The evolution of information use in ecology – EVO-INF-COL

Evolution by natural selection can only occur if differences among individuals are transmitted among generations, i.e. if variation is heritable. Thus, one of the great challenges in evolution is to understand the informational mechanisms underlying heritability. Recent studies in behavioral ecology have underlined the overlooked central place of learning in generating heritability of behavior. Thus, non-genetically acquired information may be involved in the mechanisms generating heritability of some behavioral patterns formerly thought to be only genetically coded. Such a major discovery calls for a general theory of information in a biological context. The aim of this project is thus to integrate modeling and experimental approaches to elucidate the role of information in evolutionary ecology and its ecological and evolutionary consequences. The innovative aspect of this project is to place information as the central aspect of individual adaptation and behavior. In doing so we will not only consider how individuals respond to information but also how the quality of this information can be modulated by social and density-dependent processes. Our theoretical approach is based on an adaptive dynamics analysis of strategies for information use (generation and/or interpretation as the case may be). Our empirical approaches stem from natural and sexual selection, while integrating the fundamental social dimension of information. We will look at the effects of the use of various types of information using several integrated approaches by asking several questions. First, what is the nature of information and how it is interpreted by individuals? We will address these questions by studying communication in a sexual selection context and how acquired knowledge modulates dispersal decisions. Secondly, what feedback processes operate on the information that is available and what are consequences? We will work out conditions for such communication sensu lato and show how arbitrary symbols may acquire meaning. We will apply these ideas to collective decisions in social insects: why is there redundancy of information in insect societies, what sort of redundancy, and what are the consequences when there are discrepancies between usually concordant information? The role of coded information will be highlighted by studying the evolution of communication between trophic levels. Lastly, we ask what are the consequences in terms of evolution: Under what condition will cultural transmission complement genetic transfer of information across generations? Is it possible that the diversity of the (nongenetic) knowledge of a population surpasses its genetic heritage? We believe that our project has the potential to set the stage for the developing and testing of a unifying theory of evolution based on the fundamental notion of information. - Our project is built around a theoretical approach in connection with case studies in various domains corresponding to the expertise of the participants but that cover the range of potential evolutionary mechanisms. - Part I: Information and decision making - - I-a Information in sexual selection: Gabriele Sorci. Experimental approach. What information do secondary sexual characters provide? - - I-b Information in Habitat choice and dispersal. Jean Clobert. Experimental approach. How do individuals modulate their dispersal decisions using local knowledge? - Part II: Information and social and ecological feedbacks - - II-a Information and cooperation: Jean Clobert. Experimental approach. How is the evolution of cooperation modulated by knowledge (public and private) of their partners' status and history? - - II-b Information and social decisions in insects: Thibaud Monnin. Experimental approach. How do non-reproductive females respond to information about the physiological state of the reproductive female (fertility, age) in species without queen/worker dimorphism? - - II-c Information in interspecies comm