Behavioural ecology, social networks and parasite-host interactions

行为生态学、社交网络和寄生虫-宿主相互作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-03913
• 负责人: Ruckstuhl, Kathreen
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=710740
• 关键词: Behavioural; ecology; social; networks; parasite

Little is known about the effects of individual behaviour on social networks, and disease flow within populations. Group-living species do not mingle randomly but have a social network (whom they associate with, the strength of associations, the number of associates they have, etc.) that can be associated with fitness and survival. My research focuses on the behavioural ecology of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and other vertebrates. The objectives of my proposed research are: 1) understanding and researching individual behaviour, in particular mate choice 2) exploring how sexual differences in behaviour and ecology impact the larger social network and sex differences in exposure to and transmission of parasites and disease; 3) how parasites affect life history traits, and behavior affects parasite loads and diversity. I study various processes from individual decisions to their effects on entire populations. Females of many species often mate with more than one male during a breeding attempt, even though they cannot increase the number of their offspring. The prevailing hypotheses are that females should select good genes for their offspring, avoid infanticide, produce sexy sons, or get access to resources that their mates control. Females might choose mates with compatible genotypes to avoid inbreeding and increase survival in offspring. Offspring from compatible partners would be better able to resist disease and parasites. Males are expected to be less selective in their mate choice, since they can mate with multiple females, thus siring more offspring. Female bighorn sheep are no exception. Although they only have one offspring per year they typically mate with multiple males during their receptive cycle. Female sheep should thus be more choosy than males. We are exploring both male and female mate choice in a game theory model using bighorn sheep data. Some sheep leave their home range to breed elsewhere, returning after the rut. It is not clear why they leave and where they go, but it is expected that males and females have different motivations and different extents to their migrations. Males likely travel further and come into contact with more mates than females. In bighorn sheep, for example, males are more social and their groups more cohesive than female groups. As such, males that are migrating or switching between groups, could expose themselves and thus females to parasites and disease. My overarching research goal is to investigate to what extent, and in what ways males and females contribute to gene and disease flow within the larger population. We are exploring sex differences in parasite intensity and diversity. In some species males are the shedders and spreaders of parasites. We are researching to what degree parasites change the life history of their host, whether or not the sexes differ in their vulnerability to parasites and how these combined with behavior can affect host fitness.

关于个人行为对社交网络的影响以及人群中疾病流动知之甚少。群体生存的物种不会随机混合，而是具有与健身和生存有关的社交网络（他们与之相关的社交网络，协会的力量，他们拥有的同事数量等）。我的研究重点是落基山大角羊和其他脊椎动物的行为生态。我拟议的研究的目标是：1）理解和研究个人行为，特别是伴侣选择2）探索行为和生态学上的性差异如何影响更大的社交网络和性别差异，并在寄生虫和疾病的传播和传播中的性别差异； 3）寄生虫如何影响生活历史特征，行为会影响寄生虫的负载和多样性。 我研究从个人决策到对整个人群的影响的各种过程。许多物种的女性在繁殖过程中经常与多个雄性交配，即使她们无法增加后代的数量。普遍的假设是，女性应为其后代选择好基因，避免杀婴，产生性感的儿子或获得其伴侣控制的资源。女性可能会选择具有兼容基因型的伴侣，以避免近亲繁殖并增加后代的存活率。兼容伴侣的后代将更好地抵抗疾病和寄生虫。预计男性在伴侣的选择方面的选择性降低，因为他们可以与多个女性交配，从而使后代更加倾向。雌性大角羊也不例外。尽管他们每年只有一个后代，但在接受周期期间，他们通常与多名男性交配。因此，女绵羊应该比男性更挑剔。我们正在使用大角羊数据在游戏理论模型中探索男性和女伴侣的选择。一些绵羊离开家园繁殖在其他地方，在车辙之后返回。目前尚不清楚他们为什么要离开以及去哪里，但是可以预料，男性和女性的迁移有不同的动机和不同的范围。男性可能会进一步旅行，并与女性更多的伴侣接触。例如，在大角羊中，男性比女性群体更社交，他们的群体更具凝聚力。因此，在群体之间迁移或切换的雄性可能会使自己暴露于寄生虫和疾病中。 我的总体研究目标是调查男性和女性在较大人群中的基因和疾病流动的多大程度，并以什么方式促进了较大人群的基因和疾病的流动。我们正在探索寄生虫强度和多样性的性别差异。在某些物种中，雄性是寄生虫的棚子和撒布者。我们正在研究寄生虫在多大程度上改变了他们宿主的生活史，性别是否在寄生虫的脆弱性上有所不同，以及这些与行为结合如何影响宿主的健康。