Collaborative Research:  Testing Alternative Hypotheses for the Maintenance of Behavioral Differences among Populations
{'Code': '08090200', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'IOS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Fred Stollnitz', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
This project will be a continuation of combined field and laboratory            studies designed to determine the factors responsible for the                   maintenance of vocal dialects in the brown-headed cowbird.  The research        will be carried out collaboratively by Dr. Stephen I. Rothstein of the          University of California, Santa Barbara, and Dr. Robert C. Fleischer of         the University of Hawaii.  Their research will include (1) an intensive         study of vocal variation within one large dialect, to determine if              variation at different geographic scales is important to communication,         (2) investigations of additional vocalizations besides the one                  emphasized so far, to determine if all vocalizations vary in the same           manner, and (3) extensive banding, morphological, and biochemical               studies, to determine if dialects are differentiated genetically and the        degree to which birds disperse from one dialect to another.                                                                                                     Such studies are important because dialects are prevalent among                 songbirds, yet are poorly understood.  One hypothesis for the                   maintenance of dialects asserts that vocal differences facilitate               reproductive isolation among populations.  This hypothesis attributes           major evolutionary significance to dialects and even suggests that they         may influence rates of speciation.  Because avian studies have played a         major role in the formulation of modern theory about the origin of new          species, dialect studies may contribute to our understanding of this            critical aspect of evolutionary biology.                                                                                                                        Dialects are also important because the vocal differences that                  characterize them are learned and, therefore, represent cultural                differences.  These avian cultural differences may be the best analogs          among animals of the cultural differences that characterize human               populations.                                                                                                                                                    Information that Drs. Rothstein and Fleischer have gathered so far on           the cowbird does not support the reproductive-isolation hypothesis.             Instead, males seem to disperse and learn new dialects, but are at an           initial disadvantage until they learn their new dialect.  This process          parallels human behavior in that people moving from one country or one          profession to another are also at a disadvantage until they learn the           language of their new country or the jargon and technical terms of their        new profession.                                                                                                                                                 Lastly, this project is also important because the cowbird is a                 parasitic species that is a threat to several endangered bird species.          Basic knowledge derived from the project may be used to increase the            effectiveness of intensive cowbird-control programs currently being             conducted by Federal and State governments in parts of Michigan and             California.
{'FirstName': 'Robert', 'LastName': 'Fleischer', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'C', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Robert C Fleischer', 'EmailAddress': 'fleischerr@si.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000459058', 'StartDate': '05/15/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of Hawaii', 'CityName': 'HONOLULU', 'ZipCode': '968222247', 'PhoneNumber': '8089567800', 'StreetAddress': '2425 CAMPUS RD SINCLAIR RM 1', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Hawaii', 'StateCode': 'HI', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '01', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'HI01', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'NSCKLFSSABF2', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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{'Code': '1160', 'Text': 'IBN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1987&All=true', 'xml': '8711756.xml'}