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Goodale E, Magrath RD. Species diversity and interspecific information flow. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:999-1014. [PMID: 38279871 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Revised: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/29/2024]
Abstract
Interspecific information flow is known to affect individual fitness, population dynamics and community assembly, but there has been less study of how species diversity affects information flow and thereby ecosystem functioning and services. We address this question by first examining differences among species in the sensitivity, accuracy, transmissibility, detectability and value of the cues and signals they produce, and in how they receive, store and use information derived from heterospecifics. We then review how interspecific information flow occurs in communities, involving a diversity of species and sensory modes, and how this flow can affect ecosystem-level functions, such as decomposition, seed dispersal or algae removal on coral reefs. We highlight evidence that some keystone species are particularly critical as a source of information used by eavesdroppers, and so have a disproportionate effect on information flow. Such keystone species include community informants producing signals, particularly about predation risk, that influence other species' landscapes of fear, and aggregation initiators creating cues or signals about resources. We suggest that the presence of keystone species means that there will likely be a positive relationship in many communities between species diversity and information through a 'sampling effect', in which larger pools of species are more likely to include the keystone species by chance. We then consider whether the number and relative abundance of species, irrespective of the presence of keystone species, matter to interspecific information flow; on this issue, the theory is less developed, and the evidence scant and indirect. Higher diversity could increase the quantity or quality of information that is used by eavesdroppers because redundancy increases the reliability of information or because the species provide complementary information. Alternatively, there could be a lack of a relationship between species diversity and information if there is widespread information parasitism where users are not sources, or if information sourced from heterospecifics is of lower value than that gained personally or sourced from conspecifics. Recent research suggests that species diversity does have information-modulated community and ecosystem consequences, especially in birds, such as the diversity of species at feeders increasing resource exploitation, or the number of imitated species increasing responses to vocal mimics. A first step for future research includes comprehensive observations of information flow among different taxa and habitats. Then studies should investigate whether species diversity influences the cumulative quality or quantity of information at the community level, and consequently ecosystem-level processes. An applied objective is to conserve species in part for their value as sources of information for other species, including for humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eben Goodale
- Department of Health and Environmental Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Robert D Magrath
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia
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2
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Haak CR, Power M, Wilson ADM, Danylchuk AJ. Stable isotopes and foraging behaviors support the role of antipredator benefits in driving the association between two marine fishes. Oecologia 2023:10.1007/s00442-023-05390-1. [PMID: 37291257 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05390-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Research from terrestrial communities shows that diminished predation risk is a principal driver of heterospecific grouping behavior, with foraging ecology predicting the roles that species play in groups, as more vulnerable foragers preferentially join more vigilant ones from whom they can benefit. Meanwhile, field studies examining the adaptive significance of heterospecific shoaling among marine fish have focused disproportionately on feeding advantages such as scrounging or prey-flushing. Juvenile bonefish (Albula vulpes) occur almost exclusively among mojarras (Eucinostomus spp.) and even elect to join them over conspecifics, suggesting they benefit from doing so. We evaluated the roles of risk-related and food-related factors in motivating this pattern of affiliation, estimating: (1) the relative levels of risk associated with each species' search and prey capture activities, via behavioral vulnerability traits discerned from in situ video of heterospecific shoals, and (2) resource use redundancy, using stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) to quantify niche overlap. Across four distinct metrics, bonefish behaviors implied a markedly greater level of risk than those of mojarras, typified by higher activity levels and a reduced capacity for overt vigilance; consistent with expectations if their association conformed to patterns of joining observed in terrestrial habitats. Resource use overlap inferred from stable isotopes was low, indicating that the two species partitioned resources and making it unlikely that bonefish derived substantive food-related benefits. Collectively, these findings suggest that the attraction of juvenile bonefish to mojarras is motivated primarily by antipredator advantages, which may include the exploitation of risk-related social cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R Haak
- Department of Environmental Conservation and Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
| | - Michael Power
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Alexander D M Wilson
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, Devon, UK
| | - Andy J Danylchuk
- Department of Environmental Conservation and Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
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3
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Fahimipour AK, Gil MA, Celis MR, Hein GF, Martin BT, Hein AM. Wild animals suppress the spread of socially transmitted misinformation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2215428120. [PMID: 36976767 PMCID: PMC10083541 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2215428120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms by which information and misinformation spread through groups of individual actors is essential to the prediction of phenomena ranging from coordinated group behaviors to misinformation epidemics. Transmission of information through groups depends on the rules that individuals use to transform the perceived actions of others into their own behaviors. Because it is often not possible to directly infer decision-making strategies in situ, most studies of behavioral spread assume that individuals make decisions by pooling or averaging the actions or behavioral states of neighbors. However, whether individuals may instead adopt more sophisticated strategies that exploit socially transmitted information, while remaining robust to misinformation, is unknown. Here, we study the relationship between individual decision-making and misinformation spread in groups of wild coral reef fish, where misinformation occurs in the form of false alarms that can spread contagiously through groups. Using automated visual field reconstruction of wild animals, we infer the precise sequences of socially transmitted visual stimuli perceived by individuals during decision-making. Our analysis reveals a feature of decision-making essential for controlling misinformation spread: dynamic adjustments in sensitivity to socially transmitted cues. This form of dynamic gain control can be achieved by a simple and biologically widespread decision-making circuit, and it renders individual behavior robust to natural fluctuations in misinformation exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashkaan K. Fahimipour
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL33431
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA95060
| | - Michael A. Gil
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO80309
| | - Maria Rosa Celis
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA95060
| | | | - Benjamin T. Martin
- Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1090GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Andrew M. Hein
- Department of Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY14850
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4
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Negash EW, Barr WA. Relative abundance of grazing and browsing herbivores is not a direct reflection of vegetation structure: Implications for hominin paleoenvironmental reconstruction. J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103328. [PMID: 36857987 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
The diet of fossil herbivores inferred from enamel stable carbon isotopes is often used to make paleoenvironmental reconstructions. While many studies have focused on using environmental indicator taxa to make paleoenvironmental reconstructions, community-based approaches are considered to provide a more complete picture of paleolandscapes. These studies assume that the diet and relative abundance of herbivores are related to the areal extent of different vegetation types on the landscape. Here, we quantitatively test this assumption in 16 modern ecosystems in eastern and southern Africa with a wide range of woody vegetation cover. We conducted a landscape-level spatial analysis of vegetation patterns using a published land cover data set and computed landscape metrics. We compiled data on relative abundance and diet of herbivores inferred from carbon isotope studies for all large herbivores in these ecosystems. We found that despite differences in the total areal extent of different vegetation types, numerous sizable patches of each vegetation type are available in most ecosystems. However, despite variation across the ecosystems examined, grazers are typically the most abundant herbivores even in sites that have a higher proportion of forest and shrub cover. This indicates that the diet and relative abundance of herbivores is not a simple reflection of the total areal extent of vegetation types available on the landscape. The higher proportion of grazers observed in these ecosystems is a result of multiple factors including habitat heterogeneity, differences in biomass turnover rate between grasses and woody vegetation, resource partitioning, and the advantages of group living in open environments. Comparison of diet and relative abundance of herbivores in modern ecosystems to fossil herbivore assemblages shows that very different vegetation regimes can support similar herbivore assemblages. This study has significant implications for paleolandscape reconstructions and cautions against a simplistic wooded vs. grassland paleoenvironmental interpretations based on fossil herbivore assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enquye W Negash
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, Northwest, Washington D.C. 20052, USA.
| | - W Andrew Barr
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, Northwest, Washington D.C. 20052, USA
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5
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Refining the stress gradient hypothesis for mixed species groups of African mammals. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17715. [PMID: 36271133 PMCID: PMC9587046 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22593-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Species interactions such as facilitation and predation influence food webs, yet it is unclear how they are mediated by environmental gradients. Here we test the stress gradient hypothesis which predicts that positive species interactions increase with stress. Drawing upon spatially-explicit data of large mammals in an African savanna, we tested how predation risk and primary productivity mediate the occurrence of mixed species groups. Controlling for habitat structure, predation risk by lions and primary productivity affected the frequency of mixed species groups in species-specific ways, likely reflecting distinct stress perceptions. To test whether mixed species groups indicate positive interactions, we conducted network analyses for specific scenarios. Under predation risk, dyadic associations with giraffes were more pronounced and metrics of animal networks changed markedly. However, dyadic association and network metrics were weakly mediated by primary productivity. The composition of mixed species groups was associated with similarities in prey susceptibility but not with similarities in feeding habits of herbivores. Especially predation risk favoured the frequency of mixed species groups and pronounced dyadic associations which dilute predation risk and increase predator detection. While our results provide support for the stress gradient hypothesis, they also highlight that the relative importance of stressors is context-dependent.
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6
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Eavesdropping on conspecific alarm calls links birds across territory borders into a population-wide information network. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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7
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Schmidt KA, Massol F, Szymkowiak J. Resurrecting Shannon's surprise: landscape heterogeneity complements information use and population growth. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Francois Massol
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019 - UMR 9017 - CIIL - Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille Lille France
| | - Jakub Szymkowiak
- Population Ecology Research Unit, Adam Mickiewicz Univ. Poznań Poland
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8
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Little CJ, Rizzuto M, Luhring TM, Monk JD, Nowicki RJ, Paseka RE, Stegen JC, Symons CC, Taub FB, Yen JDL. Movement with meaning: integrating information into meta‐ecology. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea J. Little
- Biodiversity Research Centre, Univ. of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- School of Environmental Science, Simon Fraser Univ. Burnaby BC Canada
| | - Matteo Rizzuto
- Dept of Biology, Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland St. John's NL Canada
| | | | - Julia D. Monk
- School of the Environment, Yale Univ. New Haven CT USA
| | - Robert J. Nowicki
- Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration, Mote Marine Laboratory Summerland Key FL USA
| | - Rachel E. Paseka
- Dept of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Univ. of Minnesota Saint Paul MN USA
| | | | - Celia C. Symons
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of California Irvine CA USA
| | - Frieda B. Taub
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Univ. of Washington Seattle WA USA
| | - Jian D. L. Yen
- School of BioSciences, Univ. of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, and Arthur Rylah Inst. for Environmental Reserach Heidelberg Victoria Australia
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9
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Wilde LR, Swift RJ, Senner NR. Behavioural adjustments in the social associations of a precocial shorebird mediate the costs and benefits of grouping decisions. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:870-882. [PMID: 35211977 PMCID: PMC9303437 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Animals weigh multiple costs and benefits when making grouping decisions. The cost‐avoidance grouping framework proposes that group density, information quality and risk affect an individual’s preference for con or heterospecific groups. However, this assumes the cost–benefit balance of a particular grouping is constant spatiotemporally, which may not always be true. Investigating how spatiotemporal context influences grouping choices is therefore key to understanding how animals contend with changing conditions. Changes in body size during development lead to variable conditions for individuals over short time‐scales that can influence their ecological interactions. Hudsonian godwits Limosa haemastica, for instance, form a protective nesting association with a major predator of young godwit chicks, colonial short‐billed gulls Larus brachyrhynchus. Godwit broods may avoid areas of higher gull densities when chicks are susceptible to gull predation but likely experience higher risk from alternative predators as a result. Associating with conspecifics could allow godwits to buffer these costs but requires enough other broods with whom to group. To determine how age‐dependent predation risk and conspecific density influence godwit grouping behaviours, we first quantified the time‐dependent effects of con‐ and heterospecific interactions on the mortality risk for godwit chicks throughout development. We then determined how godwit density and chick age affected their associations with con‐ and heterospecific. We found that younger godwit chicks' survival improved with closer association with conspecifics, earlier hatch dates and lower gull densities, whereas older chicks survived better with earlier hatch dates, though this effect was less clear. Concomitantly, godwit broods avoided gulls early in development and when godwit densities were high but maintained loose associations with conspecifics throughout development. We identified how individuals can optimally shift with whom they group according to risks that vary spatially and temporally. Investigating the effects of a species' ecological interactions across spatiotemporal contexts in this way can shed light on how animals adjust their associations according to the costs and benefits of each association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke R Wilde
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Rose J Swift
- U. S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND, USA
| | - Nathan R Senner
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
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10
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Wiśniewska A, Janczarek I, Wilk I, Tkaczyk E, Mierzicka M, Stanley CR, Górecka-Bruzda A. Heterospecific Fear and Avoidance Behaviour in Domestic Horses ( Equus caballus). Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:3081. [PMID: 34827813 PMCID: PMC8614530 DOI: 10.3390/ani11113081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Ridden horses have been reported to be fearful of cows. We tested whether cows could provoke behavioural and cardiac fear responses in horses, and whether these responses differ in magnitude to those shown to other potential dangers. Twenty horses were exposed to cow, a mobile object or no object. The time spent at different distances from the stimulus was measured. In a separate test, heart rate (HR), root mean square of successive differences between heartbeats (RMSSD) and the horses' perceived fear were assessed at various distances from the stimuli. The horses avoided the area nearest to all stimuli. During hand-leading, the cow elicited the highest HR and lowest RMSSD. Led horses' responses to the cow and box were rated as more fearful as the distance to the stimulus decreased. Mares had a higher HR than geldings across all tests. HR positively correlated with the fearfulness rating at the furthest distance from the cow and box, and RMSSD negatively correlated with this rating in cow and control conditions. Our results show that these horses' avoidance response to cows was similar or higher to that shown towards a novel moving object, demonstrating that potentially, both neophobia and heterospecific communication play a role in this reaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Wiśniewska
- Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland; (A.W.); (I.J.); (I.W.); (E.T.); (M.M.)
| | - Iwona Janczarek
- Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland; (A.W.); (I.J.); (I.W.); (E.T.); (M.M.)
| | - Izabela Wilk
- Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland; (A.W.); (I.J.); (I.W.); (E.T.); (M.M.)
| | - Ewelina Tkaczyk
- Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland; (A.W.); (I.J.); (I.W.); (E.T.); (M.M.)
| | - Martyna Mierzicka
- Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland; (A.W.); (I.J.); (I.W.); (E.T.); (M.M.)
| | - Christina R. Stanley
- Animal Behaviour & Welfare Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Chester, Chester CH1 4BJ, UK;
| | - Aleksandra Górecka-Bruzda
- Department of Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 05-552 Magdalenka, Poland
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11
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakub Szymkowiak
- Population Ecology Research Unit, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz Univ. Poznań Poland
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12
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Oliveira RF, Bshary R. Expanding the concept of social behavior to interspecific interactions. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rui F. Oliveira
- Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência Oeiras Portugal
- ISPA – Instituto Universitário Lisboa Portugal
- Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme Lisboa Portugal
| | - Redouan Bshary
- Institute of Biology University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Switzerland
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13
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Martínez AE, Parra E, Gomez JP, Vredenburg VT. Shared predators between primate groups and mixed species bird flocks: the potential for forest‐wide eavesdropping networks. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ari E. Martínez
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Dept of Integrative Biology, Univ. of California Berkeley CA USA
- Dept of Biological Sciences, California State Univ. Long Beach CA USA
| | - Eliseo Parra
- Dept of Biology, San Francisco State Univ. San Francisco CA USA
| | - Juan Pablo Gomez
- Depto de Química y Biología, Univ. del Norte Barranquilla Colombia
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14
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Fast behavioral feedbacks make ecosystems sensitive to pace and not just magnitude of anthropogenic environmental change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:25580-25589. [PMID: 32989156 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2003301117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic environmental change is altering the behavior of animals in ecosystems around the world. Although behavior typically occurs on much faster timescales than demography, it can nevertheless influence demographic processes. Here, we use detailed data on behavior and empirical estimates of demography from a coral reef ecosystem to develop a coupled behavioral-demographic ecosystem model. Analysis of the model reveals that behavior and demography feed back on one another to determine how the ecosystem responds to anthropogenic forcing. In particular, an empirically observed feedback between the density and foraging behavior of herbivorous fish leads to alternative stable ecosystem states of coral population persistence or collapse (and complete algal dominance). This feedback makes the ecosystem more prone to coral collapse under fishing pressure but also more prone to recovery as fishing is reduced. Moreover, because of the behavioral feedback, the response of the ecosystem to changes in fishing pressure depends not only on the magnitude of changes in fishing but also on the pace at which changes are imposed. For example, quickly increasing fishing to a given level can collapse an ecosystem that would persist under more gradual change. Our results reveal conditions under which the pace and not just the magnitude of external forcing can dictate the response of ecosystems to environmental change. More generally, our multiscale behavioral-demographic framework demonstrates how high-resolution behavioral data can be incorporated into ecological models to better understand how ecosystems will respond to perturbations.
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15
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Labourgade P, Ballesta L, Huveneers C, Papastamatiou Y, Mourier J. Heterospecific foraging associations between reef‐associated sharks: first evidence of kleptoparasitism in sharks. Ecology 2020; 101:e03117. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Labourgade
- MARBEC Université de Montpellier CNRS IFREMER IRDStation Ifremer de Sète, Av Jean Monnet, CS 30171 Sète 34203 France
| | | | - Charlie Huveneers
- Southern Shark Ecology Group College of Science and Engineering Flinders University Adelaide South Australia 5042 Australia
| | - Yannis Papastamatiou
- Department of Biological Sciences Florida International University North Miami Florida 33181 USA
| | - Johann Mourier
- MARBEC Université de Montpellier CNRS IFREMER IRDStation Ifremer de Sète, Av Jean Monnet, CS 30171 Sète 34203 France
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRS USR 3278, CRIOBE Papetoai Moorea French Polynesia
- Laboratoire d'Excellence “CORAIL” Moorea French Polynesia
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16
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Stears K, Schmitt MH, Wilmers CC, Shrader AM. Mixed-species herding levels the landscape of fear. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192555. [PMID: 32126952 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Prey anti-predator behaviours are influenced by perceived predation risk in a landscape and social information gleaned from herd mates regarding predation risk. It is well documented that high-quality social information about risk can come from heterospecific herd mates. Here, we integrate social information with the landscape of fear to quantify how these landscapes are modified by mixed-species herding. To do this, we investigated zebra vigilance in single- and mixed-species herds across different levels of predation risk (lion versus no lion), and assessed how they manage herd size and the competition-information trade-off associated with grouping behaviour. Overall, zebra performed higher vigilance in high-risk areas. However, mixed-species herding reduced vigilance levels. We estimate that zebra in single-species herds would have to feed for approximately 35 min more per day in low-risk areas and approximately 51 min more in high-risk areas to compensate for the cost of higher vigilance. Furthermore, zebra benefitted from the competition-information trade-off by increasing the number of heterospecifics while keeping the number of zebra in a herd constant. Ultimately, we show that mixed-species herding reduces the effects of predation risk, whereby zebra in mixed-species herds, under high predation risk, perform similar levels of vigilance compared with zebra in low-risk scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keenan Stears
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.,School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville 3209, South Africa.,South African Environmental Observation Network, Ndlovu Node, Phalaborwa 1390, South Africa
| | - Melissa H Schmitt
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville 3209, South Africa.,South African Environmental Observation Network, Ndlovu Node, Phalaborwa 1390, South Africa.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Christopher C Wilmers
- Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Adrian M Shrader
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville 3209, South Africa.,Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
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