CAREER: Individual Variation in Dispersal Through a Social Landscape: Causes and Consequences

职业：社会景观中扩散的个体差异：原因和后果

• 批准号: 1149056
• 负责人: Michele Nishiguchi
• 金额: $ 91万
• 依托单位: New Mexico State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-05-15 至 2018-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1149056&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Individual; Variation; Dispersal; Through

Young animals must often leave their birthplace and search for a new home before producing their own offspring; such movement between natal and breeding locations is known as natal dispersal. Dispersal behavior underlies many ecological processes. For example, individual movement across the landscape during dispersal provides crucial ecological connectivity in natural populations. However, extraordinarily little is known about how young animals navigate the complex social and ecological environments they encounter during dispersal. This project will use the brush mouse (Peromyscus boylii) as a model system to answer the following questions: 1) How do pre-existing behavioral differences among individuals influence dispersal movements? 2) How do social interactions with resident adults affect the behavior of juveniles as they move through the landscape? 3) How are survival and reproductive success affected by the interplay of socioecological conditions and individual dispersal strategies? This project will utilize a new automated animal tracking system, social network approaches, and genetic tools to develop a more complete understanding of dispersal dynamics in a natural population of brush mice. This project includes multiple opportunities for training and outreach. Through a multi-institution undergraduate course, students will collaborate across campuses using a wilderness wireless network and social media to coordinate field research projects, collect data, and communicate their experiences to a wider audience. Outreach activities introducing elementary school students to the tracking technology employed in the field research will be developed and distributed. Education and outreach activities will be integrated online: a research blog written by project participants will document the movements of radiotracked animals, social networking sites will allow course participants to communicate their experiences from the field, and outreach activities based on field research methods and data will be made freely available online.

幼小的动物在产生自己的后代之前必须经常离开出生地寻找新家；这种出生地和繁殖地之间的移动被称为出生扩散。扩散行为是许多生态过程的基础。例如，个体在扩散过程中在景观中的移动为自然种群提供了至关重要的生态连通性。然而，人们对幼年动物如何应对它们在扩散过程中遇到的复杂社会和生态环境知之甚少。该项目将使用刷鼠（Peromyscus boylii）作为模型系统来回答以下问题：1）个体之间预先存在的行为差异如何影响扩散运动？ 2）与常住成年人的社会互动如何影响青少年在景观中移动时的行为？ 3）社会生态条件和个体扩散策略的相互作用如何影响生存和繁殖成功？该项目将利用新的自动动物追踪系统、社交网络方法和遗传工具来更全面地了解刷鼠自然种群的扩散动态。该项目包括多个培训和外展机会。通过多机构本科课程，学生将使用荒野无线网络和社交媒体进行跨校园合作，协调实地研究项目、收集数据并向更广泛的受众传达他们的经验。将开展和分发外展活动，向小学生介绍现场研究中使用的跟踪技术。教育和外展活动将在线整合：项目参与者撰写的研究博客将记录放射性追踪动物的运动，社交网站将允许课程参与者交流他们的现场经验，基于现场研究方法和数据的外展活动将可以在线免费获取。