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Webster MM. Social learning in non-grouping animals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1329-1344. [PMID: 36992613 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Social learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and is involved in behaviours from navigation and predator avoidance to mate choice and foraging. While social learning has been extensively studied in group-living species, this article presents a literature review demonstrating that social learning is also seen in a range of non-grouping animals, including arthropods, fishes and tetrapod groups, and in a variety of behavioural contexts. We should not be surprised by this pattern, since non-grouping animals are not necessarily non-social, and stand to benefit from attending to and responding to social information in the same ways that group-living species do. The article goes on to ask what non-grouping species can tell us about the evolution and development of social learning. First, while social learning may be based on the same cognitive processes as other kinds of learning, albeit with social stimuli, sensory organs and brain regions associated with detection and motivation to respond to social information may be under selection. Non-grouping species may provide useful comparison taxa in phylogenetic analyses investigating if and how the social environment drives selection on these input channels. Second, non-grouping species may be ideal candidates for exploring how ontogenetic experience of social cues shapes the development of social learning, allowing researchers to avoid some of the negative welfare implications associated with raising group-living animals under restricted social conditions. Finally, while non-grouping species may be capable of learning socially under experimental conditions, there is a need to consider how non-grouping restricts access to learning opportunities under natural conditions and whether this places a functional constraint on what non-grouping animals actually learn socially in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike M Webster
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TH, UK
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2
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Recio P, Rodríguez-Ruiz G, Sannolo M, Cuervo JJ, López P, Martín J. Conspecific scent marks may influence underground site selection by a fossorial reptile. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-023-03305-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/26/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Conspecific cues often provide social information on habitat quality that is considered when deciding to settle at a specific site. The type of sensory cues useful for this will depend on the environment. For amphisbaenians, reptiles adapted to an underground life with highly reduced sight, chemoreception is especially useful to recognize conspecifics. Here, we first analyzed the lipophilic compounds from precloacal gland secretions of the amphisbaenian Blanus cinereus, showing that there were sex- and size-related variations in the proportions of the three major compounds. Then, we tested in the laboratory whether there was an underground site selection based on conspecific chemical cues (substrate scent marks) in two different contexts. In loose substrates, both male and female amphisbaenians tended to choose first the scent-marked substrates more often when the individual that produced the scent, independently of its sex, was relatively larger than the focal individual. In contrast, inside semi-permanent galleries, males, but not females, chose the scent-marked gallery more often when the scent donor, independently of its sex, was relatively smaller. These results suggest that the proportions of compounds in scent marks may allow amphisbaenians to estimate the body size of the producer and that this information affects their site selection decisions. However, the different substrate-dependent responses suggest a different meaning and usefulness of scent marks depending on the context.
Significance statement
The presence of your conspecific in a site may indicate that this is a “quality” site to live in. If you are blind and live underground, smell is one of the best options for detecting conspecifics and assessing how good are your surroundings. Here, we test whether a blind amphisbaenian reptile that spends its life buried in sandy substrates uses conspecific chemical stimuli to choose where to settle. We found that this decision is influenced by the microhabitat type, sex, and the size difference between the individual that sniffs and the producer of the scent. Amphisbaenians seem to detect and assess conspecific traits based on the differences in compounds in their odors. Therefore, using conspecific scent to assess habitat quality may help fossorial animals to live underground.
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3
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Santema P, Kempenaers B. Patterns of extra-territorial nest-box visits in a songbird suggest a role in extrapair mating. Behav Ecol 2022; 34:150-159. [PMID: 36789396 PMCID: PMC9918859 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arac111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals make visits outside of their territory during the breeding period, but these are typically infrequent and difficult to observe. As a consequence, comprehensive data on extra-territorial movements at the population-level are scarce and the function of this behavior remains poorly understood. Using an automated nest-box visit tracking system in a wild blue tit population over six breeding seasons, we recorded all extra-territorial nest-box visits (n = 22 137) related to 1195 individual breeding attempts (761 unique individuals). Sixty-two percent of breeders made at least one extra-territorial visit between the onset of nest building and the day of fledging of their offspring, and individuals visited another nest-box on average on 11% of the days during this period. Visit behavior differed clearly between the sexes, with males making over three times as many extra-territorial forays as females. There was a strong overall seasonal decline in visit behavior, but this was sex dependent, with females showing a strong reduction in the number of extra-territorial visits before the onset of egg laying and males showing a strong and sudden reduction on the day their offspring hatched. The likelihood of visiting a particular nest-box declined sharply with the distance to that box, and blue tits almost exclusively visited direct neighbors. Individuals were more likely to have extrapair offspring with an individual whose box they visited, but they were not more likely to disperse to a box they had visited. Thus, our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that extra-territorial nest-box visits serve to inform dispersal decisions, but suggest that such visits are linked to extrapair mating opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Santema
- Address correspondence to P. Santema. ; B. Kempenaers.
| | - Bart Kempenaers
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
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4
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Lamb SD, Altobelli JT, Easton LJ, Godfrey SS, Bishop PJ. Captive Hamilton’s frog (Leiopelma hamiltoni) associates non-randomly under retreat sites: preliminary insights into their social networks. NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03014223.2021.1994426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Simon D. Lamb
- Zoology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Luke J. Easton
- Zoology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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5
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Czuppon P, Blanquart F, Uecker H, Débarre F. The Effect of Habitat Choice on Evolutionary Rescue in Subdivided Populations. Am Nat 2021; 197:625-643. [PMID: 33989144 DOI: 10.1086/714034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractEvolutionary rescue is the process by which a population, in response to an environmental change, successfully avoids extinction through adaptation. In spatially structured environments, dispersal can affect the probability of rescue. Here, we model an environment consisting of patches that degrade one after another, and we investigate the probability of rescue by a mutant adapted to the degraded habitat. We focus on the effects of dispersal and of immigration biases. We identify up to three regions delimiting the effect of dispersal on the probability of evolutionary rescue: (i) starting from low dispersal rates, the probability of rescue increases with dispersal; (ii) at intermediate dispersal rates, it decreases; and (iii) at large dispersal rates, it increases again with dispersal, except if mutants are too counterselected in not-yet-degraded patches. The probability of rescue is generally highest when mutant and wild-type individuals preferentially immigrate into patches that have already undergone environmental change. Additionally, we find that mutants that will eventually rescue the population most likely first appear in nondegraded patches. Overall, our results show that habitat choice, compared with the often-studied unbiased immigration scheme, can substantially alter the dynamics of population survival and adaptation to new environments.
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Li Z, Martel A, Bogaerts S, Göçmen B, Pafilis P, Lymberakis P, Woeltjes T, Veith M, Pasmans F. Landscape Connectivity Limits the Predicted Impact of Fungal Pathogen Invasion. J Fungi (Basel) 2020; 6:E205. [PMID: 33022972 PMCID: PMC7712934 DOI: 10.3390/jof6040205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Revised: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Infectious diseases are major drivers of biodiversity loss. The risk of fungal diseases to the survival of threatened animals in nature is determined by a complex interplay between host, pathogen and environment. We here predict the risk of invasion of populations of threatened Mediterranean salamanders of the genus Lyciasalamandra by the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans by combining field sampling and lab trials. In 494 samples across all seven species of Lyciasalamandra, B. salamandrivorans was found to be absent. Single exposure to a low (1000) number of fungal zoospores resulted in fast buildup of lethal infections in three L. helverseni. Thermal preference of the salamanders was well within the thermal envelope of the pathogen and body temperatures never exceeded the fungus' thermal critical maximum, limiting the salamanders' defense opportunities. The relatively low thermal host preference largely invalidates macroclimatic based habitat suitability predictions and, combined with current pathogen absence and high host densities, suggests a high probability of local salamander population declines upon invasion by B. salamandrivorans. However, the unfavorable landscape that shaped intraspecific host genetic diversity, lack of known alternative hosts and rapid host mortality after infection present barriers to further, natural pathogen dispersal between populations and thus species extinction. The risk of anthropogenic spread stresses the importance of biosecurity in amphibian habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhimin Li
- Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; (Z.L.); (A.M.)
| | - An Martel
- Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; (Z.L.); (A.M.)
| | | | - Bayram Göçmen
- Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zoology Section, Ege University, TR-35100 İzmir, Turkey
| | - Panayiotis Pafilis
- Department of Zoology and Marine Biology, School of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, Ilissia, 15784 Athens, Greece;
| | - Petros Lymberakis
- Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete, Knossos Ave., 1409 Irakleio, Greece;
| | | | - Michael Veith
- Department of Biogeography, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, D-54296 Trier, Germany;
| | - Frank Pasmans
- Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; (Z.L.); (A.M.)
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7
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Behavioral Responses by Adult Northern Leopard Frogs to Conspecific Chemical Cues. J HERPETOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1670/19-029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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8
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Różański JJ, Żuwała KD. The influence of habitat on olfactory organ structure in selected species of salamanders (Salamandridae, Caudata). ZOOL ANZ 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2019.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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Cayuela H, Grolet O, Joly P. Context-dependent dispersal, public information, and heterospecific attraction in newts. Oecologia 2018; 188:1069-1080. [PMID: 30315372 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-018-4267-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Dispersal is one of the main processes that determine community structure. Individuals make dispersal decisions according to environmental and/or social cues that reflect the fitness prospects in a given patch. The presence and abundance of heterospecifics within the same ecological guild, and/or their breeding success, may act as public information that influences movement decisions. To date, most studies investigating the role of heterospecific attraction have focused on habitat choice, using both experimental and correlational approaches. The present study is the first to examine how long-term variation in heterospecific density in breeding patches may affect dispersal patterns in spatially structured populations. We investigate how the dispersal decisions of the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) are related to the variable density of two other newt species, the alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) and the palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus). To examine this issue, we used capture-recapture data collected in an experimental pond network over a 20-year period. The results revealed that the great crested newt's dispersal is context dependent and is affected by variation in heterospecific density: individuals were less likely to emigrate from ponds with high heterospecific density and were more likely to immigrate to ponds with high heterospecific density. These findings suggest that individuals adjust their dispersal decisions at least partly based on public information provided by heterospecifics. This mechanism may play a critical role in the dynamics of spatially structured populations and community functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Cayuela
- IBIS, Department of Biology, University Laval, Pavillon Charles-Eugène-Marchand, Avenue de la Médecine, Quebec City, Canada
| | - Odile Grolet
- UMR 5023, LEHNA, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon1-CNRS-ENTPE, Campus de la Doua, 69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Pierre Joly
- UMR 5023, LEHNA, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon1-CNRS-ENTPE, Campus de la Doua, 69622, Villeurbanne, France.
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10
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Folt B, Donnelly MA, Guyer C. Spatial patterns of the frog Oophaga pumilio in a plantation system are consistent with conspecific attraction. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:2880-2889. [PMID: 29531702 PMCID: PMC5838034 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Revised: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The conspecific attraction hypothesis predicts that individuals are attracted to conspecifics because conspecifics may be cues to quality habitat and/or colonists may benefit from living in aggregations. Poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are aposematic, territorial, and visually oriented-three characteristics which make dendrobatids an appropriate model to test for conspecific attraction. In this study, we tested this hypothesis using an extensive mark-recapture dataset of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Data were collected from replicate populations in a relatively homogenous Theobroma cacao plantation, which provided a unique opportunity to test how conspecifics influence the spatial ecology of migrants in a controlled habitat with homogenous structure. We predicted that (1) individuals entering a population would aggregate with resident adults, (2) migrants would share sites with residents at a greater frequency than expected by chance, and (3) migrant home ranges would have shorter nearest-neighbor distances (NND) to residents than expected by chance. The results were consistent with these three predictions: Relative to random simulations, we observed significant aggregation, home-range overlap, and NND distribution functions in four, five, and six, respectively, of the six migrant-resident groups analyzed. Conspecific attraction may benefit migrant O. pumilio by providing cues to suitable home sites and/or increasing the potential for social interactions with conspecifics; if true, these benefits should outweigh the negative effects of other factors associated with aggregation. The observed aggregation between migrant and resident O. pumilio is consistent with conspecific attraction in dendrobatid frogs, and our study provides rare support from a field setting that conspecific attraction may be a relevant mechanism for models of anuran spatial ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Folt
- Department of Biological Sciences and Auburn University Museum of Natural HistoryAuburn UniversityAuburnALUSA
| | | | - Craig Guyer
- Department of Biological Sciences and Auburn University Museum of Natural HistoryAuburn UniversityAuburnALUSA
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11
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Thermoregulatory behavior and orientation preference in bearded dragons. J Therm Biol 2017; 69:171-177. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Revised: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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12
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Bucciarelli GM, Green DB, Shaffer HB, Kats LB. Individual fluctuations in toxin levels affect breeding site fidelity in a chemically defended amphibian. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2016.0468. [PMID: 27194704 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Behaviours that influence habitat selection strongly determine species movement patterns. One component of animal behaviour that largely influences movement patterns and habitat choice is site fidelity. California newts (family Salamandridae) demonstrate remarkable site fidelity, typically homing to the same pool of a stream each breeding season. Individuals often occupy a specific pool throughout the breeding season, but some males shift among breeding pools, altering their set of potential mates, competitors, and predators. In this study, we measured dermal concentrations of the chemical defence compound tetrodotoxin (TTX) in recaptured male California newts (Taricha torosa) over five breeding seasons to evaluate whether relative TTX concentrations are associated with breeding site fidelity in the field. Our five years of field sampling indicates that TTX concentrations of individuals and group means fluctuate tremendously, implying that TTX is not a stable phenotypic trait. Despite such fluctuations, we found that an individual's relative TTX concentration explains fidelity to a breeding pool and suggests that newts may be able to assess both their own concentrations of TTX and that of conspecifics to make decisions about remaining in or abandoning a breeding pool. These results provide us a novel dimension to chemical defence phenotypes in nature and their ecological consequences, potentially requiring a re-evaluation of the coevolutionary dynamics of predation pressure on toxin-laden organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary M Bucciarelli
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - David B Green
- Natural Science Division, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263, USA
| | - H Bradley Shaffer
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Lee B Kats
- Natural Science Division, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263, USA
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13
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Bliss MM, Cecala KK. Terrestrial Salamanders Alter Antipredator Behavior Thresholds Following Tail Autotomy. HERPETOLOGICA 2017. [DOI: 10.1655/herpetologica-d-16-00059.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Margaret M. Bliss
- Department of Biology, University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA
| | - Kristen K. Cecala
- Department of Biology, University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA
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14
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The effects of conspecifics on burrow selection in juvenile spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). J ETHOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-016-0476-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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15
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Cote J, Bocedi G, Debeffe L, Chudzińska ME, Weigang HC, Dytham C, Gonzalez G, Matthysen E, Travis J, Baguette M, Hewison AJM. Behavioural synchronization of large-scale animal movements - disperse alone, but migrate together? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 92:1275-1296. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2015] [Revised: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 04/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Julien Cote
- ENFA and UMR 5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), CNRS; Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier; Toulouse cedex 9 F-31062 France
| | - Greta Bocedi
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences; University of Aberdeen; Aberdeen AB24 2TZ UK
| | - Lucie Debeffe
- CEFS, INRA; Université de Toulouse; Castanet Tolosan 31320 France
- Department of Biology; University of Saskatchewan; Saskatoon SK S7N 5E2 Canada
| | | | - Helene C. Weigang
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics; University of Helsinki; P.O. Box 68 Helsinki 00014 Finland
| | - Calvin Dytham
- Department of Biology; University of York; York YO10 5DD UK
| | - Georges Gonzalez
- CEFS, INRA; Université de Toulouse; Castanet Tolosan 31320 France
| | - Erik Matthysen
- Department of Biology; University of Antwerp; Antwerp B-2610 Belgium
| | - Justin Travis
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences; University of Aberdeen; Aberdeen AB24 2TZ UK
| | - Michel Baguette
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Experimentale; CNRS UMR 5321; Moulis 09200 France
- Institut De Systématique, Evolution et Biodiversité, UMR 7205; Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Paris cedex 5 FR-75005 France
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16
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Buxton VL, Ward MP, Sperry JH. Use of chorus sounds for location of breeding habitat in 2 species of anuran amphibians. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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17
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Ebrahimi M, Bull CM. Visual conspecific cues will not help in pygmy bluetongue lizard translocations. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2013.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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18
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Bleach I, Beckmann C, Brown GP, Shine R. Effects of an invasive species on refuge-site selection by native fauna: The impact of cane toads on native frogs in the Australian tropics. AUSTRAL ECOL 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Iris Bleach
- Biological Sciences A08; University of Sydney; Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Christa Beckmann
- Centre for Integrative Ecology; School of Life & Environmental Sciences; Deakin University at Waurn Ponds; Geelong Victoria Australia
| | - Gregory P. Brown
- Biological Sciences A08; University of Sydney; Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Richard Shine
- Biological Sciences A08; University of Sydney; Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
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19
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Ponchon A, Grémillet D, Doligez B, Chambert T, Tveraa T, González-Solís J, Boulinier T. Tracking prospecting movements involved in breeding habitat selection: insights, pitfalls and perspectives. Methods Ecol Evol 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-210x.2012.00259.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Aurore Ponchon
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; CNRS UMR 5175; 1919 route de Mende; 34293; Montpellier Cedex 5; France
| | | | | | | | - Torkild Tveraa
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA); Arctic Ecology Department; Polar Environmental Centre; NO-9296; Tromsø; Norway
| | - Jacob González-Solís
- Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IRBio); Department of Animal Biology; University of Barcelona; Barcelona; Spain
| | - Thierry Boulinier
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; CNRS UMR 5175; 1919 route de Mende; 34293; Montpellier Cedex 5; France
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A novel method to calculate climatic niche similarity among species with restricted ranges—the case of terrestrial Lycian salamanders. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-011-0058-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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21
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Schulte LM, Yeager J, Schulte R, Veith M, Werner P, Beck LA, Lötters S. The smell of success: choice of larval rearing sites by means of chemical cues in a Peruvian poison frog. Anim Behav 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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22
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Khan JJ, Richardson JM, Tattersall GJ. Thermoregulation and aggregation in neonatal bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). Physiol Behav 2010; 100:180-6. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2009] [Revised: 02/19/2010] [Accepted: 02/19/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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23
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Caspers BA, Junge C, Weitere M, Steinfartz S. Habitat adaptation rather than genetic distance correlates with female preference in fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra). Front Zool 2009; 6:13. [PMID: 19563652 PMCID: PMC2709618 DOI: 10.1186/1742-9994-6-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2009] [Accepted: 06/29/2009] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although some mechanisms of habitat adaptation of conspecific populations have been recently elucidated, the evolution of female preference has rarely been addressed as a force driving habitat adaptation in natural settings. Habitat adaptation of fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra), as found in Middle Europe (Germany), can be framed in an explicit phylogeographic framework that allows for the evolution of habitat adaptation between distinct populations to be traced. Typically, females of S. salamandra only deposit their larvae in small permanent streams. However, some populations of the western post-glacial recolonization lineage use small temporary ponds as larval habitats. Pond larvae display several habitat-specific adaptations that are absent in stream-adapted larvae. We conducted mate preference tests with females from three distinct German populations in order to determine the influence of habitat adaptation versus neutral genetic distance on female mate choice. Two populations that we tested belong to the western post-glacial recolonization group, but are adapted to either stream or pond habitats. The third population is adapted to streams but represents the eastern recolonization lineage. RESULTS Despite large genetic distances with FST values around 0.5, the stream-adapted females preferred males from the same habitat type regardless of genetic distance. Conversely, pond-adapted females did not prefer males from their own population when compared to stream-adapted individuals of either lineage. CONCLUSION A comparative analysis of our data showed that habitat adaptation rather than neutral genetic distance correlates with female preference in these salamanders, and that habitat-dependent female preference of a specific pond-reproducing population may have been lost during adaptation to the novel environmental conditions of ponds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara A Caspers
- University of Bielefeld, Dept. Behavioural Biology, Research Group of Molecular Ecology and Behaviour, Morgenbreede 45, D-33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Claudia Junge
- University of Bielefeld, Dept. Behavioural Biology, Research Group of Molecular Ecology and Behaviour, Morgenbreede 45, D-33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Dept. of Biology, University of Oslo, PO Box 1066, N-0316 Oslo, Norway
| | - Markus Weitere
- University of Cologne, Zoological Institute, Weyertal 119, D-50923 Cologne, Germany
| | - Sebastian Steinfartz
- University of Bielefeld, Dept. Behavioural Biology, Research Group of Molecular Ecology and Behaviour, Morgenbreede 45, D-33615 Bielefeld, Germany
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Clobert J, Le Galliard JF, Cote J, Meylan S, Massot M. Informed dispersal, heterogeneity in animal dispersal syndromes and the dynamics of spatially structured populations. Ecol Lett 2008; 12:197-209. [PMID: 19170731 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01267.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 701] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
There is accumulating evidence that individuals leave their natal area and select a breeding habitat non-randomly by relying upon information about their natal and future breeding environments. This variation in dispersal is not only based on external information (condition dependence) but also depends upon the internal state of individuals (phenotype dependence). As a consequence, not all dispersers are of the same quality or search for the same habitats. In addition, the individual's state is characterized by morphological, physiological or behavioural attributes that might themselves serve as a cue altering the habitat choice of conspecifics. These combined effects of internal and external information have the potential to generate complex movement patterns and could influence population dynamics and colonization processes. Here, we highlight three particular processes that link condition-dependent dispersal, phenotype-dependent dispersal and habitat choice strategies: (1) the relationship between the cause of departure and the dispersers' phenotype; (2) the relationship between the cause of departure and the settlement behaviour and (3) the concept of informed dispersal, where individuals gather and transfer information before and during their movements through the landscape. We review the empirical evidence for these processes with a special emphasis on vertebrate and arthropod model systems, and present case studies that have quantified the impacts of these processes on spatially structured population dynamics. We also discuss recent literature providing strong evidence that individual variation in dispersal has an important impact on both reinforcement and colonization success and therefore must be taken into account when predicting ecological responses to global warming and habitat fragmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Clobert
- Station d'Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis, USR 2936, Moulis, Saint-Girons, France.
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Fletcher RJ. Social information and community dynamics: nontarget effects from simulating social cues for management. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2008; 18:1764-1773. [PMID: 18839770 DOI: 10.1890/07-1850.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Artificially creating social stimuli may be an effective tool for facilitating settlement by rare and/or declining species into suitable habitat. However, the potential consequences for other community members have not been explored and should be considered when evaluating the overall utility of using such management strategies. I report on nontarget, community-wide effects that occurred when manipulating social cues of two competitors that are species of concern in the western United States, the dominant Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) and the subordinate American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). The experiment consisted of surveying birds during a pretreatment year, which allows for the control of baseline communities, and a treatment year, in which treatments were applied just prior to settlement by migratory birds. Treatments included broadcasting songs of flycatchers and redstarts and were compared to controls. While the addition of redstart cues did not significantly influence community structure, the addition of flycatcher cues reduced species richness of migratory birds by approximately 30%. This pattern was driven by an absence of local colonizations of small-bodied migrants to sites with added flycatcher cues, rather than by local extinctions occurring from manipulations. The artificial flycatcher stimuli were more responsible for declines in species richness than were changes in actual flycatcher densities. I conclude by identifying some fundamental issues that managers and conservation practitioners should weigh when considering simulating social cues for species conservation prior to implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Fletcher
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, P.O. Box 110430, 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0430 USA.
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Steinfartz S, Weitere M, Tautz D. Tracing the first step to speciation: ecological and genetic differentiation of a salamander population in a small forest. Mol Ecol 2007; 16:4550-61. [PMID: 17877714 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03490.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Mechanisms and processes of ecologically driven adaptive speciation are best studied in natural situations where the splitting process is still occurring, i.e. before complete reproductive isolation is achieved. Here, we present a case of an early stage of adaptive differentiation under sympatric conditions in the fire salamander, Salamandra salamandra, that allows inferring the underlying processes for the split. Larvae of S. salamandra normally mature in small streams until metamorphosis, but in an old, continuous forest area near Bonn (the Kottenforst), we found salamander larvae not only in small streams but also in shallow ponds, which are ecologically very different from small streams. Common-environment experiments with larvae from both habitat types reveal specific adaptations to these different ecological conditions. Mitochondrial and microsatellite analyses show that the two ecologically differentiated groups also show signs of genetic differentiation. A parallel analysis of animals from a neighbouring much larger forest area (the Eifel), in which larvae mature only in streams, shows no signs of genetic differentiation, indicating that gene flow between ecologically similar types can occur over large distances. Hence, geographical factors cannot explain the differential larval habitat adaptations in the Kottenforst, in particular since adult life and mating of S. salamandra is strictly terrestrial and not associated with larval habitats. We propose therefore that the evolution of these adaptations was coupled with the evolution of cues for assortative mating which would be in line with models of sympatric speciation that suggest a co-evolution of habitat adaptations and associated mating signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Steinfartz
- University of Cologne, Institute of Genetics, Zülpicherstrasse 47, D-50674 Cologne, Germany.
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