NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2013

用能量学来理解稳定的混合物种社会的组织混合物种社会在许多群落中都是普遍存在的，从流动的群体到生态稳定的群体，每个群体成员都有很高的保真度。在某些社会中，某些物种会窃听其他物种的警报，但目前尚不清楚每个物种的总体成本和收益，因此也不清楚物种相互作用的本质。在热带雨林中，混合物种的鸟类群体呈现出已知的最极端的稳定性形式，并在兼性的基础上吸引其他物种。这种稳定的动物社会的持久性为复杂交流的进化奠定了基础，在这种进化中，物种会窃听其他物种的警报，有些物种可能会用虚假的警报来欺骗其他物种。本项目通过测量鸟群内外成员的代谢成本来评估鸣叫和不鸣叫鸟类如何从这些关联中受益的替代假设。多物种鸟群对热带鸟类群落的高度多样性至关重要，容易受到栖息地退化的影响。本项目采用综合生态学方法，结合生理学和行为学来评估驱动稳定的混合物种脊椎动物社会组织的成本和收益。它还将通过向秘鲁农村学生和教师推广基于探究的科学倡议，为本科生提供培训机会，并继续为拉丁美洲本科生开设基于探究的实地研究设计课程，扩大代表性不足群体对科学的参与。

Using energetics to understand the organization of stable mixed-species societiesMixed-species animal societies are ubiquitous in many communities, and range from fluid groups to ecologically stable associations with high fidelity by individual group members. In some societies, certain species eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species, yet it is unclear what the overall costs and benefits are for each species and thus the nature of species interactions. In rainforests, mixed species bird groups take on the most extreme form of stability known, and attract other species on a facultative basis. The permanence of such stable animal societies sets the stage for the evolution of complex communication in which species eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species and where some species potentially deceive others with false alarm calls. This project uses measurements of metabolic costs of flock members in and out of flocks to evaluate alternative hypotheses of how alarm calling and non-alarm calling bird species benefit from these associations. Multi-species flocks are crucial to the high diversity of tropical bird communities and are vulnerable to habitat degradation. This project uses an integrative approach to ecology, incorporating physiology with behavior to evaluate the costs and benefits that drive the organization of stable mixed-species vertebrate societies. It will also broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in science through the extension of inquiry-based science initiatives with rural Peruvian students and teachers, training opportunities for undergraduates, and the continuation of an inquiry-based field research design course for undergraduates from Latin America.