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

技术的进步推动了田间生态学的最新研究进展。不仅新的分子工具(如基因组学、转录学、表观遗传学)的发布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产生了生物测井工具，以收集以前无法研究的空间和时间尺度的数据。这项工作的一个前沿领域是工具的微型化，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GPS(GPS、加速计和陀螺仪)现在的重量和大小可以适用于小型哺乳动物(例如80-100克)。*这些工具是研究团队竞相发布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)种群长达13年的研究，我们的团队对生活史和行为特征的组合进化进行了创新研究，并在进化生态学中生命步速综合征假说的发展中发挥了重要作用。*我们收集了大量不同的高质量数据(例如，数百个与生态相关的特征的表型数据；关于微型栖息地质量的时空数据；亲子关系和血统数据；个人健康状况)，我们建议将这些数据与这种微型GPS提供的精细移动和位置数据结合起来，以无与伦比的详细程度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和个体(空间、时间和社会)生态位专长之间的差异之间的联系。*这些工具因此将使我们的计划处于生态学和进化论研究的前沿，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。我们已计划在未来5年内，将微型全球定位系统应用于涉及多个总部基地的10个研究项目。作为一种将越来越多地被用于野生动物研究的工具，微型GPS将为我们的HQP提供一个极好的机会，使他们的技能多样化，成为现代野生动物生态学家追捧的对象。********

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. ********