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Ringler E, Dellefont K, Peignier M, Canoine V. Water-borne testosterone levels predict exploratory tendency in male poison frogs. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2024; 346:114416. [PMID: 38000762 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2023.114416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 10/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
Hormones play a fundamental role in mediating social behaviors of animals. However, it is less well understood to what extent behavioral variation between individuals can be attributed to variation in underlying hormonal profiles. The goal of the present study was to infer if individual androgen levels, and/or the modulation thereof, can explain among-individual variation in aggressiveness, boldness and exploration. We used as a model the dart-poison frog Allobates femoralis and took repeated non-invasive water-borne hormonal samples of individual males before (baseline) and after (experimental) a series of behavioral tests for assessing aggression, boldness, and exploratory tendency. Our results show that androgen levels in A. femoralis are quite stable across the reproductive season. Repeatability in wbT baseline levels was high, while time of day, age of the frog, and trial order did not show any significant impact on measured wbT levels. In general, experimental wbT levels after behavioral tests were lower compared to the respective baseline levels. However, we identified two different patterns with regard to androgen modulation in response to behavioral testing: individuals with low baseline wbT tended to have increased wbT levels after the behavioral testing, while individuals with comparatively high baseline wbT levels rather showed a decrease in hormonal levels after testing. Our results also suggest that baseline wbT levels are linked to the personality trait exploration, and that androgen modulation is linked to boldness in A. femoralis males. These results show that differences in hormonal profiles and/or hormonal modulation in response to social challenges can indeed explain among-individual differences in behavioral traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Ringler
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Katharina Dellefont
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mélissa Peignier
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Virginie Canoine
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Papadopoulou M, Fürtbauer I, O'Bryan LR, Garnier S, Georgopoulou DG, Bracken AM, Christensen C, King AJ. Dynamics of collective motion across time and species. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220068. [PMID: 36802781 PMCID: PMC9939269 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Most studies of collective animal behaviour rely on short-term observations, and comparisons of collective behaviour across different species and contexts are rare. We therefore have a limited understanding of intra- and interspecific variation in collective behaviour over time, which is crucial if we are to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape collective behaviour. Here, we study the collective motion of four species: shoals of stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus), flocks of homing pigeons (Columba livia), a herd of goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) and a troop of chacma baboons (Papio ursinus). First, we describe how local patterns (inter-neighbour distances and positions), and group patterns (group shape, speed and polarization) during collective motion differ across each system. Based on these, we place data from each species within a 'swarm space', affording comparisons and generating predictions about the collective motion across species and contexts. We encourage researchers to add their own data to update the 'swarm space' for future comparative work. Second, we investigate intraspecific variation in collective motion over time and provide guidance for researchers on when observations made over different time scales can result in confident inferences regarding species collective motion. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Papadopoulou
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Ines Fürtbauer
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Lisa R. O'Bryan
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Simon Garnier
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
| | - Dimitra G. Georgopoulou
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
- Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology & Aquaculture, HCMR, 71500 Hersonissos, Crete, Greece
| | - Anna M. Bracken
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Charlotte Christensen
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Andrew J. King
- Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
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Michelangeli M, Martin JM, Pinter-Wollman N, Ioannou CC, McCallum ES, Bertram MG, Brodin T. Predicting the impacts of chemical pollutants on animal groups. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:789-802. [PMID: 35718586 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.05.009] [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: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Chemical pollution is among the fastest-growing agents of global change. Synthetic chemicals with diverse modes-of-action are being detected in the tissues of wildlife and pervade entire food webs. Although such pollutants can elicit a range of sublethal effects on individual organisms, research on how chemical pollutants affect animal groups is severely lacking. Here we synthesise research from two related, but largely segregated fields - ecotoxicology and behavioural ecology - to examine pathways by which chemical contaminants could disrupt processes that govern the emergence, self-organisation, and collective function of animal groups. Our review provides a roadmap for prioritising the study of chemical pollutants within the context of sociality and highlights important methodological advancements for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Michelangeli
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, SE-901 83, Sweden; School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800, Australia.
| | - Jake M Martin
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800, Australia
| | - Noa Pinter-Wollman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7246, USA
| | - Christos C Ioannou
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK
| | - Erin S McCallum
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, SE-901 83, Sweden
| | - Michael G Bertram
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, SE-901 83, Sweden
| | - Tomas Brodin
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, SE-901 83, Sweden
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Georgopoulou DG, King AJ, Brown RM, Fürtbauer I. Emergence and repeatability of leadership and coordinated motion in fish shoals. Behav Ecol 2022; 33:47-54. [PMID: 35197806 PMCID: PMC8857939 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of self-organizing groups like schools of fish or flocks of birds have sought to uncover the behavioral rules individuals use (local-level interactions) to coordinate their motion (global-level patterns). However, empirical studies tend to focus on short-term or one-off observations where coordination has already been established or describe transitions between different coordinated states. As a result, we have a poor understanding of how behavioral rules develop and are maintained in groups. Here, we study the emergence and repeatability of coordinated motion in shoals of stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Shoals were introduced to a simple environment, where their spatio-temporal position was deduced via video analysis. Using directional correlation between fish velocities and wavelet analysis of fish positions, we demonstrate how shoals that are initially uncoordinated in their motion quickly transition to a coordinated state with defined individual leader-follower roles. The identities of leaders and followers were repeatable across two trials, and coordination was reached more quickly during the second trial and by groups of fish with higher activity levels (tested before trials). The rapid emergence of coordinated motion and repeatability of social roles in stickleback fish shoals may act to reduce uncertainty of social interactions in the wild, where individuals live in a system with high fission-fusion dynamics and non-random patterns of association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitra G Georgopoulou
- College of Engineering, Swansea University, SA1 8EN Swansea, UK
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Andrew J King
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Rowan M Brown
- College of Engineering, Swansea University, SA1 8EN Swansea, UK
| | - Ines Fürtbauer
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
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Hansen M, Burns A, Monk C, Schutz C, Lizier J, Ramnarine I, Ward A, Krause J. The effect of predation risk on group behaviour and information flow during repeated collective decisions. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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