) would suggest the importance for orientation of the cues being tested. In addition to experimental manipulations, behavioral observations of movements within colony are used to investigate the use of visual landmarks. The observations are carried out during clear nights when some visual landmarks are available and overcast nights when no visual landmarks can be seen. The behavior of animals under these two conditions is compared. The results of this study are important for our understanding of the general short-range mechanisms that allow animals to navigate successfully in crowded environments.