CAREER: Social and coevolutionary feedbacks between mating and parental investment: Insights from theory and data

理解为什么生物体相互合作或相互冲突是进化生物学和动物行为学中最基本的问题之一。然而，尽管对这一主题进行了广泛的研究，但仍然很难先验地预测特定的社会互动是否会涉及个体之间的合作或冲突，也很难知道这些社会互动如何影响进化模式。这些困难表明，需要在自然界社会互动的理论和数据之间建立更大的联系。生物之间一些最基本但最迷人的社会互动发生在繁殖过程中，个体之间可能会相互竞争，选择潜在的配偶，并在提供和照顾后代的过程中相互作用。该项目将数学理论与野外实验相结合，研究雄性和雌性之间的社会互动和进化动态如何将交配模式和亲代照顾模式相互联系起来。这个新理论的预测将在濑鱼身上得到验证，濑鱼在交配和亲代照顾过程中的相互作用包含冲突和合作的元素，现有的理论无法解释观察到的模式。通过实验来操纵男性和女性所经历的社会环境，该项目将研究个体行为、繁殖和社会互动的变化，并询问是什么决定了在繁殖过程中男性和女性之间是否会产生冲突或合作。该项目将让高中实习生、本科生、研究生和博士后接触到一系列的研究方法，包括数学建模、遗传学和实地实验。然而，这些青年科学家也将直接参与其他青年科学家的教学和指导。因此，这个项目将增加我们对社会互动、冲突和合作的总体理解，同时培养年轻科学家成为优秀的科学家、教师和导师。

Understanding why organisms cooperate or are in conflict with one another is one of the most basic questions within evolutionary biology and animal behavior. However, despite extensive research on the subject, it remains difficult to predict a priori whether a particular social interaction will involve cooperation or conflict among individuals or to know how these social interactions affect evolutionary patterns. These difficulties demonstrate the need for a greater connection between theory and data on social interactions in nature. Some of the most basic yet fascinating social interactions among organisms occur during reproduction where individuals may compete with one another, select among potential mates and interact during the provisioning and care of young. This project uses a combination of mathematical theory and experiments in the wild to examine how patterns of mating and parental care are interconnected through social interactions and evolutionary dynamics among males and females. The predictions of this novel theory will then be tested in the ocellated wrasse, a fish where interactions during mating and parental care involve elements of both conflict and cooperation and where existing theory cannot explain observed patterns. Using experiments that manipulate the social environment experienced by both males and females, this project will examine changes in individual behavior, reproduction and social interactions and ask what determines whether conflict or cooperation arises between males and females during reproduction. This project will expose high school interns, undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to a range of research methods including mathematical modeling, genetics and field experiments. However, these young scientists will also be directly involved in the teaching and mentorship of other young scientists. This project will therefore increase our general understanding of social interactions, conflict and cooperation while training young scientists to be excellent scientists, teachers and mentors.