Collaborative Research: Acoustic ecology of predator-prey interactions: encoding and decoding alarm calls in multispecies communication networks

许多动物在遇到危险时会发出警报。最近的研究表明，这些重要的叫声包含了以前未曾预料到的关于特定危险类型的大量信息（例如，地面上的捕食者、栖息的鹰、飞行的鹰、威胁等级）。此外，现在看来，许多不同种类的鸟类和哺乳动物都参与到复杂的通信网络中，这些通信网络起到了关于共同威胁的“远程预警”系统的作用。这个研究项目将集中研究动物早期预警系统的工作距离。该项目将开发极其灵敏的麦克风阵列，以便监测自然栖息地的声学景观。研究人员将把不同类型的活鹰和极其逼真的机器人捕食者引入实验栖息地。这项研究将产生关于自然远程预警系统的重要信息：警报信号在自然景观中传播的速度和距离有多远？告警呼叫中威胁类型和威胁级别信息是如何编码的？所有种类的鸟类和哺乳动物都平等地参与了这些交流网络吗？除了关于自然远程预警系统如何工作的新信息外，这一创新项目还将产生新的分析工具，用于处理关于信息如何在空间和时间上传播的复杂数据。项目中产生的资源将通过康奈尔鸟类学实验室的麦考利图书馆（世界上最大的自然声音库）（http://macaulaylibrary.org）免费提供。该项目还将包括对许多STEM领域的学生进行交叉培训和指导。此外，该项目将通过康奈尔大学的鸟类学拓展实验室、蒙大拿大学的SpectrUM（一个互动科学中心）、蒙大拿自然历史中心和其他一些活动，与发达的现有公共教育基础设施相结合。这些活动每年将惠及成千上万的人。

Many animals produce alarm calls in response to danger. Recent research suggests that these important calls contain a previously-unsuspected amount of information about the specific type of danger (e.g. predator on the ground, hawk perched, flying hawk, threat level). In addition, it now appears that many different species of birds and mammals participate in complex communication networks that function as "distant early warning" systems about shared threats. This research project will focus on how distant early warning systems of animals work. The project will develop arrays of extremely sensitive microphones so that the acoustic landscapes of natural habitats can be monitored. The researchers will introduce live hawks of different types and extremely realistic robotic predators into the experimental habitats. This research will generate important information about natural distant early warning systems: How fast and how far do alarm calls spread in natural landscapes? How is information about threat type and threat level encoded in the alarm calls? Do all species of birds and mammals participate equally in these communication networks? In addition to novel information on how natural distant early warning systems work, this innovative project will generate new analytical tools for dealing with complex data about how information spreads in space and time. Resources generated during the project will be made freely available through the Macaulay Library (the world's largest repository of natural sounds) at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (http://macaulaylibrary.org). This project will also include a large component of cross-training and mentoring of students in many STEM fields. In addition, the project will dovetail into the well-developed existing infrastructure for public education through Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology Outreach program, The University of Montana's SpectrUM (an interactive science center), The Montana Natural History Center, and several other activities. Together these activities will reach many thousands of people per year.