The Integrative Biology of Animal Flight

这个研究项目的目标是发现指导动态动物行为的感觉、运动和决策规则。我们关注动物的飞行，因为它在生理上具有挑战性，对生存至关重要。对复杂飞行的研究具有广泛的意义，因为动物能够达到的敏捷性远远超过我们目前在技术上所能达到的。对飞行行为的了解也可以为许多濒危鸟类、蝙蝠和昆虫的野生动物保护提供信息。我们使用自动3D跟踪来监测动态飞行行为，我们开发了新的计算方法来分析高通量数据。这导致了国际公认的鸟类飞行的视觉和生物力学机制的发现。本建议以三个主要领域的成功为基础。目标1是确定飞行鸟类如何整合多种视觉线索来执行复杂的飞行行为。我们对动物如何同时使用多种视觉线索进行运动控制几乎一无所知。我们将为鸟类开发一个虚拟现实飞行系统，以测试关于在飞行中使用冗余视觉控制策略的优势的假设。补充研究还将研究野生鸟类在郊区环境中如何受到视觉线索的影响，在郊区环境中，碰撞是导致死亡的主要原因。目标2是确定敏捷性对捕食和竞争的功能后果。我们最近对鸟类的研究表明，复杂的飞行动作受到个体肌肉能力、形态和技能的影响。我们将通过比较不同的蜂鸟物种来测试这种变异的功能含义的假设，我们还将通过运动训练来操纵个体的敏捷性，以测试捕食和竞争的后果。目标#3是建立昆虫飞行性能如何决定生态功能。飞虫是重要的传粉者、食物来源和害虫控制剂，但最近的数据表明，它们的数量正在下降。我们将利用这个机会扩展我们的3D跟踪专业知识，开发一种便携式、自动化、实时3D传感系统来监测昆虫群落。我们将评估遥感飞行性能和相互作用率是否可以提供生态系统功能的指标。这项研究将促进更好地了解具有重大生态和经济影响的当前环境趋势。总的来说，这个研究项目将推进我们在飞行行为、生理学和生态学方面的知识，并在自主系统和野生动物管理方面进行实际应用。受训人员将培养行为系统方面的专业知识，以及分析高通量数据的计算技能，为在科学和技术职业中代表性不足的群体成员提供关键技能。

The goal of this research program is to discover the sensory, motor, and decision-making rules that guide dynamic animal behaviours. We focus on animal flight, because it is physiologically challenging and critical for survival. Research on complex flight has broad implications because animals can achieve agility that far surpasses what we can currently achieve technologically. Knowledge of flight behaviour can also inform wildlife conservation for many declining birds, bats, and insects. We use automated 3D tracking to monitor dynamic flight behaviours, and we develop novel computational approaches to analyze high-throughput data. This has resulted in internationally-recognized discoveries of the visual and biomechanical mechanisms of avian flight. The present proposal builds on this success in three main areas. Objective #1 is to determine how flying birds integrate multiple visual cues to perform complex flight behaviour. We know almost nothing about how animals use multiple visual cues simultaneously for motor control. We will develop a virtual reality flight system for birds to test hypotheses about the advantages of using redundant visual control strategies in flight. Complementary studies will also examine how wild birds are influenced by visual cues in suburban environments, where collisions are a major cause of mortality. Objective #2 is to determine the functional consequences of agility for predation and competition. Our recent studies of birds have shown that complex flight maneuvers are influenced by an individual's muscle capacity, morphology, and skill. We will test hypotheses for the functional implications of this variation by comparing diverse hummingbird species, and we will also manipulate an individual's agility through exercise training, to test the consequences for predation and competition. Objective #3 is to establish how insect flight performance determines ecological function. Flying insects are important pollinators, food sources, and pest control agents, but recent data suggest that their populations are declining. We will capitalize on the opportunity to extend our 3D tracking expertise to develop a portable, automated, real-time 3D sensing system to monitor insect communities. We will evaluate whether remotely-sensed flight performance and interaction rates can provide indicators of ecosystem functioning. This research will catalyze a better understanding of current trends in the environment that have major ecological and economic implications. Overall, this research program will advance our knowledge of flight behaviour, physiology, and ecology, with practical applications in autonomous systems and wildlife management. Trainees will develop expertise in behavioural systems as well as the computational skills to analyze high-throughput data, providing key skills to members of groups that are underrepresented in science and technology careers.