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Züst Z, Mukhin A, Taylor PD, Schmaljohann H. Pre-migratory flights in migrant songbirds: the ecological and evolutionary importance of understudied exploratory movements. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2023; 11:78. [PMID: 38115134 PMCID: PMC10731812 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-023-00440-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Across the animal kingdom, from honeybees to cranes to beavers, exploratory movements to exploit resources, scout prospective territories, or otherwise gain valuable experiences and information that promote fitness have been documented. For example, exploratory movements to investigate potential dispersal targets have been observed in roe deer, Northern cardinals, and tigers alike. However, despite how widespread these movements are, a cohesive definition of exploratory movements has been lacking. We first provide a clear definition of exploratory movements, and use one particular group-migratory songbirds-to catalogue exploratory movements across the annual cycle. The exceptional mobility of migratory songbirds results in exploratory movements not only at a local scale, but also on a regional scale, both in and out of the breeding season. We review the extent to which these movements are made within this group, paying particular attention to how such movements confer fitness benefits, as by securing high-quality territories, prospecting for extra-pair paternity, or even exploiting ephemeral resources. We then zoom in one step further to a particular exploratory movement that has been, to date, almost completely overlooked within this group: that of pre-migratory flights. These flights, which occur during the transitional period between the stationary breeding period and the onset of migration, occur at night and may not be made by all individuals in a population-reasons why these flights have been heretofore critically understudied. We provide the first definition for this behaviour, summarise the current knowledge of this cryptic movement, and hypothesise what evolutionary/ecological advantages conducting it may confer to the individuals that undertake it. As these flights provide experience to the individuals that undertake them, we expect that birds that make pre-migratory flights are better equipped to survive migration (direct fitness benefits) and, due to orientation/navigation abilities, may also reach preferred territories on breeding and wintering grounds faster (indirect fitness benefits). We hope to encourage ecologists to consider such hidden movements in their research concepts and to enhance the framework of movement ecology by this behaviour due to its presumed high biological importance to the annual cycle of birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zephyr Züst
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences (IBU), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
| | - Andrey Mukhin
- Zoological Institute Russian Academy of Science, Biological Station Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia
| | - Philip D Taylor
- Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, Canada
| | - Heiko Schmaljohann
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences (IBU), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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2
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Zou J, Jin B, Ao Y, Han Y, Huang B, Jia Y, Yang L, Jia Y, Chen Q, Fu Z. Spectrally non-overlapping background noise disturbs echolocation via acoustic masking in the CF-FM bat, Hipposideros pratti. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2023; 11:coad017. [PMID: 37101704 PMCID: PMC10123856 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coad017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The environment noise may disturb animal behavior and echolocation via three potential mechanisms: acoustic masking, reduced attention and noise avoidance. Compared with the mechanisms of reduced attention and noise avoidance, acoustic masking is thought to occur only when the signal and background noise overlap spectrally and temporally. In this study, we investigated the effects of spectrally non-overlapping noise on echolocation pulses and electrophysiological responses of a constant frequency-frequency modulation (CF-FM) bat, Hipposideros pratti. We found that H. pratti called at higher intensities while keeping the CFs of their echolocation pulses consistent. Electrophysiological tests indicated that the noise could decrease auditory sensitivity and sharp intensity tuning, suggesting that spectrally non-overlapping noise imparts an acoustic masking effect. Because anthropogenic noises are usually concentrated at low frequencies and are spectrally non-overlapping with the bat's echolocation pulses, our results provide further evidence of negative consequences of anthropogenic noise. On this basis, we sound a warning against noise in the foraging habitats of echolocating bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianwen Zou
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Baoling Jin
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Yuqin Ao
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Yuqing Han
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Baohua Huang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Yuyang Jia
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Lijian Yang
- College of Physical Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Ya Jia
- College of Physical Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Qicai Chen
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China
| | - Ziying Fu
- Corresponding author: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation & Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, No.152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430079, China.
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3
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Reina A, Bose T, Srivastava V, Marshall JAR. Asynchrony rescues statistically optimal group decisions from information cascades through emergent leaders. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230175. [PMID: 36938538 PMCID: PMC10014242 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
It is usually assumed that information cascades are most likely to occur when an early but incorrect opinion spreads through the group. Here, we analyse models of confidence-sharing in groups and reveal the opposite result: simple but plausible models of naive-Bayesian decision-making exhibit information cascades when group decisions are synchronous; however, when group decisions are asynchronous, the early decisions reached by Bayesian decision-makers tend to be correct and dominate the group consensus dynamics. Thus early decisions actually rescue the group from making errors, rather than contribute to it. We explore the likely realism of our assumed decision-making rule with reference to the evolution of mechanisms for aggregating social information, and known psychological and neuroscientific mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreagiovanni Reina
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies on Artificial Intelligence (IRIDIA), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1050, Belgium
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 4DP, UK
| | - Thomas Bose
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 4DP, UK
| | - Vaibhav Srivastava
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226, USA
| | - James A. R. Marshall
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 4DP, UK
- Opteran Technologies Limited, Sheffield, UK
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4
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Perlut N, Maxwell LM, Kovach A, Parker P, Renfrew RB. Breeding origins of a uniquely regular migrant songbird in the Galápagos Islands. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9697. [PMID: 36694546 PMCID: PMC9842894 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Little is known about the causes and consequences of alternative pathways flown by long-distance migratory birds. Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) breed in grasslands across northern North America and migrate from their breeding grounds toward the eastern Atlantic Coast and then proceed through the Caribbean to South America. However, a small but regular number of Bobolinks have been recorded on the Galapagos Islands. We collected genetic samples from nine Galapagos Bobolinks and performed double-digest restriction site-associated sequencing. We compared them with samples from seven locations across their breeding distribution to determine their population of origin. Galapagos Bobolinks shared the genetic structure of a cluster in the eastern portion of the breeding range that includes New Brunswick and Ontario, Canada, and Vermont, United States. Genetic assignment tests largely corroborated this finding, although slightly different results were obtained for the two methods. All individuals were assigned to the Ontario breeding population using AssignPop, while Rubias assigned six of the migrants to Ontario and three to a Midwest breeding population. Low average relatedness among Galapagos individuals indicates that they are not more related to one another than to individuals within a breeding population and are therefore likely not from a single, small isolated population. Our results do not support the probability hypothesis-that Galapagos Bobolinks originated from the region that includes the greatest proportion of their breeding range (Great Plains)-or the vagrant hypothesis-that migrants are displaced onto Galapagos due to weather events. Instead, our findings support the proximity hypothesis, where migrants originate from the geographically closest-breeding populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah Perlut
- School of Marine and Environmental ProgramsUniversity of New EnglandBiddefordMaineUSA
| | - Logan M. Maxwell
- Department of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of New HampshireDurhamNew HampshireUSA
| | - Adrienne Kovach
- Department of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of New HampshireDurhamNew HampshireUSA
| | - Patricia Parker
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Missouri – St. LouisSt. LouisMissouriUSA
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5
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Carle‐Pruneau E, Bélisle M, Pelletier F, Garant D. Determinants of nest box local recruitment and natal dispersal in a declining bird population. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Marc Bélisle
- Dépt de Biologie, Univ. de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada
| | | | - Dany Garant
- Dépt de Biologie, Univ. de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada
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6
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Courtois È, Garant D, Pelletier F, Bélisle M. Nonideal nest box selection by tree swallows breeding in farmlands: Evidence for an ecological trap? Ecol Evol 2021; 11:16296-16313. [PMID: 34824828 PMCID: PMC8601888 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals are expected to select a breeding habitat using cues that should reflect, directly or not, the fitness outcome of the different habitat options. However, human-induced environmental changes can alter the relationships between habitat characteristics and their fitness consequences, leading to maladaptive habitat choices. The most severe case of such nonideal habitat selection is the ecological trap, which occurs when individuals prefer to settle in poor-quality habitats while better ones are available. Here, we studied the adaptiveness of nest box selection in a tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) population breeding over a 10-year period in a network of 400 nest boxes distributed along a gradient of agricultural intensification in southern Québec, Canada. We first examined the effects of multiple environmental and social habitat characteristics on nest box preference to identify potential settlement cues. We then assessed the links between those cues and habitat quality as defined by the reproductive performance of individuals that settled early or late in nest boxes. We found that tree swallows preferred nesting in open habitats with high cover of perennial forage crops, high spring insect biomass, and high density of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), their main competitors for nest sites. They also preferred nesting where the density of breeders and their mean number of fledglings during the previous year were high. However, we detected mismatches between preference and habitat quality for several environmental variables. The density of competitors and conspecific social information showed severe mismatches, as their relationships to preference and breeding success went in opposite direction under certain circumstances. Spring food availability and agricultural landscape context, while related to preferences, were not related to breeding success. Overall, our study emphasizes the complexity of habitat selection behavior and provides evidence that multiple mechanisms may potentially lead to an ecological trap in farmlands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ève Courtois
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Dany Garant
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Fanie Pelletier
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Marc Bélisle
- Département de BiologieUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
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7
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Deakin JE, Guglielmo CG, Morbey YE. Effect of the Social Environment on Spring Migration Timing of a Songbird. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.715418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of the social environment on the timing of the annual cycle is poorly understood. Seasonally migratory birds are under pressure to accurately time their spring migration, and throughout the annual cycle, they may experience variability of the local sex-ratio. A population-level male-biased sex ratio is predicted to advance spring migration timing in males and is attributed to the increased intra-specific competition for access to females and/or breeding territories. The present study had two goals. First, to develop a method that utilizes digitally coded radio-transmitters to quantify the activity of flocked individuals in captivity. Second, to use this method to test the hypothesis that the social environment influences the spring migration traits of male yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata coronata). To accomplish this, birds were captured in the fall in Long Point, Ontario, and transferred to the Advanced Facility for Avian Research, London, Ontario. In the winter, they were assigned to a slightly male- or female-biased treatment and housed in flocks in large free-flight rooms. Throughout the experimental period, we took body mass measurements and standardized photos to monitor body condition and molt progression. To measure locomotor activity, the birds were outfitted with digitally coded radio-transmitters in April and photo-triggered to enter a migratory phenotype. The tagged birds were released at their capture site in May and the Motus Wildlife Tracking System was used to determine stopover departure timing and migratory movements. Sex ratio did not influence body mass or molt progression. However, males from the male-biased treatment had significantly less locomotor movement than those from the female-biased treatment. Additionally, a lower proportion of males from the male-biased treatment initiated migratory restlessness, an indicator of the urge to migrate. Overall, these findings suggest that the social environment can influence behavior of songbirds, but do not support the hypothesis that a male-biased sex ratio accelerates migration.
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8
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Encel SA, Ward AJW. Social context affects camouflage in a cryptic fish species. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:211125. [PMID: 34659783 PMCID: PMC8511788 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Crypsis, or the ability to avoid detection and/or recognition, is an important and widespread anti-predator strategy across the animal kingdom. Many animals are able to camouflage themselves by adapting their body colour to the local environment. In particular, rapid changes in body colour are often critical to the survival of cryptic prey which rely on evading detection by predators. This is especially pertinent for animals subject to spatio-temporal variability in their environment, as they must adapt to acute changes in their visual surroundings. However, which features of the local environment are most relevant is not well understood. In particular, little is known about how social context interacts with other environmental stimuli to influence crypsis. Here, we use a common cryptic prey animal, the goby (Pseudogobius species 2) to examine how the presence and body colour of conspecifics influence the rate and extent to which gobies change colour. We find that solitary gobies change colour to match their background faster and to a greater extent than gobies in pairs. Further, we find that this relationship holds irrespective of the colour of nearby conspecifics. This study demonstrates the importance of social context in mediating colour change in cryptic animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stella A. Encel
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Ashley J. W. Ward
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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9
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Oro D, Bécares J, Bartumeus F, Arcos JM. High frequency of prospecting for informed dispersal and colonisation in a social species at large spatial scale. Oecologia 2021; 197:395-409. [PMID: 34550445 PMCID: PMC8505276 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-05040-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Animals explore and prospect space searching for resources and individuals may disperse, targeting suitable patches to increase fitness. Nevertheless, dispersal is costly because it implies leaving the patch where the individual has gathered information and reduced uncertainty. In social species, information gathered during the prospection process for deciding whether and where to disperse is not only personal but also public, i.e. conspecific density and breeding performance. In empty patches, public information is not available and dispersal for colonisation would be more challenging. Here we study the prospecting in a metapopulation of colonial Audouin's gulls using PTT platform terminal transmitters tagging for up to 4 years and GPS tagging during the incubation period. A large percentage of birds (65%) prospected occupied patches; strikingly, 62% of prospectors also visited empty patches that were colonised in later years. Frequency and intensity of prospecting were higher for failed breeders, who dispersed more than successful breeders. Prospecting and dispersal also occurred mostly to neighbouring patches where population density was higher. GPSs revealed that many breeders (59%) prospected while actively incubating, which suggests that they gathered information before knowing the fate of their reproduction. Prospecting may be enhanced in species adapted to breed in ephemeral habitats, such as Audouin's gulls. Interestingly, none of the tracked individuals colonised an empty patch despite having prospected over a period of up to three consecutive years. Lack of public information in empty patches may drive extended prospecting, long time delays in colonisation and non-linear transient phenomena in metapopulation dynamics and species range expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Oro
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes-CEAB (CSIC), Acces Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain.
| | - Juan Bécares
- SEO/BirdLife-Marine Programe, Delegació de Catalunya, 08026, Barcelona, Spain.,CORY'S-Investigación y Conservación de la Biodiversidad, 08016, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Frederic Bartumeus
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes-CEAB (CSIC), Acces Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain
| | - José Manuel Arcos
- SEO/BirdLife-Marine Programe, Delegació de Catalunya, 08026, Barcelona, Spain
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10
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Rushing CS, Brandt Ryder T, Valente JJ, Scott Sillett T, Marra PP. Empirical tests of habitat selection theory reveal that conspecific density and patch quality, but not habitat amount, drive long-distance immigration in a wild bird. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:1167-1177. [PMID: 33742759 PMCID: PMC8251823 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 11/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Individuals that disperse long distances from their natal site must select breeding patches with no prior knowledge of patch suitability. Despite decades of theoretical studies examining which cues dispersing individuals should use to select breeding patches, few empirical studies have tested the predictions of these theories at spatial scales relevant to long‐distance dispersal in wild animal populations. Here, we use a novel assignment model based on multiple intrinsic markers to quantify natal dispersal distances of Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) breeding in forest fragments. We show that long‐distance natal dispersal in this species is more frequent than commonly assumed for songbirds and that habitat selection by these individuals is driven by density‐dependence and patch quality but not the amount of habitat surrounding breeding patches. These results represent an important contribution to understanding habitat selection by dispersing individuals, especially with regards to long‐distance dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clark S Rushing
- Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA.,Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
| | - T Brandt Ryder
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013, USA.,Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Fort Collins, CO, 80525, USA
| | - Jonathon J Valente
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013, USA.,Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
| | - T Scott Sillett
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
| | - Peter P Marra
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013, USA.,Department of Biology and McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets, NW, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
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11
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Abstract
Explaining how animals respond to an increasingly urbanised world is a major challenge for evolutionary biologists. Urban environments often present animals with novel problems that differ from those encountered in their evolutionary past. To navigate these rapidly changing habitats successfully, animals may need to adjust their behaviour flexibly over relatively short timescales. These behavioural changes, in turn, may be facilitated by an ability to acquire, store and process information from the environment. The question of how cognitive abilities allow animals to avoid threats and exploit resources (or constrain their ability to do so) is attracting increasing research interest, with a growing number of studies investigating cognitive and behavioural differences between urban-dwelling animals and their non-urban counterparts. In this review we consider why such differences might arise, focusing on the informational challenges faced by animals living in urban environments, and how different cognitive abilities can assist in overcoming these challenges. We focus largely on birds, as avian taxa have been the subject of most research to date, but discuss work in other species where relevant. We also address the potential consequences of cognitive variation at the individual and species level. For instance, do urban environments select for, or influence the development of, particular cognitive abilities? Are individuals or species with particular cognitive phenotypes more likely to become established in urban habitats? How do other factors, such as social behaviour and individual personality, interact with cognition to influence behaviour in urban environments? The aim of this review is to synthesise current knowledge and identify key avenues for future research, in order to improve our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of urbanisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E Lee
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
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12
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Kloskowski J. Win-stay/lose-switch, prospecting-based settlement strategy may not be adaptive under rapid environmental change. Sci Rep 2021; 11:570. [PMID: 33436762 PMCID: PMC7804401 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79942-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding animal responses to environmental change is crucial for management of ecological traps. Between-year habitat selection was investigated in red-necked grebes (Podiceps grisegena) breeding on semi-natural fish ponds, where differential stocking of fish created contrasting yet poorly predictable brood-stage food availabilities. Grebes lured to low-quality ponds were more likely to shift territories than birds nesting on high-quality ponds, and tended to move to ponds whose habitat quality had been high in the previous year, irrespective of the current quality of the new and old territories. The territory switchers typically visited their future breeding ponds during or immediately after the brood-rearing period. However, owing to rotation of fish stocks, the habitat quality of many ponds changed in the following year, and then switchers from low-quality ponds and stayers on previously high-quality ponds were ecologically trapped. Thus, although breeders were making an informed choice, their settlement decisions, based on the win-stay/lose-switch rule and prospecting a year in advance, were inappropriate in conditions of year-to-year habitat fluctuations. Effective adaptation to rapid environmental change may necessitate both learning to correctly evaluate uncertain environmental cues and abandonment of previously adaptive decision-making algorithms (here prioritizing past-year information and assuming temporal autocorrelation of habitat quality).
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Affiliation(s)
- Janusz Kloskowski
- Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, ul. Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland.
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13
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Tóth Z, Jaloveczki B, Tarján G. Diffusion of Social Information in Non-grouping Animals. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.586058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent findings indicate that the utilization of social information, produced inadvertently by other individuals through their spatial location and/or interaction with the environment, may be ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. If so, social information-mediated effects on population growth and interspecies interactions may be more prevalent than previously thought. However, little is known about how social information may spread among non-grouping individuals, i.e., in animals that do not form cohesive groups and therefore social attraction among group-mates does not facilitate information diffusion. Are there any perception-related, temporal, and/or spatial parameters that may facilitate or limit the spread of social information in temporary aggregations or among dispersed individuals in a population? We argue that living in cohesive groups is not necessarily required for the diffusion of social information and for social information-mediated effects to emerge in a population. We propose that while learning complex problem-solving techniques socially is less likely to occur in non-grouping animals, the spread of adaptive responses to social stimuli, especially to non-visual cues, can be common and may affect population, and/or community dynamics in a wide range of taxa. We also argue that network-based diffusion analysis could be a suitable analytical method for studying information diffusion in future investigations, providing comparable estimations of social effects on information spread to previous studies on group-living animals. We conclude that more studies are warranted to verify what intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence information propagation among incidentally and/or indirectly interacting individuals if we are to better understand the role of social information in animal populations and how the social and ecological characteristics of species are related to information spread in natural communities.
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14
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Buxton VL, Enos JK, Sperry JH, Ward MP. A review of conspecific attraction for habitat selection across taxa. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:12690-12699. [PMID: 33304487 PMCID: PMC7713925 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Many species across taxa select habitat based on conspecific presence, known as conspecific attraction. Studies that document conspecific attraction typically provide social information (i.e., cues that indicate the presence of a given species) and then determine if a given species is more likely to settle at locations where the social information is provided compared to those locations that do not. Although the number of studies examining conspecific attraction has grown in recent years, a comprehensive review has not yet been undertaken. Here, we conducted a review of the literature and found 151 studies investigating conspecific attraction across eight taxa. We found that conspecific attraction is widespread with between 80% and 100% of studies, depending on taxa, documenting positive associations between habitat selection and the presence of conspecific cues. Conspecific attraction has been documented more frequently in bird and fish species with less attention given to invertebrate and mammal species. We use the patterns we found to (a) provide an overview of the current state of research on conspecific attraction and (b) discuss how important factors, such as cue characteristics and life history traits, may play a role in shaping conspecific attraction patterns within and across taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie L. Buxton
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ScienceUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaILUSA
| | - Janice K. Enos
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and BehaviorUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaILUSA
| | | | - Michael P. Ward
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ScienceUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaILUSA
- Illinois Natural History SurveyUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐ChampaignChampaignILUSA
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15
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Greggor AL, Berger-Tal O, Blumstein DT. The Rules of Attraction: The Necessary Role of Animal Cognition in Explaining Conservation Failures and Successes. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-011720-103212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Integrating knowledge and principles of animal behavior into wildlife conservation and management has led to some concrete successes but has failed to improve conservation outcomes in other cases. Many conservation interventions involve attempts to either attract or repel animals, which we refer to as approach/avoidance issues. These attempts can be reframed as issues of manipulating the decisions animals make, which are driven by their perceptual abilities and attentional biases, as well as the value animals attribute to current stimuli and past learned experiences. These processes all fall under the umbrella of animal cognition. Here, we highlight rules that emerge when considering approach/avoidance conservation issues through the lens of cognitive-based management. For each rule, we review relevant conservation successes and failures to better predict the conditions in which behavior can be manipulated, and we suggest how to avoid future failures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison L. Greggor
- Department of Recovery Ecology, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, Escondido, California 92027, USA
| | - Oded Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
| | - Daniel T. Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
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16
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Tolvanen J, Kivelä SM, Doligez B, Morinay J, Gustafsson L, Bijma P, Pakanen VM, Forsman JT. Quantitative genetics of the use of conspecific and heterospecific social cues for breeding site choice. Evolution 2020; 74:2332-2347. [PMID: 32725635 PMCID: PMC7589285 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Social information use for decision‐making is common and affects ecological and evolutionary processes, including social aggregation, species coexistence, and cultural evolution. Despite increasing ecological knowledge on social information use, very little is known about its genetic basis and therefore its evolutionary potential. Genetic variation in a trait affecting an individual's social and nonsocial environment may have important implications for population dynamics, interspecific interactions, and, for expression of other, environmentally plastic traits. We estimated repeatability, additive genetic variance, and heritability of the use of conspecific and heterospecific social cues (abundance and breeding success) for breeding site choice in a population of wild collared flycatchers Ficedula albicollis. Repeatability was found for two social cues: previous year conspecific breeding success and previous year heterospecific abundance. Yet, additive genetic variances for these two social cues, and thus heritabilities, were low. This suggests that most of the phenotypic variation in the use of social cues and resulting conspecific and heterospecific social environment experienced by individuals in this population stems from phenotypic plasticity. Given the important role of social information use on ecological and evolutionary processes, more studies on genetic versus environmental determinism of social information use are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jere Tolvanen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland
| | - Sami M Kivelä
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland.,Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, 51014, Estonia.,Current Address: Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland
| | - Blandine Doligez
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR 5558, Université de Lyon - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, 69622, France
| | - Jennifer Morinay
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR 5558, Université de Lyon - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, 69622, France.,Department of Ecology and Genetics/Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SE-75236, Sweden
| | - Lars Gustafsson
- Department of Ecology and Genetics/Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SE-75236, Sweden
| | - Piter Bijma
- Animal Breeding and Genomics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, 6700AH, The Netherlands
| | - Veli-Matti Pakanen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland.,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, SE-40530, Sweden.,Current Address: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, SE-40530, Sweden
| | - Jukka T Forsman
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland.,Current Address: Natural Resources Institute Finland, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland
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17
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Evans JC, Silk MJ, Boogert NJ, Hodgson DJ. Infected or informed? Social structure and the simultaneous transmission of information and infectious disease. OIKOS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.07148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Julian C. Evans
- Dept of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Univ. of Zurich Switzerland
| | - Matthew J. Silk
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Univ. of Exeter Penryn Campus UK
- Environment and Sustainability Inst., Univ. of Exeter Penryn Campus UK
| | | | - David J. Hodgson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Univ. of Exeter Penryn Campus UK
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18
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Tolvanen J, Morosinotto C, Forsman JT, Thomson RL. Information collected during the post-breeding season guides future breeding decisions in a migratory bird. Oecologia 2020; 192:965-977. [PMID: 32162073 PMCID: PMC7165145 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04629-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Breeding habitat choice and investment decisions are key contributors to fitness in animals. Density of individuals is a well-known cue of habitat quality used for future breeding decisions, but accuracy of density cues decreases as individuals disperse from breeding sites. Used nests remain an available information source also after breeding season, but whether such information is used for breeding decisions is less well known. We experimentally investigated whether migratory, cavity-nesting pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) prospect potential breeding sites after breeding season and use old nests as a cue for future breeding decisions. In late summer 2013, forest sites were assigned to four treatments: (1) sites including nest boxes with old nests of heterospecifics (tits), (2) sites including suitable but empty nest boxes, (3) sites with unsuitable nest boxes, or (4) sites without any nest boxes. In the following year, we investigated pied flycatcher habitat choice and reproductive investment according to these "past" cues while also controlling for additional information sources present during settlement. Flycatchers preferred sites where tits had been perceived to breed in the previous year, but only if great tits were also currently breeding in the site and had a relatively high number of eggs. Old flycatchers avoided sites previously treated with suitable but empty cavities, whereas young flycatchers preferred sites where tits had apparently bred in the previous year. Also egg mass, but not clutch size or clutch mass, was affected by the combination of past treatment information and current tit abundance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jere Tolvanen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland. .,National Resources Institute Finland, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland.
| | - Chiara Morosinotto
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.,Bioeconomy Research Team, Novia University of Applied Sciences, Raseborgsvägen 9, 10600, Ekenäs, Finland
| | - Jukka T Forsman
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland.,National Resources Institute Finland, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Robert L Thomson
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.,FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
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19
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Snell-Rood EC, Steck MK. Behaviour shapes environmental variation and selection on learning and plasticity: review of mechanisms and implications. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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20
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Zuckerberg B, Ribic CA, McCauley LA. Effects of temperature and precipitation on grassland bird nesting success as mediated by patch size. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2018; 32:872-882. [PMID: 29405380 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2017] [Revised: 01/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Grassland birds are declining faster than any other bird guild across North America. Shrinking ranges and population declines are attributed to widespread habitat loss and increasingly fragmented landscapes of agriculture and other land uses that are misaligned with grassland bird conservation. Concurrent with habitat loss and degradation, temperate grasslands have been disproportionally affected by climate change relative to most other terrestrial biomes. Distributions of grassland birds often correlate with gradients in climate, but few researchers have explored the consequences of weather on the demography of grassland birds inhabiting a range of grassland fragments. To do so, we modeled the effects of temperature and precipitation on nesting success rates of 12 grassland bird species inhabiting a range of grassland patches across North America (21,000 nests from 81 individual studies). Higher amounts of precipitation in the preceding year were associated with higher nesting success, but wetter conditions during the active breeding season reduced nesting success. Extremely cold or hot conditions during the early breeding season were associated with lower rates of nesting success. The direct and indirect influence of temperature and precipitation on nesting success was moderated by grassland patch size. The positive effects of precipitation in the preceding year on nesting success were strongest in relatively small grassland patches and had little effect in large patches. Conversely, warm temperatures reduced nesting success in small grassland patches but increased nesting success in large patches. Mechanisms underlying these differences may be patch-size-induced variation in microclimates and predator activity. Although the exact cause is unclear, large grassland patches, the most common metric of grassland conservation, appears to moderate the effects of weather on grassland-bird demography and could be an effective component of climate-change adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Zuckerberg
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
| | - Christine A Ribic
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
| | - Lisa A McCauley
- The Nature Conservancy Center for Science and Public Policy, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
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21
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Harris D, Wodarz D, Komarova NL. Spatial evolution of regularization in learned behavior of animals. Math Biosci 2018; 299:103-116. [PMID: 29550299 DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2018.03.005] [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: 12/14/2017] [Revised: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Stochastic population dynamics of learned traits are studied, where individual learners behave according to a reinforcement learner model, which is a nonlinear version of the Bush-Mosteller model. Depending on a regularization parameter (parameter a), the learners may possess different degrees of overmatching (regularization behavior, 0 ≤ a < 1), frequency matching (corresponding to a=1), or undermatching behavior (a > 1). Both non-spatial and spatial models are considered, to study the interplay of individual heterogeneity of behavior, spatial and temporal effects of learning, and the possibility of emergence of regional culture. In non-spatial models, we observe that populations of individuals learning from each other converge to a universally shared, deterministic rule (either rule "1" or rule "0"), only if they to some extent possess the ability to generalize (a < 1). Otherwise, a low-coherence solution where both rules are used intermittently by everyone, is achieved. If the evolution of the regularization ability is included, then we find that a initially evolves toward lower values, and a shared solution is established when everyone reliably uses the same rule. The spatial (2D) model has two well known limiting cases: if a=0 (the strongest degree of regularization), the model converges to a threshold voter model, and if a=1 (frequency matching), it is equivalent to the discrete diffusion equation. If 0 < a < 1 (the case where individuals regularize), spatial patterns emerge, where patches of different usage of the rule are formed. Smaller values of a lead to sharper and longer lived patches. Values of a < 1 close to unity result in probabilistic outcomes where patches only survive if they are attached to the boundary. Analytical treatment of the 1D case reveals the existence of approximate equilibria that have front structure, where spatially intermittent deterministic usage of one and the other rule are separated by interfaces whose analytical form is derived.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dakari Harris
- Department of Mathematics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Dominik Wodarz
- Department of Mathematics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Natalia L Komarova
- Department of Mathematics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
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22
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Kelly JK, Chiavacci SJ, Benson TJ, Ward MP. Who is in the neighborhood? Conspecific and heterospecific responses to perceived density for breeding habitat selection. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Janice K. Kelly
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences; University of Illinois; Urbana IL USA
| | | | - Thomas J. Benson
- Prairie Research Institute; Illinois Natural History Survey; University of Illinois; Champaign IL USA
| | - Michael P. Ward
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences; University of Illinois; Urbana IL USA
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23
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White DJ, Davies HB, Agyapong S, Seegmiller N. Nest prospecting brown-headed cowbirds 'parasitize' social information when the value of personal information is lacking. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1083. [PMID: 28835558 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1083] [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: 05/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Brood parasites face considerable cognitive challenges in locating and selecting host nests for their young. Here, we test whether female brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, could use information acquired from observing the nest prospecting patterns of conspecifics to influence their own patterns of nest selection. In laboratory-based experiments, we created a disparity in the amount of personal information females had about the quality of nests. Females with less personal information about the quality of two nests spent more time investigating the nest that more knowledgeable females investigated. Furthermore, there was a strong negative relationship between individual's ability to track nest quality using personal information and their tendency to copy others. These two contrasting strategies for selecting nests are equally effective, but lead to different patterns of parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J White
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
| | - Hayden B Davies
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
| | - Samuel Agyapong
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
| | - Nora Seegmiller
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
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24
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Samplonius JM, Kromhout Van Der Meer IM, Both C. Nest site preference depends on the relative density of conspecifics and heterospecifics in wild birds. Front Zool 2017; 14:56. [PMID: 29270207 PMCID: PMC5738223 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-017-0246-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 12/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Social learning allows animals to eavesdrop on ecologically relevant knowledge of competitors in their environment. This is especially important when selecting a habitat if individuals have relatively little personal information on habitat quality. It is known that birds can use both conspecific and heterospecific information for social learning, but little is known about the relative importance of each information type. If provided with the choice between them, we expected that animals should copy the behaviour of conspecifics, as these confer the best information for that species. We tested this hypothesis in the field for Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca arriving at their breeding grounds to select a nest box for breeding. We assigned arbitrary symbols to nest boxes of breeding pied flycatchers (conspecifics) and blue and great tits, Cyanistes caeruleus and Parus major (heterospecifics), in 2014 and 2016 in two areas with different densities of tits and flycatchers. After ca 50% of flycatchers had returned and a flycatcher symbol was assigned to their nest box, we gave the later arriving flycatchers the choice between empty nest boxes with either a conspecific (flycatcher) or a heterospecific (tit) symbol. Results As expected, Pied Flycatchers copied the perceived nest box choice of conspecifics, but only in areas that were dominated by flycatchers. Against our initial expectation, flycatchers copied the perceived choice of heterospecifics in the area heavily dominated by tits, even though conspecific minority information was present. Conclusions Our results confirm that the relative density of conspecifics and heterospecifics modulates the propensity to copy or reject novel behavioural traits. By contrasting conspecific and heterospecific ecology in the same study design we were able to draw more general conclusions about the role of fluctuating densities on social information use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelmer M Samplonius
- Conservation Ecology Group (CONSECO), Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, 9700CC Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Iris M Kromhout Van Der Meer
- Conservation Ecology Group (CONSECO), Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, 9700CC Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Christiaan Both
- Conservation Ecology Group (CONSECO), Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, 9700CC Groningen, the Netherlands
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25
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Anich NM, Ward MP. Using audio playback to expand the geographic breeding range of an endangered species. DIVERS DISTRIB 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael P. Ward
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Urbana IL USA
- Illinois Natural History Survey; Prairie Research Institute; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Champaign IL USA
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26
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Expósito-Granados M, Parejo D, Martínez JG, Precioso M, Molina-Morales M, Avilés JM. Host nest site choice depends on risk of cuckoo parasitism in magpie hosts. Behav Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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27
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Lagrange P, Gimenez O, Doligez B, Pradel R, Garant D, Pelletier F, Bélisle M. Assessment of individual and conspecific reproductive success as determinants of breeding dispersal of female tree swallows: A capture-recapture approach. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:7334-7346. [PMID: 28944020 PMCID: PMC5606858 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2017] [Revised: 05/22/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Breeding dispersal is a key process of population structure and dynamics and is often triggered by an individual's breeding failure. In both colonial and territorial birds, reproductive success of conspecifics (RSc) can also lead individuals to change breeding sites after a failure on a site. Yet, few studies have simultaneously investigated the independent contribution of individual reproductive success (RSi) and of RSc on dispersal decision. Here, we develop a modeling framework to disentangle the effects of RSi and RSc on demographic parameters, while accounting for imperfect individual detection and other confounding factors such as age or dispersal behavior in the previous year. Using a 10‐year capture–recapture dataset composed of 1,595 banded tree swallows, we assessed the effects of nonmanipulated RSi and RSc on female breeding dispersal in this semicolonial passerine. Dispersal was strongly driven by RSi, but not by RSc. Unsuccessful females were 9.5–2.5 times more likely to disperse than successful ones, depending if they had dispersed or not in the previous year, respectively. Unsuccessful females were also three times less likely to be detected than successful ones. Contrary to theoretical and empirical studies, RSc did not drive the decision to disperse but influenced the selection of the following breeding site once dispersal had been initiated. Because detection of individuals was driven by RSi, which was positively correlated to RSc, assuming a perfect detection as in previous studies may have lead us to conclude that RSc affected dispersal patterns, yet our approach corrected for this bias. Overall, our results suggest that the value and use of RSc as public information to guide dispersal decisions are likely dictated by multiple ecological determinants, such as landscape structure and extent, if this cue is indeed used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paméla Lagrange
- Département de Biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada.,CEFE UMR 5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE Montpellier Cedex 5 France
| | - Olivier Gimenez
- CEFE UMR 5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE Montpellier Cedex 5 France
| | - Blandine Doligez
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - CNRS UMR 5558 Université de Lyon 1 Villeurbanne France
| | - Roger Pradel
- CEFE UMR 5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE Montpellier Cedex 5 France
| | - Dany Garant
- Département de Biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada
| | - Fanie Pelletier
- Département de Biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada
| | - Marc Bélisle
- Département de Biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada
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28
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Ethier DM, Nudds TD. Complexity of factors affecting bobolink population dynamics communicated with directed acyclic graphs. WILDLIFE SOC B 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Danielle M. Ethier
- Department of Integrative Biology; University of Guelph; 50 Stone Road E Guelph ON N1G 2W1 Canada
| | - Thomas D. Nudds
- Department of Integrative Biology; University of Guelph; 50 Stone Road E Guelph ON N1G 2W1 Canada
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29
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Kelly JK, Schmidt KA. Fledgling calls are a source of social information for conspecific, but not heterospecific, songbird territory selection. Ecosphere 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Janice K. Kelly
- Department of Biological Sciences Texas Tech University Lubbock Texas 79409 USA
| | - Kenneth A. Schmidt
- Department of Biological Sciences Texas Tech University Lubbock Texas 79409 USA
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30
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Kleist NJ, Guralnick RP, Cruz A, Francis CD. Sound settlement: noise surpasses land cover in explaining breeding habitat selection of secondary cavity-nesting birds. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2017; 27:260-273. [PMID: 28052511 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2016] [Accepted: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Birds breeding in heterogeneous landscapes select nest sites by cueing in on a variety of factors from landscape features and social information to the presence of natural enemies. We focus on determining the relative impact of anthropogenic noise on nest site occupancy, compared to amount of forest cover, which is known to strongly influence the selection process. We examine chronic, industrial noise from natural gas wells directly measured at the nest box as well as site-averaged noise, using a well-established field experimental system in northwestern New Mexico. We hypothesized that high levels of noise, both at the nest site and in the environment, would decrease nest box occupancy. We set up nest boxes using a geospatially paired control and experimental site design and analyzed four years of occupancy data from four secondary cavity-nesting birds common to the Colorado Plateau. We found different effects of noise and landscape features depending on species, with strong effects of noise observed in breeding habitat selection of Myiarchus cinerascens, the Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Sialia currucoides, the Mountain Bluebird. In contrast, the amount of forest cover less frequently explained habitat selection for those species or had a smaller standardized effect than the acoustic environment. Although forest cover characterization and management is commonly employed by natural resource managers, our results show that characterizing and managing the acoustic environment should be an important tool in protected area management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan J Kleist
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA
| | - Robert P Guralnick
- University of Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida at Gainesville, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
| | - Alexander Cruz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA
| | - Clinton D Francis
- Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, 93407, USA
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31
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Elvidge C, Cooke E, Cunjak R, Cooke S. Social cues may advertise habitat quality to refuge-seeking conspecifics. CAN J ZOOL 2017. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2016-0144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Individuals travelling through landscapes may use the presence of conspecifics to evaluate habitat quality. Juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L., 1758) are usually territorial and exhibit some degree of density-dependent regulation in wild populations. They are also vulnerable to heat stress and may need to locate a thermal refuge to offset metabolic costs above certain temperature thresholds. During July 2010, a heat wave resulted in water temperatures in the Miramichi River system exceeding 30 °C. During this period, salmon parr were observed aggregating in cold-water refugia at densities several orders of magnitude greater than usual. We tested whether groups of wild-caught salmon parr held at high densities (160 parr/m2) would have an attractant effect on free-swimming parr at three sites differing in temperature between 16.5 and 24 °C. Although neither temperature nor site influenced the number of parr that we observed, there were significantly more parr in close proximity (<1 m) to the artificial aggregations than to the controls. These results suggest that social cues from high-density aggregations of conspecifics during extreme temperature events may advertise the location of thermal refugia to others. Understanding how heat-stressed salmon locate refugia may prove valuable to ongoing conservation efforts given the likelihood of increasingly frequent and extreme high-temperature events.
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Affiliation(s)
- C.K. Elvidge
- Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - E.L.L. Cooke
- Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - R.A. Cunjak
- Canadian Rivers Institute and Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada
| | - S.J. Cooke
- Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
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32
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Kelly JK, Ward MP. Do songbirds attend to song categories when selecting breeding habitat? A case study with a wood warbler. BEHAVIOUR 2017. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Breeding habitat selection strongly affects reproduction and individual fitness. Among birds, using social cues from conspecifics to select habitat is widespread, but how different types of conspecific social cues influence breeding habitat selection remains less understood. We conducted a playback experiment evaluating if the yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia), a species with two song categories linked to pairing status, uses categories differently when selecting breeding habitat. We hypothesized that yellow warblers use second-category singing mode, which is mostly sung by paired males, over first-category singing mode for habitat selection, as successfully paired males should indicate higher-quality habitat. We broadcast yellow warbler first-category singing mode, second-category singing mode, and silent controls at sites in Illinois. Yellow warblers were more abundant at sites treated with second-category singing mode compared other sites. Our results demonstrate that yellow warblers use social cues informing successful pairing over other types of social cues to select breeding habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice K. Kelly
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Michael P. Ward
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Grendelmeier A, Arlettaz R, Olano-Marin J, Pasinelli G. Experimentally provided conspecific cues boost bird territory density but not breeding performance. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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34
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35
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Cava JA, Perlut NG, Travis SE. Why come back home? Investigating the proximate factors that influence natal philopatry in migratory passerines. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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36
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Walsh J, Olsen BJ, Ruskin KJ, Gregory Shriver W, O'Brien KM, Kovach AI. Extrinsic and intrinsic factors influence fitness in an avian hybrid zone. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Walsh
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment; University of New Hampshire; Durham NH USA
| | - Brian J. Olsen
- School of Biology and Ecology; University of Maine; Orono ME USA
| | | | - W. Gregory Shriver
- Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology; University of Delaware; Newark DE USA
| | - Kathleen M. O'Brien
- US Fish and Wildlife Service; Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge; Wells ME USA
| | - Adrienne I. Kovach
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment; University of New Hampshire; Durham NH USA
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37
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Parejo D, Avilés JM. Social information use by competitors: Resolving the enigma of species coexistence in animals? Ecosphere 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Deseada Parejo
- University of Extremadura Avda. de Elvas s/n Badajoz E‐06071 Spain
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas CSIC Ctra. de Sacramento S/N La Cañada de San Urbano Almería E‐04120 Spain
| | - Jesús M. Avilés
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas CSIC Ctra. de Sacramento S/N La Cañada de San Urbano Almería E‐04120 Spain
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38
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Schmidt KA, Johansson J, Betts MG. Information-Mediated Allee Effects in Breeding Habitat Selection. Am Nat 2015; 186:E162-71. [PMID: 26655992 DOI: 10.1086/683659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Social information is used widely in breeding habitat selection and provides an efficient means for individuals to select habitat, but the population-level consequences of this process are not well explored. At low population densities, efficiencies may be reduced because there are insufficient information providers to cue high-quality habitat. This constitutes what we call an information-mediated Allee effect. We present the first general model for an information-mediated Allee effect applied to breeding habitat selection and unify personal and social information, Allee effects, and ecological traps into a common framework. In a second model, we consider an explicit mechanism of social information gathering through prospecting on conspecific breeding performance. In each model, we independently vary personal and social information use to demonstrate how dependency on social information may result in either weak or strong Allee effects that, in turn, affect population extinction risk. Abrupt transitions between outcomes can occur through reduced information transfer or small changes in habitat composition. Overall, information-mediated Allee effects may produce positive feedbacks that amplify population declines in species that are already experiencing environmentally driven stressors, such as habitat loss and degradation. Alternatively, social information has the capacity to rescue populations from ecological traps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth A Schmidt
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409
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39
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Aplin L, Firth J, Farine D, Voelkl B, Crates R, Culina A, Garroway C, Hinde C, Kidd L, Psorakis I, Milligan N, Radersma R, Verhelst B, Sheldon B. Consistent individual differences in the social phenotypes of wild great tits, Parus major. Anim Behav 2015; 108:117-127. [PMID: 26512142 PMCID: PMC4579410 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Revised: 02/09/2015] [Accepted: 06/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Despite growing interest in animal social networks, surprisingly little is known about whether individuals are consistent in their social network characteristics. Networks are rarely repeatedly sampled; yet an assumption of individual consistency in social behaviour is often made when drawing conclusions about the consequences of social processes and structure. A characterization of such social phenotypes is therefore vital to understanding the significance of social network structure for individual fitness outcomes, and for understanding the evolution and ecology of individual variation in social behaviour more broadly. Here, we measured foraging associations over three winters in a large PIT-tagged population of great tits, and used a range of social network metrics to quantify individual variation in social behaviour. We then examined repeatability in social behaviour over both short (week to week) and long (year to year) timescales, and investigated variation in repeatability across age and sex classes. Social behaviours were significantly repeatable across all timescales, with the highest repeatability observed in group size choice and unweighted degree, a measure of gregariousness. By conducting randomizations to control for the spatial and temporal distribution of individuals, we further show that differences in social phenotypes were not solely explained by within-population variation in local densities, but also reflected fine-scale variation in social decision making. Our results provide rare evidence of stable social phenotypes in a wild population of animals. Such stable social phenotypes can be targets of selection and may have important fitness consequences, both for individuals and for their social-foraging associates.
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Affiliation(s)
- L.M. Aplin
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
| | - J.A. Firth
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - D.R. Farine
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon, Panama
| | - B. Voelkl
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - R.A. Crates
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - A. Culina
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - C.J. Garroway
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - C.A. Hinde
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - L.R. Kidd
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - I. Psorakis
- Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - N.D. Milligan
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - R. Radersma
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
- Evolutionary Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - B.L. Verhelst
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
| | - B.C. Sheldon
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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40
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Rushing CS, Dudash MR, Marra PP. Habitat features and long-distance dispersal modify the use of social information by a long-distance migratory bird. J Anim Ecol 2015; 84:1469-79. [PMID: 26061822 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2015] [Accepted: 05/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The processes by which individuals select breeding sites have important consequences for individual tness as well as population- and community-dynamics. Although there is increasing evidence that many animal species use information acquired from conspecics to assess the suitability of potential breeding sites, little is known about how the use of this social information is modified by biotic and abiotic conditions. We used an automated playback experiment to simulate two types of social information, post-breeding public information and pre-breeding location cues, to determine the relative importance of these cues for breeding site selection by a migratory songbird, the American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). In addition, we used stable hydrogen isotopes to determine the dispersal status of individuals that responded to our experimental treatments and quantify whether long-distance dispersers use different social cues to select breeding sites compared to philopatric individuals. We found that points that received pre-breeding location cue treatments were signi cantly more likely to be settled by redstarts than control points that received no playback. However, we found no evidence the redstarts used post-breeding public information gathered during one season to select breeding sites the following year. Breeding site habitat structure was also a strong predictor of settlement probability, indicating that redstarts modi ed the use of social information based on habitat cues. Furthermore, stable hydrogen isotope signatures from individuals that responded to location cue treatments suggest that long-distance dispersers may rely more heavily on these cues than local recruits. Collectively, these results indicate that redstarts use multiple sources of information to select breeding sites, which could buffer individuals from selecting suboptimal sites when they breed in unfamiliar locations or when habitat quality becomes decoupled from social cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clark S Rushing
- Graduate Program in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 2101 Bioscience Research Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.,Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, PO Box 37012 MRC 5503, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Michele R Dudash
- Graduate Program in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 2101 Bioscience Research Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Peter P Marra
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, PO Box 37012 MRC 5503, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
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41
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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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42
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Gangoso L, Afán I, Grande J, Figuerola J. Sociospatial structuration of alternative breeding strategies in a color polymorphic raptor. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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43
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Szymkowiak J, Kuczyński L. Predation-related costs and benefits of conspecific attraction in songbirds--an agent-based approach. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0119132. [PMID: 25790479 PMCID: PMC4366215 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2014] [Accepted: 01/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Songbirds that follow a conspecific attraction strategy in the habitat selection process prefer to settle in habitat patches already occupied by other individuals. This largely affects the patterns of their spatio-temporal distribution and leads to clustered breeding. Although making informed settlement decisions is expected to be beneficial for individuals, such territory clusters may potentially provide additional fitness benefits (e.g., through the dilution effect) or costs (e.g., possibly facilitating nest localization if predators respond functionally to prey distribution). Thus, we hypothesized that the fitness consequences of following a conspecific attraction strategy may largely depend on the composition of the predator community. We developed an agent-based model in which we simulated the settling behavior of birds that use a conspecific attraction strategy and breed in a multi-predator landscape with predators that exhibited different foraging strategies. Moreover, we investigated whether Bayesian updating of prior settlement decisions according to the perceived predation risk may improve the fitness of birds that rely on conspecific cues. Our results provide evidence that the fitness consequences of conspecific attraction are predation-related. We found that in landscapes dominated by predators able to respond functionally to prey distribution, clustered breeding led to fitness costs. However, this cost could be reduced if birds performed Bayesian updating of prior settlement decisions and perceived nesting with too many neighbors as a threat. Our results did not support the hypothesis that in landscapes dominated by incidental predators, clustered breeding as a byproduct of conspecific attraction provides fitness benefits through the dilution effect. We suggest that this may be due to the spatial scale of songbirds’ aggregative behavior. In general, we provide evidence that when considering the fitness consequences of conspecific attraction for songbirds, one should expect a trade-off between the benefits of making informed decisions and the costs of clustering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakub Szymkowiak
- Department of Avian Biology and Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- * E-mail:
| | - Lechosław Kuczyński
- Department of Avian Biology and Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
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44
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Farine DR, Sheldon BC. Selection for territory acquisition is modulated by social network structure in a wild songbird. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:547-56. [PMID: 25611344 PMCID: PMC4406129 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2014] [Revised: 01/15/2015] [Accepted: 01/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The social environment may be a key mediator of selection that operates on animals. In many cases, individuals may experience selection not only as a function of their phenotype, but also as a function of the interaction between their phenotype and the phenotypes of the conspecifics they associate with. For example, when animals settle after dispersal, individuals may benefit from arriving early, but, in many cases, these benefits will be affected by the arrival times of other individuals in their local environment. We integrated a recently described method for calculating assortativity on weighted networks, which is the correlation between an individual's phenotype and that of its associates, into an existing framework for measuring the magnitude of social selection operating on phenotypes. We applied this approach to large-scale data on social network structure and the timing of arrival into the breeding area over three years. We found that late-arriving individuals had a reduced probability of breeding. However, the probability of breeding was also influenced by individuals' social networks. Associating with late-arriving conspecifics increased the probability of successfully acquiring a breeding territory. Hence, social selection could offset the effects of nonsocial selection. Given parallel theoretical developments of the importance of local network structure on population processes, and increasing data being collected on social networks in free-living populations, the integration of these concepts could yield significant insights into social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- D R Farine
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon, Panama; Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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45
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Kivelä SM, Seppänen JT, Ovaskainen O, Doligez B, Gustafsson L, Mönkkönen M, Forsman JT. The past and the present in decision-making: the use of conspecific and heterospecific cues in nest site selection. Ecology 2014. [DOI: 10.1890/13-2103.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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46
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Streby HM, Peterson SM, Kramer GR, Andersen DE. Post-independence fledgling ecology in a migratory songbird: implications for breeding-grounds conservation. Anim Conserv 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H. M. Streby
- Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology; University of Minnesota; St. Paul MN USA
| | - S. M. Peterson
- Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology; University of Minnesota; St. Paul MN USA
| | - G. R. Kramer
- Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology; University of Minnesota; St. Paul MN USA
| | - D. E. Andersen
- Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; U.S. Geological Survey; St. Paul MN USA
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47
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Valente JJ, Legrande CL, Johnson VM, Fischer RA. A method for improving the reliability of sound broadcast systems used in ecological research and management. WILDLIFE SOC B 2014. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.468] [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)
- Jonathon J. Valente
- Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society; Oregon State University; Corvallis OR 97331 USA
| | - Christa L. Legrande
- Department of Environmental and Forest Biology; State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Syracuse NY 13210 USA
| | - Vincent M. Johnson
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Studies Department; State University of New York Cobleskill; Cobleskill NY 12043 USA
| | - Richard A. Fischer
- United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center; Environmental Laboratory; Vicksburg MS 39180 USA
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48
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Buxton RT, Jones C, Moller H, Towns DR. Drivers of seabird population recovery on New Zealand islands after predator eradication. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2014; 28:333-344. [PMID: 24527858 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2013] [Accepted: 08/25/2013] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Eradication of introduced mammalian predators from islands has become increasingly common, with over 800 successful projects around the world. Historically, introduced predators extirpated or reduced the size of many seabird populations, changing the dynamics of entire island ecosystems. Although the primary outcome of many eradication projects is the restoration of affected seabird populations, natural population responses are rarely documented and mechanisms are poorly understood. We used a generic model of seabird colony growth to identify key predictor variables relevant to recovery or recolonization. We used generalized linear mixed models to test the importance of these variables in driving seabird population responses after predator eradication on islands around New Zealand. The most influential variable affecting recolonization of seabirds around New Zealand was the distance to a source population, with few cases of recolonization without a source population ≤25 km away. Colony growth was most affected by metapopulation status; there was little colony growth in species with a declining status. These characteristics may facilitate the prioritization of newly predator-free islands for active management. Although we found some evidence documenting natural recovery, generally this topic was understudied. Our results suggest that in order to guide management strategies, more effort should be allocated to monitoring wildlife response after eradication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel T Buxton
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; Centre for Sustainability: Agriculture, Food, Energy, and Environment, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
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49
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Scandolara C, Lardelli R, Sgarbi G, Caprioli M, Ambrosini R, Rubolini D, Saino N. Context-, phenotype-, and kin-dependent natal dispersal of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica). Behav Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/art103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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50
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Jiménez-Franco MV, Martínez JE, Calvo JF. Patterns of nest reuse in forest raptors and their effects on reproductive output. J Zool (1987) 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - J. E. Martínez
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología; Universidad de Murcia; Murcia Spain
- Bonelli's Eagle Study and Conservation Group; Murcia Spain
| | - J. F. Calvo
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología; Universidad de Murcia; Murcia Spain
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