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Lacey EA, O’Brien SL, Cuello PA, Tammone MN. Group living in highland tuco-tucos (Ctenomys opimus) persists despite a catastrophic decline in population density. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304763. [PMID: 38848416 PMCID: PMC11161065 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Identifying the factors that favor group living is central to studies of animal social behavior. One demographic parameter that is expected to substantially shape spatial and social relationships is population density. Specifically, high population densities may favor group living by constraining opportunities to live alone. In contrast, low densities may allow individuals to spread out within the habitat, leading to a reduction in the prevalence or size of social groups. Abrupt changes in density following natural catastrophic events provide important opportunities to evaluate the effects of population density on patterns of spatial and social organization. As part of long-term studies of the behavioral ecology of a population of highland tuco-tucos (Ctenomys opimus) at Monumento Natural Laguna de los Pozuelos, Jujuy Province, Argentina, we monitored the demographic and behavioral consequences of a flood that inundated our study site during December 2012. Unlike most species of Ctenomys studied to date, highland tuco-tucos are group living, meaning that multiple adults share burrow systems and nest sites. Despite a post-flood reduction in population density of ~75%, animals present on the study site during the 2013 breeding season continued to live in multi-adult social units (groups). No differences between pre- and post-flood home range sizes were detected and although between-unit spatial overlap was reduced in 2013, overlap within social units did not differ from that in pre-flood years. Animals assigned to the same social unit in 2013 had not lived together during 2012, indicating that post-flood groups were not simply the remnants of those present prior to the flood. Collectively, these findings indicate that group living in highland tuco-tucos is not driven by the density of conspecifics in the habitat. In addition to enhancing understanding of the adaptive bases for group living in Ctenomys, our analyses underscore the power of catastrophic events to generate insights into fundamental aspects of social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eileen A. Lacey
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Shannon L. O’Brien
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Animal Welfare Science Program, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Pablo A. Cuello
- Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Zonas Áridas, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Mauro N. Tammone
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (CONICET-UNComahue), Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
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Rogers FD, Peña CJ, Mallarino R. African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) as a neurobehavioral model for male parental care. Horm Behav 2023; 152:105364. [PMID: 37087766 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
Parental care is diversely demonstrated across the animal kingdom, such that active practitioners and repertoires of parental behavior vary dramatically between and within taxa. For mammals, maternal care is ubiquitous while paternal and alloparental care are rare. The African striped mouse, a rodent species in the family Muridae, demonstrates maternal, paternal, and alloparental care. Because socio-environmental factors can considerably influence the development of their social behavior, including that of paternal and alloparental care, African striped mice are considered socially flexible. Here, we highlight African striped mice as a new model for the neurobiological study of male parental care. We first provide essential background information on the species' natural ecological setting and reproductive behavior, as well as the species-relevant interaction between ecology and reproduction. We then introduce the nature of maternal, paternal, and alloparental care in the species. Lastly, we provide a review of existing developmental and neurobiological perspectives and highlight potential avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Forrest Dylan Rogers
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Rd., Princeton, NJ 08544, United States of America; Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, 119 Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Washington Rd., Princeton, NJ 08544, United States of America.
| | - Catherine Jensen Peña
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Rd., Princeton, NJ 08544, United States of America
| | - Ricardo Mallarino
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, 119 Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Washington Rd., Princeton, NJ 08544, United States of America
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3
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Riehl C, Smart ZF. Climate fluctuations influence variation in group size in a cooperative bird. Curr Biol 2022; 32:4264-4269.e3. [PMID: 35998636 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Variation in group size is ubiquitous in social animals, but explaining the range of group sizes seen in nature remains challenging.1-3 Group-living species occur most frequently in climatically unpredictable environments, such that the costs and benefits of sociality may change from year to year.4-6 It is, therefore, possible that variation in climate may help to maintain a range of group sizes, but this hypothesis is rarely tested empirically.7,8 Here, we examine selection on breeding group size in the greater ani (Crotophaga major), a tropical bird that nests in cooperative groups containing multiple co-breeders and non-breeding helpers.9 We found that larger groups experience lower nest predation (due to cooperative nest defense) but suffer higher nestling starvation (due to intra-clutch competition). Long-term data revealed that the relative magnitude of these costs and benefits depends on climate, with frequent changes across years in the strength and direction of selection on group size. In wet years, individual reproductive success was higher in large groups than in small groups, whereas the opposite was true in dry years. This was partly a consequence of competition among nestlings in large clutches, which suffered significantly higher mortality in dry years than in wet years. Averaged over the 13-year study period, annual reproductive success was approximately equal for females in small and large groups. These results suggest that temporal changes in the direction of selection may help explain the persistence of a range of group sizes and that a full understanding of the selective pressures shaping sociality requires long-term fitness data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Riehl
- Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
| | - Zachariah Fox Smart
- Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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4
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Welman S, Jastroch M, Mzilikazi N. Obligatory homeothermy of mesic adapted African striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, is governed by seasonal basal metabolism and year-round "thermogenic readiness" of brown adipose tissue. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:275893. [PMID: 35694963 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Small mammals undergo thermoregulatory adjustments in response to changing environmental conditions. Whereas small heterothermic mammals can employ torpor to save energy in the cold, homeothermic species must increase heat production to defend normothermia through the recruitment of brown adipose tissue (BAT). Here, we studied thermoregulatory adaptation in an obligate homeotherm, the African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio), captured from a subpopulation living in a mesic, temperate climate with marked seasonal differences. Basal metabolic rate (BMR), non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) and summit metabolic rate (MSUM) increased from summer to winter, with NST and MSUM already reaching maximal rates in autumn, suggesting seasonal preparation to the cold. Typical of rodents, cold-induced metabolic rates positively correlate with BAT mass. Analysis of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity and UCP1 content, however, demonstrate that thermogenic capacity declines with BAT mass. This resulted in seasonal differences in NST being driven by changes in BMR. The increase in BMR is supported by a comprehensive anatomical analysis of metabolically active organs, revealing increased mass proportions in the cold season. The thermoregulatory response of R. pumilio is associated with the maintenance of body weight throughout the year (48.3±1.4 g), contrasting large summer-winter mass reductions often observed in Holarctic rodents. Collectively, bioenergetic adaptation of this Afrotropical rodent involves seasonal organ adjustments influencing BMR, combined with a constant thermogenic capacity dictated by trade-offs in thermogenic properties of BAT. Arguably, this high degree of plasticity was a response to unpredictable cold spells throughout the year. Consequently, the reliance on such a resource intensive thermoregulatory strategy may expose more energetic vulnerability in changing environments of food scarcity and extreme weather conditions due to climate change, with major ramifications for survival of the species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaun Welman
- Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa
| | - Martin Jastroch
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, The Arrhenius Laboratories F3, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.,Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich-Neuherberg, Germany
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5
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Giuntini S, Pedruzzi L. Sex and the patch: the influence of habitat fragmentation on terrestrial vertebrates’ mating strategies. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2059787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Giuntini
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Via Alessandro Volta 6, Pisa 56126, Italy
- Environmental Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Luca Pedruzzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Via Alessandro Volta 6, Pisa 56126, Italy
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Ebensperger LA, Quirici V, Bunster V, León C, Ramírez‐Estrada J, Hayes LD. Effects of Radio‐Collars are not Contingent on Socioecological Conditions in Degus. J Wildl Manage 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Luis A. Ebensperger
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Verónica Quirici
- Centro de Investigación para la Sustentabilidad Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, República 440 Santiago Chile
| | - Valentina Bunster
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Cecilia León
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Juan Ramírez‐Estrada
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Loren D. Hayes
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Sciences University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga 37403 TN USA
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Krasnov BR, Spickett A, Junker K, van der Mescht L, Matthee S. Functional and phylogenetic uniqueness of helminth and flea assemblages of two South African rodents. Int J Parasitol 2021; 51:865-876. [PMID: 33848500 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2021.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The loss of a particular species from a community may have different effects on its functioning, depending on the presence or absence of functionally similar or phylogenetically close species in that community (redundancy). Redundancy is thus defined as the fraction of species diversity not expressed by functional or phylogenetic diversity. We assessed functional and phylogenetic alpha- and beta-redundancy in helminth and flea assemblages of two species of South African rodents, Rhabdomys dilectus and Rhabdomys pumilio, using community uniqueness as the inverse indicator of redundancy. We asked whether patterns of functional and phylogenetic alpha- and beta-uniqueness differed between (i) parasite groups (endo- versus ectoparasites), (ii) host species within parasite groups, and (iii) biomes within host species. We found differences between the two hosts in the functional and phylogenetic alpha-uniqueness (but not beta-uniqueness) of flea, but not helminth, assemblages. Significant correlations between the alpha-uniqueness of parasite assemblages and the total parasite prevalence were found only for phylogenetic uniqueness and only in helminths. Pairwise site-by-site dissimilarities in uniqueness (beta-uniqueness) and pairwise dissimilarity in prevalence were significantly associated (positively) in helminths but not in fleas. A between-biome difference in functional (but not phylogenetic) alpha-uniqueness was found in both helminth and flea assemblages harboured by R. pumilio. We conclude that the resilience of parasite assemblages in terms of the effect on hosts depends not only on their transmission strategy but also on traits of host species and environmental factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris R Krasnov
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute of Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
| | - Andrea Spickett
- Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, South Africa
| | - Kerstin Junker
- Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, South Africa
| | - Luther van der Mescht
- Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
| | - Sonja Matthee
- Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
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Social Systems. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-82879-0_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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9
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Criscuolo F, Pillay N, Zahn S, Schradin C. Seasonal variation in telomere dynamics in African striped mice. Oecologia 2020; 194:609-620. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04801-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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10
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Hammond TT, Ortiz-Jimenez CA, Smith JE. Anthropogenic Change Alters Ecological Relationships via Interactive Changes in Stress Physiology and Behavior within and among Organisms. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 60:57-69. [PMID: 31960928 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic change has well-documented impacts on stress physiology and behavior across diverse taxonomic groups. Within individual organisms, physiological and behavioral traits often covary at proximate and ultimate timescales. In the context of global change, this means that impacts on physiology can have downstream impacts on behavior, and vice versa. Because all organisms interact with members of their own species and other species within their communities, the effects of humans on one organism can impose indirect effects on one or more other organisms, resulting in cascading effects across interaction networks. Human-induced changes in the stress physiology of one species and the downstream impacts on behavior can therefore interact with the physiological and behavioral responses of other organisms to alter emergent ecological phenomena. Here, we highlight three scenarios in which the stress physiology and behavior of individuals on different sides of an ecological relationship are interactively impacted by anthropogenic change. We discuss host-parasite/pathogen dynamics, predator-prey relationships, and beneficial partnerships (mutualisms and cooperation) in this framework, considering cases in which the effect of stressors on each type of network may be attenuated or enhanced by interactive changes in behavior and physiology. These examples shed light on the ways that stressors imposed at the level of one individual can impact ecological relationships to trigger downstream consequences for behavioral and ecological dynamics. Ultimately, changes in stress physiology on one or both sides of an ecological interaction can mediate higher-level population and community changes due in part to their cascading impacts on behavior. This framework may prove useful for anticipating and potentially mitigating previously underappreciated ecological responses to anthropogenic perturbations in a rapidly changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talisin T Hammond
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
| | - Chelsea A Ortiz-Jimenez
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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Schradin C, Drouard F, Lemonnier G, Askew R, Olivier CA, Pillay N. Geographic intra-specific variation in social organization is driven by population density. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02896-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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