Miniaturized GPS to boost research on the link between pace-of-life profiles, habitat matching, and ecological niche specialisation in small mammals

技术的发展促进了近年来野外生态学研究的发展。不仅新的分子工具（如基因组学、转录组学、表观遗传学）的发布，已经完善了对自然种群进化和生态过程的研究，而且最近的电子革命也产生了生物测井工具，可以在空间和时间尺度上收集以前无法研究的数据。这一努力的一个前沿领域是工具的小型化，以高水平的细节和准确性研究小动物的运动、位置和社会互动。在这些工具中，小型化的GPS （GPS、加速度计和陀螺仪）的重量和尺寸现在可以安装在小型哺乳动物身上（例如80-100克）。******这些工具是研究团队竞相发表各自领域最具影响力的研究成果的关键因素。通过对野生东部花栗鼠（Tamias striatus）种群为期13年的研究项目，我们的团队在生活史和行为特征的结合进化方面进行了创新研究，并在进化生态学中生命速度综合症假说的发展中发挥了重要作用。******我们收集了大量高质量的数据（例如，数百个个体的生态相关特征表型；微栖息地质量的时空数据；父系和系谱数据；个体适应度），我们建议将这些数据与小型化GPS的精细运动和位置数据结合起来，以无与伦比的细节水平解决重要的生态问题。特别是，我们计划使用安装在花栗鼠身上的GPS项圈来研究生活节奏差异与个体（空间、时间和社会）利基专业化之间的联系。******因此，这些工具将使我们的项目处于生态学和进化研究的前沿，并在进化生态学研究的发展中发挥先锋作用，对生物多样性和保护生物学研究产生影响。我们已经计划在未来5年内将微型GPS用于涉及多个HQPs的10个研究项目。作为一种将越来越多地用于野生动物研究的工具，小型化的GPS将为我们的hqp提供一个很好的机会，使他们的技能多样化，成为受欢迎的现代野生动物生态学家。* * * * * * * *

Technologies have boosted the recent research developments of field ecology. Not only the release of novel molecular tools (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics) has refined studies on the evolutionary and ecological processes in natural populations, but also the recent electronic revolution has produced bio-logging tools to collect data at spatial and temporal scales that could not be studied before. One cutting-edge domain of this endeavour is the miniaturisation of tools to study the movements, locations, and social interactions of small animals with high levels of details and accuracy. Among these tools, miniaturized GPS (GPS, accelerometer, and gyro meter) are now available at a weight and size that can be fitted on small mammals (e.g. 80-100g). ******These tools are a key factor in the race among research teams to publish the most influential studies in their field. With a 13-year research project on a wild eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) population, our team has produced innovative research on the combined evolution of life history and behaviour traits and has played a major role in the development of the Pace-Of-Life Syndrome hypothesis in evolutionary ecology. ******We have collected a large diversity of high quality data (e.g. several hundred individuals phenotyped for ecologically relevant traits; spatial and temporal data on micro-habitat quality; paternity and pedigree data; individual fitness), and we propose to combine these data with fine-scale movement and location data from such miniaturised GPS to tackle important ecological questions with an unequalled level of details. In particular, we plan to use GPS collars fitted on chipmunks to study the links between differences in pace-of-life and individual (spatial, temporal, and social) niche specialisations. ******These tools will therefore put our program at the forefront of research in ecology and evolution, and play a pioneering role in the development of research in evolutionary ecology, with implications for biodiversity and conservation biology studies. We already plan to use the miniaturized GPS for 10 research projects involving several HQPs within the next 5 years. As a tool that will increasingly be used in wildlife studies, the miniaturized GPS will provide a great opportunity for our HQPs to diversify their skills and become sought-after modern wildlife ecologists. ********