Hebets Eileen A, Barron Andrew B, Balakrishnan Christopher N, Hauber Mark E, Mason Paul H, Hoke Kim L
School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Proc Biol Sci. 2016 Mar 16;283(1826):20152889. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2889.
Why animal communication displays are so complex and how they have evolved are active foci of research with a long and rich history. Progress towards an evolutionary analysis of signal complexity, however, has been constrained by a lack of hypotheses to explain similarities and/or differences in signalling systems across taxa. To address this, we advocate incorporating a systems approach into studies of animal communication--an approach that includes comprehensive experimental designs and data collection in combination with the implementation of systems concepts and tools. A systems approach evaluates overall display architecture, including how components interact to alter function, and how function varies in different states of the system. We provide a brief overview of the current state of the field, including a focus on select studies that highlight the dynamic nature of animal signalling. We then introduce core concepts from systems biology (redundancy, degeneracy, pluripotentiality, and modularity) and discuss their relationships with system properties (e.g. robustness, flexibility, evolvability). We translate systems concepts into an animal communication framework and accentuate their utility through a case study. Finally, we demonstrate how consideration of the system-level organization of animal communication poses new practical research questions that will aid our understanding of how and why animal displays are so complex.
动物通讯展示为何如此复杂以及它们是如何演化的，是有着悠久而丰富历史的活跃研究焦点。然而，对信号复杂性进行进化分析的进展一直受到限制，因为缺乏用以解释不同分类群信号系统异同的假设。为解决这一问题，我们主张将系统方法纳入动物通讯研究中——这种方法包括全面的实验设计和数据收集，并结合系统概念和工具的应用。系统方法评估整体展示架构，包括各组成部分如何相互作用以改变功能，以及功能在系统的不同状态下如何变化。我们简要概述了该领域的当前状态，重点介绍了一些突出动物信号动态本质的精选研究。然后，我们引入系统生物学的核心概念（冗余性、简并性、多能性和模块化），并讨论它们与系统特性（如稳健性、灵活性、可进化性）之间的关系。我们将系统概念转化为动物通讯框架，并通过一个案例研究强调它们的实用性。最后，我们展示了对动物通讯系统层面组织的考量如何提出新的实际研究问题，这将有助于我们理解动物展示为何如此复杂以及如何变得如此复杂。
