Parental effects and the adaptive generation of helpers in a cooperative bird

合作鸟中的亲本效应和助手的适应性生成

基本信息

批准号：
NE/K005766/1
负责人：
Andrew Russell
金额：
$ 54.15万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2013
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2013 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FK005766%2F1
关键词：
Parental effects adaptive generation helpers

项目摘要

It is often said that one day, whether we like it or not, we will turn into one of our parents. Research in both laboratory animals and humans, suggests that this is not only because of our genetic similarities with our parents, but because our early life experiences shape the way we look and behave in adulthood. However, two major uncertainties exist in the development of these patterns. First, do we simply resemble our parents because we share the same environment? Second, do parents actually shape our development through varying their levels of investment in us, and if so, when does this happen and for whose benefit is it? To answer these questions we must use an animal in which we can ethically move offspring around in a natural setting at different stages of their development and then measure their behaviour in adulthood. I will use a 50g Australian bird that lives, like humans, in family groups in which offspring are reared by a variable number of helpers in addition to parents. I have been studying ~90 breeding groups of the chestnut-crowned babbler in the arid zone of south-eastern Australia for the last 8 years. This species is perfect for the aims of this project because mothers vary tremendously in their investment in offspring, varying the timing and amount of investment in eggs, as well as the number and sex of competitors with which offspring will be reared. Similarly, mothers, fathers and helpers vary significantly in how much food they provide to offspring after hatching, with some providing almost nothing and others contributing the majority of it. Finally, the success of a group depends on how many helpers it has: the survival of offspring increases until group size reaches 8, after which there are no further increases. Because helpers are almost always offspring from previous years, a small group of babblers should try to produce helpers, whereas a large group should try to produce dispersers that go off to start a new babbler group. By moving offspring between groups of different sizes and at different stages of their development, I will provide an answer to the following questions. (1) To what degree do mothers, fathers and helpers try to create helpful versus selfish offspring, and do they all agree when this should be? (2) Do offspring ignore this 'arrangement' or benefit from it, or are they being manipulated to behave in a way dictated by their up-bringing? (3) If one's upbringing influences the way they look and behave in adulthood, when is this effect generated, is it by the mum's before hatching, is it when they receive food in the nest, or is it determined after they leave the nest and begin to fend for themselves? The answers to these questions will shed new light on how the upbringing of animals and humans shapes the way we look and behave in adulthood and help answer the long-standing questions of what makes a good mother, father and helper and who is it good for? If, from these results, we are able to predict the cooperative versus selfish tendencies of offspring given their development, we can begin to direct future studies in humans to ask whether there is a sensitive period during child development that shapes our behaviour in adulthood? When is it and what types of experiences is it most sensitive to?

经常说有一天，无论我们是否喜欢，我们都会变成我们的一个父母。对实验动物和人类的研究都表明，这不仅是因为我们与父母的遗传相似性，而且因为我们的早期生活经历塑造了我们成年时的外表和行为。但是，这些模式的发展中存在两个主要的不确定性。首先，我们只是因为共享相同的环境而类似于父母？其次，父母实际上是通过改变对我们的投资水平来塑造我们的发展吗？如果是，这是什么时候发生的？要回答这些问题，我们必须使用一种动物，在该动物中，我们可以在自然的环境中在其发展的不同阶段在自然环境中移动后代，然后在成年后衡量其行为。我将在家庭群体中使用一只50克澳大利亚鸟类的生活，在后代除了父母之外，还由不同数量的助手饲养的家庭群体。在过去的8年中，我一直在研究在澳大利亚东南部干旱地区的栗子冠babler的90个繁殖小组。该物种非常适合该项目的目的，因为母亲在后代的投资上有很大的不同，改变了卵的时间和投资数量，以及将养育后代的竞争者的数量和性别。同样，母亲，父亲和助手在孵化后为后代提供了多少食物，有些人几乎没有提供任何贡献。最后，一个小组的成功取决于它拥有多少个帮助者：后代的存活率增加，直到小组规模达到8，之后不进一步增加。由于助手几乎总是过去几年的后代，所以一小群Babblers应该试图产生助手，而大型团体应该尝试生产出来的分散器来启动新的Babbler群体。通过在不同大小的组之间和开发的不同阶段之间移动后代，我将为以下问题提供答案。（1）母亲，父亲和助手在什么程度上试图创造有用的与自私的后代，并且他们都同意何时应该这样做？（2）后代会忽略这种“安排”或从中受益，还是他们被操纵以通过其启动的方式行事？（3）如果一个人的成长经历会影响他们成年时的外表和表现方式，什么时候会产生这种效果，这是妈妈在孵化前的，当他们在巢中收到食物时，还是在离开巢穴并开始自我燃烧后确定？这些问题的答案将为动物和人类的成长方式带来新的启示，以我们成年时的外表和行为的方式塑造，并帮助回答长期以来的问题，即是什么使一个好母亲，父亲和助手造就了什么？如果从这些结果中，我们能够预测后代的发展的合作与自私的趋势，那么我们可以开始指导未来的人类研究，询问儿童发育过程中是否有敏感时期会塑造我们成年时的行为？它是什么时候，最敏感的经历类型？

项目成果

期刊论文数量（10）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Manipulating carer number versus brood size: complementary but not equivalent ways of quantifying carer effects on offspring.

DOI：
10.1093/beheco/arw038
发表时间：
2016-07
期刊：
Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
影响因子：
0
作者：
Liebl AL;Browning LE;Russell AF
通讯作者：
Russell AF

Was monogamy a key step on the hominin road? Reevaluating the monogamy hypothesis in the evolution of cooperative breeding.

一夫一妻制是人类之路上的关键一步吗？