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Li C, Zhang X, Cheng L, Zhang B, Zhang F. Food patch use of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) varies with personality traits. Front Zool 2023; 20:30. [PMID: 37653456 PMCID: PMC10468902 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-023-00510-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The classic optimal foraging theory (OFT) predicts animals' food patch use assuming that individuals in a population use the same strategy while foraging. However, due to the existence of animal personality, i.e. repeatable inter-individual differences and intra-individual consistency in behaviours over time and/or across contexts, individuals often exhibit different behavioural strategies, challenging the basic assumptions of the OFT. Here, we tested whether personality traits (boldness and exploration in open arena) of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica, 38 females and 34 males) influenced their patch use in two foraging experiments with different inter-patch distances (i.e. 2 m in Experiment 1 and 3 m in Experiment 2). RESULTS The total feeding time and food intake of individuals did not differ between Experiment 1 and 2, but in both experiments, proactive (i.e. bolder and more explorative) individuals had longer feeding time and higher food intake than reactive individuals. In Experiment 1, proactive quails changed patches more frequently and had shorter mean patch residence time than reactive individuals, while the effects were not significant in Experiment 2. The quails reduced patch residence time along with feeding, and this trend was weakened in Experiment 2 which had longer inter-patch distance. CONCLUSIONS The above results suggest that personality traits affect animals' patch use, while the effects might be weakened with longer inter-patch distance. Our study highlights that animal personality should be considered when investigating animals' foraging behaviours because individuals may not adopt the same strategy as previously assumed. Furthermore, the interaction between personality traits and inter-patch distances, which is related to movement cost and capacity of information gathering, should also be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunlin Li
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, Hefei, 230601, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecosystem Protection and Restoration, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, Hefei, 230601, China
- Anhui Shengjin Lake Wetland Ecology National Long-Term Scientific Research Base, Dongzhi, 247230, China
| | - Xinyu Zhang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, Hefei, 230601, China
| | - Lin Cheng
- Anhui Vocational and Technical College of Forestry, No. 99, Yulan Road, Hefei, 230031, China
| | - Baowei Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, No.111, Jiulong Road, Hefei, 230601, China
| | - Feng Zhang
- School of Statistics and Mathematics, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, 650221, China.
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Olsoy PJ, Milling CR, Nobler JD, Camp MJ, Shipley LA, Forbey JS, Rachlow JL, Thornton DH. Food quality, security, and thermal refuge influence the use of microsites and patches by pygmy rabbits (
Brachylagus idahoensis
) across landscapes and seasons. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8892. [PMID: 35600688 PMCID: PMC9106561 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
How intensely animals use habitat features depends on their functional properties (i.e., how the feature influences fitness) and the spatial and temporal scale considered. For herbivores, habitat use is expected to reflect the competing risks of starvation, predation, and thermal stress, but the relative influence of each functional property is expected to vary in space and time. We examined how a dietary and habitat specialist, the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), used these functional properties of its sagebrush habitat—food quality, security, and thermal refuge—at two hierarchical spatial scales (microsite and patch) across two seasons (winter and summer). At the microsite and patch scales, we determined which plant functional traits predicted the number of bites (i.e., foraging) by pygmy rabbits and the number of their fecal pellets (i.e., general habitat use). Pygmy rabbits used microsites and patches more intensely that had higher crude protein and aerial concealment cover and were closer to burrows. Food quality was more influential when rabbits used microsites within patches. Security was more influential in winter than summer, and more at Cedar Gulch than Camas. However, the influence of functional properties depended on phytochemical and structural properties of sagebrush and was not spatiotemporally consistent. These results show function‐dependent habitat use that varied according to specific activities by a central‐place browsing herbivore. Making spatially explicit predictions of the relative value of habitat features that influence different types of habitat use (i.e., foraging, hiding, and thermoregulating) will improve how we predict patterns of habitat use by herbivores and how we monitor and manage functional traits within habitats for wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Olsoy
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington USA
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA
| | - Charlotte R. Milling
- School of Environment and Natural Resources Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA
| | - Jordan D. Nobler
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA
| | - Meghan J. Camp
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington USA
| | - Lisa A. Shipley
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington USA
| | - Jennifer S. Forbey
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA
| | - Janet L. Rachlow
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho Moscow Idaho USA
| | - Daniel H. Thornton
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington USA
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Abu Baker MA, Emerson SE, Gorman J, Brown JS. Dietary choices in a generalist herbivore, the eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus, in urban landscapes. BEHAVIOUR 2021. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
We tested for dietary choices of foods varying in nutrient composition by cottontail rabbits on two college campuses in midwestern USA. We quantified choices among pellets of varying nutritional quality at artificial food patches. Dietary choices differed between seasons and locations. Spring giving-up densities (GUDs: food left behind) did not show differences in food choices and were lower than summer GUDs. In Appleton, the cottontails favoured both high protein and fibre pellets, whereas the medium protein and fibre pellets were favoured in Chicago. The cottontails maintained their choice of high protein, high fibre pellets at three spatial scales. The cottontails varied food intake to balance their protein, salt and fibre needs at different times and locations. Studying dietary choices and the effect of resource quality on foraging responses by urban wildlife provides a useful tool to study ecological interactions and can help minimize damage in urban environments such as parks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sara E. Emerson
- Department of Biology, California State University Stanislaus, 1 University Circle, Turlock, CA 95382, USA
| | - Jessica Gorman
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Illinois College of Medicine, 1601 Parkview Avenue, Rockford, IL 61101, USA
| | - Joel S. Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor Street (M/C 066), Chicago, IL 60607, USA
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Kroesen LP, Hik DS, Cherry SG. Patterns of decadal, seasonal and daily visitation to mineral licks, a critical resource hotspot for mountain goats Oreamnos americanus in the Rocky Mountains. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura P. Kroesen
- L. P. Kroesen (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5524-0664) ✉ and D. S. Hik (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8994-9305), Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser Univ., Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - David S. Hik
- L. P. Kroesen (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5524-0664) ✉ and D. S. Hik (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8994-9305), Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser Univ., Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Seth G. Cherry
- S. G. Cherry (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4242-3629), Parks Canada Agency, Radium Hot Springs, BC, Canada
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Jimenez A, Schmalz J, Wright MN, Skopec MM. Sagebrush Characteristics Influencing Foraging Patterns of Pygmy Rabbits. J Wildl Manage 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amber Jimenez
- Department of ZoologyWeber State University Ogden UT 84408 USA
| | | | - Masako N. Wright
- Ogden Ranger DistrictUnited State Forest Service Ogden UT 84401 USA
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Hefty KL, Stewart KM. Flexible resource use strategies of a central-place forager experiencing dynamic risk and opportunity. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2019; 7:23. [PMID: 31388428 PMCID: PMC6676571 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-019-0168-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Movement decisions made in space and time define how wildlife meet competing extrinsic and intrinsic demands to maximize fitness. Differential selection of resource patches provides one example of how to measure how animals balance conflicting demands. We hypothesized that individual spatial selection of patch types between dynamic seasons would signify flexible strategies used to minimize risk and optimize foraging efforts. METHODS We used data collected from GPS loggers on golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis) to model selection or avoidance of resources in two seasons of seed availability and one season in which no seeds were available. Movement decisions were measured in short-term discrete time intervals using high resolution location data. Selection or avoidance of specific resource features that entail fitness consequences were then assessed using resource selection functions. RESULTS Seasonality of food availability, food type, and spatial distribution of food largely influenced how individuals selected resources within their home ranges. Overall, when seeds were available, individuals mediated risks of predation and loss of food by using patches closer to refuge and selected intermediate distances to the burrow. When food was not available, individuals minimized exposure to heightened risk by staying close to the burrow and avoiding riskier patch types. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate that individuals used flexible, dynamic strategies to select habitat patches which may allow them to balance conflicting seasonal demands. Advances in GPS technology for research of small mammals provide greater insight into how prey species in high risk environments differentially use resources to minimize risk and maintain fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kira L. Hefty
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia St. Reno, Reno, NV 89557 USA
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, 1064 East Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
| | - Kelley M. Stewart
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St. Mail Stop 186, Reno, NV 89557 USA
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Abstract
Prey individuals employ several adaptive behaviours to reduce predation risk. We need to learn how those behaviours interact in an overall strategy of risk management, how strategies vary with changing conditions, and whether some behaviours might compensate for others. I addressed these issues with manipulative experiments evaluating how snowshoe hares’ ( Lepus americanus) vigilance varies with their giving-up densities (GUDs) in artificial food patches. I tested whether the results, collected when there was no evidence of predation, were congruent with an earlier study under higher predation. When predator sign was common, vigilance depended directly on habitat. But when risk was low, habitat’s influence on vigilance was indirect. Hares were least vigilant during the new moon where the distance to escape habitat was far, but only in open risky habitat. Hares were more vigilant during the full moon, but only at stations far from escape habitat. Moon phase and additional cover had no effect on GUDs that were highest at open risky stations far from escape habitat. The results suggest that reduced risk allowed hares to allocate less time to vigilance, but they needed to forage for similar amounts of food during each moon phase to maintain their energetic state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas W. Morris
- Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
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Forrester TD, Wittmer HU. Predator identity and forage availability affect predation risk of juvenile black-tailed deer. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tavis D. Forrester
- T. D. Forrester (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6762-4115) , Dept of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, Univ. of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Heiko U. Wittmer
- H. U. Wittmer, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria Univ. of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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Nobler JD, Camp MJ, Crowell MM, Shipley LA, Dadabay C, Rachlow JL, James L, Forbey JS. Preferences of Specialist and Generalist Mammalian Herbivores for Mixtures Versus Individual Plant Secondary Metabolites. J Chem Ecol 2018; 45:74-85. [PMID: 30397901 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-018-1030-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Herbivores that forage on chemically defended plants consume complex mixtures of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). However, the mechanisms by which herbivores tolerate mixtures of PSMs are relatively poorly understood. As such, it remains difficult to predict how PSMs, singly or as complex mixtures, influence diet selection by herbivores. Although relative rates of detoxification of PSMs have been used to explain tolerance of PSMs by dietary specialist herbivores, few studies have used the rate of detoxification of individual PSMs to understand dietary preferences of individual herbivores for individual versus mixtures of PSMs. We coupled in vivo experiments using captive feeding trials with in vitro experiments using enzymatic detoxification assays to evaluate the dietary preferences and detoxification capacities of pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis), dietary specialists on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), and mountain cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttallii), dietary generalists. We compared preference for five single PSMs in sagebrush compared to a mixture containing those same five PSMs. We hypothesized that relative preference for individual PSMs would coincide with faster detoxification capacity for those PSMs by specialists and generalists. Pygmy rabbits generally showed little preference among individual PSMs compared to mixed PSMs, whereas mountain cottontails exhibited stronger preferences. Pygmy rabbits had faster detoxification capacities for all PSMs and consumed higher concentrations of individual PSMs versus a mixture than cottontails. However, detoxification capacity for an individual PSM did not generally coincide with preferences or avoidance of individual PSMs by either species. Cottontails avoided, but pygmy rabbits preferred, camphor, the PSM with the slowest detoxification rate by both species. Both species avoided β-pinene despite it having one of the fastest detoxification rate. Taken together our in vivo and in vitro results add to existing evidence that detoxification capacity is higher in dietary specialist than generalist herbivores. However, results also suggest that alternative mechanisms such as absorption and the pharmacological action of individual or mixtures of PSMs may play a role in determining preference of PSMs within herbivore species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan D Nobler
- Boise State University, 1910 W. University Dr, Boise, ID, 83725, USA.
| | - Meghan J Camp
- Washington State University, PO Box 64, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Miranda M Crowell
- University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
| | - Lisa A Shipley
- Washington State University, PO Box 64, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Carolyn Dadabay
- College of Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID, 83605, USA
| | - Janet L Rachlow
- University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA
| | - Lauren James
- College of Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID, 83605, USA
| | - Jennifer S Forbey
- Boise State University, 1910 W. University Dr, Boise, ID, 83725, USA
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