Collaborative Research: How to Fall from Trees: Biomechanics and Ecology of Gliding Flight in Arthropods

合作研究：如何从树上掉下来：节肢动物滑翔飞行的生物力学和生态学

• 批准号: 0843120
• 负责人: Stephen Yanoviak
• 金额: $ 25.25万
• 依托单位: University of Arkansas Little Rock
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-15 至 2013-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0843120&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; How; Fall; Trees

Many tree-dwelling animals use aerial gliding to escape predators or to locate resources. Wingless arthropods fall from trees with high frequency as "arthropod rain", often landing in the unfamiliar and hostile understory. This work combines phylogenetic, ecological, behavioral and aerodynamic approaches to assess the overall biological significance of wingless flight. Morphological and behavioral characteristics relevant to gliding will be measured for a large number of arthropods, and will be mapped onto evolutionary trees to identify correlates of this behavior. Species composition of ants falling from the tree canopy will be compared with those that fail to glide to trees, and instead land in the understory. The research will be conducted at rainforest sites having high arthropod diversity in Peru and Panama. Finally, experiments focusing on one common species of gliding ant will examine mechanisms of aerodynamic control. This is the first study to associate gliding behavior in arthropods with specific selection pressures, and the first to quantify the larger ecological phenomenon of arthropod fallout in rainforests. It will more generally evaluate the biological relevance of gliding behavior for the earth's most diverse lineage, the insects. In a broader context, information gathered in this study will be relevant to the emerging technology of self-righting and maneuverable microair vehicles. The research will include the training of a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock (UALR) and field assistants at study sites in Peru and Panama. We will additionally work with historically under-represented undergraduates at UALR (an EPSCOR institution). We will also conduct an outreach component in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences to present our findings to teacher workshops. Our original gliding ant discoveries attracted considerable attention from the popular media and the public at large, and we expect comparable interest in results with other insect gliders.

许多树栖动物利用空中滑翔来躲避掠食者或寻找资源。无翅节肢动物以“节肢动物雨”的形式从树上掉落，通常落在不熟悉且充满敌意的林下。 这项工作结合了系统发育、生态、行为和空气动力学方法来评估无翼飞行的整体生物学意义。 将测量大量节肢动物与滑翔相关的形态和行为特征，并将其映射到进化树上，以识别这种行为的相关性。 从树冠上掉下来的蚂蚁的物种组成将与那些未能滑翔到树上而是降落在林下的蚂蚁进行比较。 该研究将在秘鲁和巴拿马节肢动物多样性较高的雨林地区进行。 最后，针对一种常见滑翔蚁物种的实验将研究空气动力学控制机制。 这是第一项将节肢动物的滑行行为与特定选择压力联系起来的研究，也是第一项量化雨林中节肢动物沉降的更大生态现象的研究。 它将更广泛地评估滑翔行为与地球上最多样化的谱系昆虫的生物学相关性。在更广泛的背景下，本研究收集的信息将与新兴的自动扶正和可操纵微型飞行器技术相关。 该研究将包括对阿肯色大学小石城分校 (UALR) 的一名研究生以及秘鲁和巴拿马研究地点的现场助理进行培训。 我们还将与 UALR（EPSCOR 机构）历来代表性不足的本科生合作。 我们还将与加州科学院合作开展外展活动，向教师研讨会展示我们的研究结果。 我们最初的滑翔蚁发现引起了大众媒体和广大公众的极大关注，我们预计人们对结果的兴趣与其他昆虫滑翔蚁的结果相当。