Using real predators and robot prey to investigate the importance of predators in prey responses

捕食者和猎物被锁定在进化行为的动态相互作用中;捕食者试图最大限度地增加其净摄入量，而不成功的猎物则活不到第二天。这通常会以戏剧性的行为表现达到高潮，比如猎豹在大草原上追逐瞪羚，塘鹅潜水轰炸沙丁鱼浅滩，蝙蝠通过回声定位捕食飞蛾。然而，虽然记录和分析这是可能的，但研究这种类型的行为是有问题的，因为理想情况下，我们会操纵猎物的反应和运动，这在技术上是非常困难的。如果没有人为操纵，很难肯定地说这种行为是为了帮助动物避免被捕食而进化的。这限制了我们对捕食动态反应的理解，因为捕食者的行为往往基于不支持的假设，而不是经验数据。透过最新的科技发展，本项目将探讨猎物如何演化出短期的行为回避以减低风险，捕食者如何学会对抗这些策略，以及这是否将捕食者和猎物锁定在一个适应和反适应的循环中。（欧洲鲈鱼，Perca fluviatilis）将被允许遇到，发现，攻击和尝试消费（即，“机器人”）人造机器人猎物，磁性连接到测试槽下的机器人的小食物。当捕食者的行为不受约束时，猎物的行为完全由计算机程序控制。为了让猎物做出反应，计算机将真实的跟踪捕食性鱼类，并将这些信息反馈给猎物。猎物反应的复杂性将被操纵，从相对简单的行为，如逃离捕食者或聚集到其他猎物，到更复杂的行为，如平衡聚集与逃跑。在该项目的后期阶段，将研究捕食者-猎物相互作用的长期动态，其中不同猎物策略的频率将根据每种策略先前的成功而随时间变化。这将模拟一个进化过程，以及捕食者如何调整其随后的行为，以适应这些猎物策略的变化，将允许检查学习在这些相互作用中的作用。感兴趣的主要焦点将是猎物群体的反应。这些集体（羊群、学校、牛群、蜂群）继续吸引着科学家、电影制片人和公众。其中一个共同的原因是这些物种中的一些个体之间几乎难以理解的协调程度;例如，欧洲椋鸟（Sturnus vulgaris）的晚间表演吸引了英国各地的游客。也是欧盟委员会一个重要研究项目的主题。目前，这些跨学科的“自组织”系统有很多研究兴趣，包括物理学，计算机科学和工程以及生物学，并且在控制行人人群和蝗虫等害虫群方面有应用。所提出的方法将使我们能够以前所未有的细节来研究这种群体行为如何保护猎物免受捕食者的伤害。例如，人们通常认为极化（群体中的个体排成一行面向同一方向）有助于个体之间的信息传递，作为对检测捕食者或食物来源的反应。通过操纵这种行为，可以测试这是否真的有效地避免了真实的捕食性攻击。除了方法上的优势外，重要的是，该系统还避免了将活猎物暴露于捕食者所造成的道德问题，这一问题以前曾阻碍这一领域的进展。该项目将开发一个灵活的系统，用于研究同一物种或不同物种个体之间的行为相互作用，并将引起从事其他问题研究的一系列研究人员的兴趣。

Predator and prey are locked in a dynamic interplay of evolved behaviour; predators attempt to maximise their net intake while unsuccessful prey do not live to see another day. This often culminates in dramatic behavioural displays, as cheetahs chase gazelles across the savannah, gannets dive bomb sardine shoals, and bats hunt moths through echolocation. However, while recording and analysing this is possible, studying this type of behaviour is problematic as ideally we would manipulate the response and movement of prey, which is technically very difficult. Without manipulation, it is difficult to say with any certainty that such behaviour has evolved to help animals avoid predation. This has limited our understanding of dynamic responses to predation as the behaviour of predators is often based on unsupported assumptions rather than empirical data. By using recent technological developments, this project will explore how short-term behavioural avoidance by prey has evolved to minimise risk, how predators learn to counteract these strategies, and whether this locks predator and prey into a cycle of adaptation and counter-adaptation.Predatory fish (the European perch, Perca fluviatilis) will be allowed to encounter, detect, attack and try to consume (i.e. 'kill') artificial robotic prey, small items of food magnetically connected to robots under the testing tank. While the predator's behaviour is unconstrained, the behaviour of the prey are under full control by a computer program. To allow responsive behaviour by the prey, the predatory fish will be tracked by a computer in real time and this information will be fed back and made available to the prey. The complexity of the prey's reaction will be manipulated, from relatively simple behaviours such as fleeing from the predator or aggregating toward other prey, to the more complex such as balancing aggregation with fleeing. In the latter stages of the project, the longer term dynamics of predator-prey interactions will be examined, where the frequency of different prey strategies will change over time based on the previous success of each strategy. This will simulate an evolutionary process and how the predators adapt their subsequent behaviour to these changes in prey strategies will allow an examination of the role of learning in these interactions.The main focus of interest will be on the responses of prey groups. These collectives (flocks, schools, herds, swarms) continue to fascinate scientists, filmmakers and the public alike. One shared reason is the almost incomprehensible degree of coordination between individuals in some of these species; the evening displays of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), for example, attract visitors to sites across the U.K. and is also the subject of a major European Commission research project. There is currently much research interest in these 'self-organised' systems across disciplines, including physics, computer science and engineering as well as biology, and there are applications in controlling pedestrian crowds and pest swarms such as locusts. The proposed method will allow us to examine with unprecedented detail how this group behaviour protects prey from predators. For example, it is often thought that polarisation (where individuals in groups line up to face the same direction) facilitates information transmission between individuals, as a response to detecting a predator or food source. By manipulating this behaviour, it can be tested whether this actually is effective at avoiding real predatory attacks.In addition to methodological advantages, importantly the system also circumvents the ethical problem posed by exposing live prey to predators which has previously hampered progress in this area. The project will develop a flexible system for studying behavioural interactions between individuals of the same or different species and will be of interest to a range of researchers working on other questions.