Genetic Structure in Cooperative Societies
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Gregory J. McCants', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
Understanding the evolution of social behavior, especially                 apparent cooperation, requires knowledge of genetic relatedness                 among individuals.  Evolutionary theory demonstrating the                       potential effects of kin-structure in populations on the spread                 od social traits like cooperation and reciprocity has been well                 developed.  It is proposed that even apparently altruistic acts                 (like helping others to rear young rather than reproducing                      oneself) can be beneficial to the donor.  This explanation holds                when the potential benefits of such behavior (the enhancement of                reproduction of the actual breeders weighted by the relatedness                 of the cooperator to recipients) more than balance the costs                    (young that could have produced in an independent breeding                      attempt).  This analysis depends on accurate assessment of                      genetic relatedness between cooperator and young produced, which                in turn depends on precise knowledge of exactly who begat whom.                 For ten years the principal investigator have studied several                   populations of wrens (Campylorhynchus nuchalis, C.griseus, and                  C. fasciatus) the practice such cooperative breeding in South                   America.  These birds live in extended family groups on                         permanaent communal territories, a habit that is widespread among               tropical birds.  These species are an especially revealing test                 case of the above evolutionary ideas cooperation so effectively                 increases the number of young that can be produced.  Pedigrees                  are available for as many as 11 breeding seasons in groups of                   wrens involving a total of more than 1600 individually                          recognizable individuals.  Cooperation in breeding enhances                     reproductive success five-fold, as unaided breeding pairs almost                always fail.  Young birds usually remain as helpers on their                    natal territories, meaning they are usually helping their                       presumed parents produce siblings.  Based on this assumption,                   cooperation benefits these helpers.                                                  Our extension of this work has two aims.  Using newly-                     developed DNA fingerprinting techniques, the PIs will establish                 whether the presumed breeders are the only birds reproducing in                 these family groups, and whether putative nonbreeding helpers are               aiding in rearing siblings.  This test will now be based on                     conclusive evidence from the genetic material itself rather than                on fallible inferences based on behavioral observation.  The                    extent to which parentage is shared within and between groups                   will be documented, and analytical models and computer                          simulations will quantify the potential importance of parentage                 shared beyond a principal pair in social groups.  The project                   will continue field experiments examining the processes of                      competition for productive breeding positions and group defense                 against predators, the suspected mechanism of the advantage of                  breeding in a group.
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{'Code': '1141', 'Text': 'PHYSIOLOG & STRUCTURAL SYS'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8818038.xml'}