An economic view of reproductive decisions in a model species

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。经济学家把谈判作为一系列事件来研究，包括选择合作伙伴、收集信息和讨价还价。这些谈判发生的环境——市场——是至关重要的，因为个人可以根据其他参与者的需求调整自己的需求。动物在繁殖过程中也面临着类似的决定：向谁求爱，如何接近潜在的伴侣，与竞争对手相比在什么水平上表现，以及何时放弃不成功的互动。因此，市场谈判的经济模型提供了一个框架，在这个框架中，求爱可以被视为一个过程，在这个过程中，男性和女性使用一系列策略来提高他们的成功。本项目以大鼠尾草（Centrocercus urophasianus）为模型物种来研究雄性在求偶期间使用策略的重要性。将采用实验和详细观察相结合的方法，包括机器人雌性作为实验刺激，多个麦克风和摄像机记录雄性信号和繁殖行为。这种方法将允许在野生种群中进行求偶互动的实验研究。利用这一框架，调查人员希望表明，求爱的成功，就像在商业中一样，需要一个有吸引力的提议和熟练的谈判。鼠尾草目前正被考虑列入联邦濒危物种名单。这个项目涉及与一名环境教育专家合作进行广泛的外联活动，讨论基础科学和应用科学在管理决策中的作用。这项工作也将补充研究者正在进行的应用研究，以解决噪音污染如何破坏艾草松鸡的求爱谈判并导致其数量下降。该项目包括为一名博士后学者和研究生提供指导和薪水，并为数十名本科生提供指导，其中许多来自未被充分代表的少数民族。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Economists study negotiation as a series of events, including partner choice, information gathering, and haggling. The context in which these negotiations occur--the market--is critical because individuals can adjust their demands in response to those of other players. Animals are faced with similar decisions during reproduction: who to court, how to approach a potential partner, at what level to display compared to competitors and when to give up unsuccessful interactions. Thus, economic models of negotiation in a market provide a framework in which courtship can be viewed as a process in which males and females use a series of tactics to improve their success. This project uses greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as a model species to examine the importance of tactics used by males during courtship. A combination of experiments and detailed observations will be used, including robotic females to serve as experimental stimuli, multiple microphones and video cameras to record male signals and breeding behaviors. This approach will allow for the experimental study of courtship interactions in a wild population. Using this framework, the investigators expect to show that success in courtship, as in business, requires an attractive offer as well as skilled negotiation. Sage-grouse are currently being considered for federal listing as an endangered species. This project involves collaboration with an environmental education specialist to conduct extensive outreach addressing the role of basic and applied science in management decisions. This work will also compliment the ongoing applied research by the investigator to address how noise pollution may disrupt sage-grouse courtship negotiations and contribute to their population declines. This project involves mentorship and salary for a postdoctoral scholar and graduate students, and mentorship for dozens of undergraduates, many from underrepresented minorities.