DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Mechanisms that maintain behavior in the face of environmental change

非技术段落：人类活动正在以惊人的速度改变环境，这些变化可以极大地影响动物及其行为。一个新出现的令人担忧的领域是内分泌干扰化合物(EDCs)，这是一种人工或天然化合物，以各种方式渗透到栖息地，破坏有助于生存和繁殖的身体功能。通常，行为是EDC暴露后第一件要改变的事情，但当行为没有改变时，这意味着什么？这通常被解释为内分泌细胞对个体没有影响，但还有许多替代的解释，可能会提供更多的了解动物如何应对环境压力。这项研究的目的是确定暴露在EDCs中的动物是否通过改变激素产生的模式来维持它们的行为，以及动物用来抵消EDCs影响的措施对动物可能是有益的还是有害的。该项目将包括一个教育项目，向高中生介绍快速变化的环境对生物体的影响。它还将包括通过与当地一个非营利性组织合作，向社区开展外展活动，创建“鱼类指南”，告知公众捕捞食用鱼类的安全区域。技术段落：内分泌干扰物(EDCs)流入水生系统构成了一种重大的人为干扰，影响了生理和行为。然而，有时，行为不会因EDC暴露而改变。我们目前还不了解在面临环境变化时与行为维护相关的成本。本项目使用一种新兴的脊椎动物模型--红树林溪流鱼(Kyptolebiasmarmoratus)，探索内分泌功能的变化如何促进暴露于内毒素的动物的行为维持，并改变行为之间的关联结构。行为关联结构是个体灵活性的重要指标，可以用来确定他们在短期和进化过程中对环境扰动的反应能力。研究人员将不同年龄和性别的个体暴露于两种主要的内分泌细胞--炔基雌二醇和壬基酚--的生态相关浓度梯度后，测量了行为并收集了激素样本。行为分析表明，暴露后平均行为没有变化，但行为间的相关结构发生了变化。通过分析荷尔蒙，研究人员将确定内分泌功能对EDC暴露后单一行为和行为相关性结构的影响程度。这种方法对无效结果的解释提出了新的观点，特别是对于试图了解健康对持续暴露于内分泌细胞的个体的影响的研究。它还将提供对生理系统如何构建行为表型的洞察，并可能以影响个体适应性和选择机会以驱动行为进化的方式对其进行重组。

Non-Technical Paragraph:Human activities are altering environments at an alarming rate, and these changes can dramatically affect animals and their behavior. An emerging area of concern is with endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), which are synthetic or natural compounds that infiltrate habitats in a variety of ways and wreak havoc on functions of the body that aid in survival and reproduction. Oftentimes, behavior is the first thing to change following EDC exposure, but what does it mean when behavior does not change? Frequently this is interpreted as EDCs not having an impact on the individual, but there are many alternative explanations that might provide a greater understanding of how animals cope with environmental stressors. The goal of this research is to determine if animals that are exposed to EDCs maintain their behavior by altering patterns of hormone production, and whether the measures that animals use to counteract the effects of EDCs might be beneficial or harmful to the animal. This project will include an education program to introduce high school students to the impacts of rapidly changing environments on organisms. It will also include outreach to the community by partnering with a local non-profit organization to create 'fish guides' to inform the public of safe areas to catch fish for consumption.Technical Paragraph:The influx of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) into aquatic systems constitutes a major anthropogenic disturbance that influences both physiology and behavior. Sometimes, however, behavior does not change in response to EDC exposure. We do not currently understand the costs associated with behavioral maintenance in the face of environmental change. This project uses an emerging vertebrate model, mangrove rivulus fish (Kryptolebias marmoratus), to explore how changes in endocrine function promote behavioral maintenance in animals exposed to EDCs and alter the correlation structure among behaviors. Behavioral correlation structures are important indicators of an individual's flexibility and can be used to determine how well they can respond to environmental perturbations, both in the short-term and evolutionarily. The researchers measured behavior and collected hormone samples after exposing individuals of different ages and sexes to a gradient of ecologically relevant concentrations of two major EDCs, ethinyl estradiol and nonylphenol. Behavior analysis indicated that there were no changes in average behaviors following exposure, but the correlation structure among behaviors changed. By assaying hormones, the researchers will determine the extent to which endocrine function impacts singular behaviors and the structure of behavioral correlations following EDC exposure. This approach forwards new perspectives on the interpretation of null results, especially for studies seeking to understand the fitness impacts on individuals persistently exposed to EDCs. It will also provide insights into how physiological systems structure the behavioral phenotype, and perhaps restructure it in response to EDCs in ways that impact individual fitness and opportunities for selection to drive behavioral evolution.