NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Multimodal Animal Communication Ecology

公众对有毒农药的持续和日益增长的使用的关注促使监管机构消除农药或限制其使用。 这反过来又导致许多害虫死灰复燃，而其他害虫则继续袭击粮食、纤维和人类，严重影响我们的健康和以自然资源为基础的经济。 迫切需要改进害虫控制方法和化学杀虫剂的替代品。主席的更新建议涉及其中一些替代办法：多模式觅食线索或通信信号，昆虫（和一些脊椎动物）利用这些信号进行通信和寻找资源。 重点是发现多模态和多成分刺激，因为越来越多的证据表明，动物整合不同类型的信息。 新的视觉，化学信息素，声音，红外线，生物磁性和静电觅食线索和通信信号的发现，以及它们之间的协同效应，将允许开发更有效的诱饵或驱避剂，以及针对特定目标的害虫控制的新策略。第三届主席任期将扩大研究计划，不仅包括害虫，而且包括宠物。 狗是人类最好的朋友，但我们对它们的交流知之甚少，而且常常把它们限制在“不友好”的环境中。 拟议中的对犬双模态通信信号和与猎物相关的伪造线索的研究有望丰富犬的无生命环境，并抵消行为剥夺的影响。 这项研究也将为其他家畜的类似研究提供动力。

Public concern over continued and growing use of toxic pesticides has prompted regulatoryagencies to eliminate pesticides or restrict their use. This, in turn, has led to the resurgence of manypests, while others continue their assault on food, fibre and people, severelyaffecting our health and natural resource-based economy. Improved pest control methods and alternatives to chemical pesticides are urgentlyneeded. The renewal proposal of the Chair is about some of those alternatives: multimodal foraging cues or communicationsignals that insects (and some vertebrates) utilize to communicate and locate resources. The emphasis is on thediscoveryof multi-modal and multi-component stimuli because increasing evidence indicates that animals integrate diverse types of information. The discoveryof novel visual, semiochemical, sonic, infrared, biomagnetic, and electrostatic foraging cues and communication signals, and synergistic effects between them, would allow the development of more effective baits or repellents, and new tactics for target-specific pest control. The third Chair term will expand the research program to include not onlypests but also pets. Dogs are man's best friend but we know surprisinglylittle about their communication, and all too often confine them under "unfriendly" conditions. The proposed research on canine bi-modal communication signals and prey-related forging cues is expected to enrich the dogs' inanimate environment and to counteract the effects of behavioural deprivation. This research will also provide impetus for similar studies on other domestic animals.