The ecology and evolution of behavioural plasticity

*行为可塑性是指个人因应环境(包括社会)条件的变化而改变其行为的能力。与行为固定的人相比，整形人应该能够改变自己的行为，在任何给定的情况下都能最大限度地取得成功。然而，尽管自然选择应该先验地侵蚀可塑性的变异，但种群内的个体在行为可塑性水平上通常彼此之间存在很大差异。到目前为止，为什么以及如何保持这些行为可塑性差异的问题主要是从理论分析入手的，而大多数实证研究都量化了这些差异，而不考虑它们的来源或适应价值。拟议的研究旨在：1)确定有助于维持个体行为可塑性差异的机制；2)确定在新的或不断变化的环境条件下，这些差异对种群长期可持续性的影响。具体地说，拟议的计划有三个主要目标：i)确定生理约束对个人可塑性表达的重要性，ii)建立个性和可塑性之间的联系，以及iii)了解性别选择在认知技能和行为可塑性进化中的作用。这项研究将使用新产生的斑马雀实验数据和理论方法的混合。这一计划的结果将对物种保护和重新引入的保护政策特别相关。此外，这项研究将有助于培训概念科学家，他们将获得有用的方法学技能来设计实验和产生可检验的理论。**

*Behavioural plasticity is the ability of individuals to change their behaviour in response to variations in environmental (including social) conditions. Compared to individuals with fixed behaviours, plastic individuals should be able to alter their behaviour to maximize their success under any given circumstance. Yet, although natural selection should a priori erode variation in plasticity, individuals within populations generally differ widely among each other in their levels of behavioural plasticity. So far, the question of why and how these differences in behavioural plasticity are maintained has been mainly addressed from theoretical analyses, while most empirical studies have quantified these differences without regard to their origin or adaptive value. The proposed research aims at i) identifying the mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of individual differences in behavioural plasticity and ii) determining the consequences of those differences for long-term persistence of populations under new or changing environmental conditions. Specifically the proposed program has three main goals: i) determining the importance of physiological constraints on the expression of individual plasticity, ii) establishing the links between personality and plasticity, and iii) understanding the role of sexual selection on the evolution of cognitive skills and behavioural plasticity. The research will use a mix of newly generated experimental data on zebra finches and theoretical approaches. Results from this program will be particularly relevant for conservation policies for species conservation and reintroduction. Furthermore, this research will contribute to the training of conceptual scientists that will acquire useful methodological skills to design experiments and generate testable theory. **