NSF Award
1022494
In a pilot study, the investigators demonstrated that Glaucous-winged Gulls lay eggs synchronously on an every-other-day schedule, but only in areas of the colony where the nest density is sufficiently dense. A mathematical model was developed based on the hypothesis that 48-hour ovulation cycles synchronize through social stimulation. This project builds on the results of the pilot study in the following three ways: 1) The mechanisms by which reproductive synchrony occurs are investigated, in which the investigators explore possible olfactory, auditory, and visual channels of communication. 2) Three classes of mathematical models are studied in order to understand the process of synchronization, the effects of synchrony on population growth and decline, and possible selective advantages of reproductive synchrony. 3) Theory is rigorously connected with data on a project involving a vertically integrated research team in which the training of undergraduates and underrepresented groups is a major focus.<br/><br/>Examples of synchrony have been documented in a wide variety of electrical, mechanical, chemical, and biological systems, including the menstrual cycles of women and estrous cycles of rats. Socially-stimulated ovulation synchrony in birds is analogous to menstrual synchrony in women and estrous cycles in rats, and constitutes the first example of ovulation synchrony in a non-mammalian species. Documentation of ovulation synchrony in both birds and mammals suggests the existence of taxonomically widespread and fundamental physiological and adaptive processes that deserve further attention. Analysis of this phenomenon provides insight into three new classes of mathematical models. Moreover, participation by undergraduates, especially those in underrepresented groups, at every stage of this interdisciplinary research produces young scientists literate in the techniques of quantitative biology.
