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Draghi JA. Bet-hedging via dispersal aids the evolution of plastic responses to unreliable cues. J Evol Biol 2023. [PMID: 37224140 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Adaptive plasticity is expected to evolve when informative cues predict environmental variation. However, plastic responses can be maladaptive even when those cues are informative, if prediction mistakes are shared across members of a generation. These fitness costs can constrain the evolution of plasticity when initial plastic mutants use of cues of only moderate reliability. Here, we model the barriers to the evolution of plasticity produced by these constraints and show that dispersal across a metapopulation can overcome them. Constraints are also lessened, though not eliminated, when plastic responses are free to evolve gradually and in concert with increased reliability. Each of these factors be viewed as a form of bet-hedging: by lessening correlations in the fates of relatives, dispersal acts as diversifying bet-hedging, while producing submaximal responses to a cue can be understood as a conservative bet-hedging strategy. While poor information may constrain the evolution of plasticity, the opportunity for bet-hedging may predict when that constraint can be overcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy A Draghi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
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2
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Stein RM, Lecigne B, Eitel JUH, Johnson TR, McGowan C, Rachlow JL. Vegetation and vantage point influence visibility across diverse ecosystems: Implications for animal ecology. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.911051] [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
Visual information can influence animal behavior and habitat use in diverse ways. Visibility is the property that relates 3D habitat structure to accessibility of visual information. Despite the importance of visibility in animal ecology, this property remains largely unstudied. Our objective was to assess how habitat structure from diverse environments and animal position within that structure can influence visibility. We gathered terrestrial lidar data (1 cm at 10 m) in four ecosystems (forest, shrub-steppe, prairie, and desert) to characterize viewsheds (i.e., estimates of visibility based on spatially explicit sightlines) from multiple vantage points. Both ecosystem-specific structure and animal position influenced potential viewsheds. Generally, as height of the vantage point above the ground increased, viewshed extent also increased, but the relationships were not linear. In low-structure ecosystems (prairie, shrub-steppe, and desert), variability in viewsheds decreased as vantage points increased to heights above the vegetation canopy. In the forest, however, variation in viewsheds was highest at intermediate heights, and markedly lower at the lowest and highest vantage points. These patterns are likely linked to the amount, heterogeneity, and distribution of vegetation structure occluding sightlines. Our work is the first to apply a new method that can be used to estimate viewshed properties relevant to animals (i.e., viewshed extent and variability). We demonstrate that these properties differ across terrestrial landscapes in complex ways that likely influence many facets of animal ecology and behavior.
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Franklin KA, Norris K, Gill JA, Ratcliffe N, Bonnet-Lebrun AS, Butler SJ, Cole NC, Jones CG, Lisovski S, Ruhomaun K, Tatayah V, Nicoll MAC. Individual consistency in migration strategies of a tropical seabird, the Round Island petrel. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2022; 10:13. [PMID: 35287747 PMCID: PMC8919588 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-022-00311-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In migratory species, the extent of within- and between-individual variation in migratory strategies can influence potential rates and directions of responses to environmental changes. Quantifying this variation requires tracking of many individuals on repeated migratory journeys. At temperate and higher latitudes, low levels of within-individual variation in migratory behaviours are common and may reflect repeated use of predictable resources in these seasonally-structured environments. However, variation in migratory behaviours in the tropics, where seasonal predictability of food resources can be weaker, remains largely unknown. METHODS Round Island petrels (Pterodroma sp.) are tropical, pelagic seabirds that breed all year round and perform long-distance migrations. Using multi-year geolocator tracking data from 62 individuals between 2009 and 2018, we quantify levels of within- and between-individual variation in non-breeding distributions and timings. RESULTS We found striking levels of between-individual variation in at-sea movements and timings, with non-breeding migrations to different areas occurring across much of the Indian Ocean and throughout the whole year. Despite this, repeat-tracking of individual petrels revealed remarkably high levels of spatial and temporal consistency in within-individual migratory behaviour, particularly for petrels that departed at similar times in different years and for those departing in the austral summer. However, while the same areas were used by individuals in different years, they were not necessarily used at the same times during the non-breeding period. CONCLUSIONS Even in tropical systems with huge ranges of migratory routes and timings, our results suggest benefits of consistency in individual migratory behaviours. Identifying the factors that drive and maintain between-individual variation in migratory behaviour, and the consequences for breeding success and survival, will be key to understanding the consequences of environmental change across migratory ranges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsty A Franklin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK.
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK.
| | - Ken Norris
- Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK
| | - Jennifer A Gill
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
| | - Norman Ratcliffe
- British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Simon J Butler
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
| | - Nik C Cole
- Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Les Augrès Manor, Trinity, Jersey, UK
- Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Grannum Road, Vacoas, Mauritius
| | - Carl G Jones
- Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Les Augrès Manor, Trinity, Jersey, UK
- Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Grannum Road, Vacoas, Mauritius
| | - Simeon Lisovski
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Kevin Ruhomaun
- National Parks and Conservation Service (Government of Mauritius), Reduit, Mauritius
| | - Vikash Tatayah
- Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Grannum Road, Vacoas, Mauritius
| | - Malcolm A C Nicoll
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
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Avgar T, Berger-Tal O. Biased Learning as a Simple Adaptive Foraging Mechanism. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.759133] [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
Adaptive cognitive biases, such as “optimism,” may have evolved as heuristic rules for computationally efficient decision-making, or as error-management tools when error payoff is asymmetrical. Ecologists typically use the term “optimism” to describe unrealistically positive expectations from the future that are driven by positively biased initial belief. Cognitive psychologists on the other hand, focus on valence-dependent optimism bias, an asymmetric learning process where information about undesirable outcomes is discounted (sometimes also termed “positivity biased learning”). These two perspectives are not mutually exclusive, and both may lead to similar emerging space-use patterns, such as increased exploration. The distinction between these two biases may becomes important, however, when considering the adaptive value of balancing the exploitation of known resources with the exploration of an ever-changing environment. Deepening our theoretical understanding of the adaptive value of valence-dependent learning, as well as its emerging space-use and foraging patterns, may be crucial for understanding whether, when and where might species withstand rapid environmental change. We present the results of an optimal-foraging model implemented as an individual-based simulation in continuous time and discrete space. Our forager, equipped with partial knowledge of average patch quality and inter-patch travel time, iteratively decides whether to stay in the current patch, return to previously exploited patches, or explore new ones. Every time the forager explores a new patch, it updates its prior belief using a simple single-parameter model of valence-dependent learning. We find that valence-dependent optimism results in the maintenance of positively biased expectations (prior-based optimism), which, depending on the spatiotemporal variability of the environment, often leads to greater fitness gains. These results provide insights into the potential ecological and evolutionary significance of valence-dependent optimism and its interplay with prior-based optimism.
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Aarts G, Mul E, Fieberg J, Brasseur S, van Gils JA, Matthiopoulos J, Riotte-Lambert L. Individual-Level Memory Is Sufficient to Create Spatial Segregation among Neighboring Colonies of Central Place Foragers. Am Nat 2021; 198:E37-E52. [PMID: 34260868 DOI: 10.1086/715014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractCentral place foragers often segregate in space, even without signs of direct agonistic interactions. Using parsimonious individual-based simulations, we show that for species with spatial cognitive abilities, individual-level memory of resource availability can be sufficient to cause spatial segregation in the foraging ranges of colonial animals. The shapes of the foraging distributions are governed by commuting costs, the emerging distribution of depleted resources, and the fidelity of foragers to their colonies. When colony fidelity is weak and foragers can easily switch to colonies located closer to favorable foraging grounds, this leads to space partitioning with equidistant borders between neighboring colonies. In contrast, when colony fidelity is strong-for example, because larger colonies provide safety in numbers or individuals are unable to leave-it can create a regional imbalance between resource requirements and resource availability. This leads to nontrivial space-use patterns that propagate through the landscape. Interestingly, while better spatial memory creates more defined boundaries between neighboring colonies, it can lower the average intake rate of the population, suggesting a potential trade-off between an individual's attempt for increased intake and population growth rates.
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6
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Hare AJ, Newman AE, Dantzer B, Lane JE, Boutin S, Coltman DW, McAdam AG. An independent experiment does not support stress-mediated kin discrimination through red squirrel vocalizations. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Azpeitia E, Balanzario EP, Wagner A. Signaling pathways have an inherent need for noise to acquire information. BMC Bioinformatics 2020; 21:462. [PMID: 33066727 PMCID: PMC7568421 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-020-03778-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND All living systems acquire information about their environment. At the cellular level, they do so through signaling pathways. Such pathways rely on reversible binding interactions between molecules that detect and transmit the presence of an extracellular cue or signal to the cell's interior. These interactions are inherently stochastic and thus noisy. On the one hand, noise can cause a signaling pathway to produce the same response for different stimuli, which reduces the amount of information a pathway acquires. On the other hand, in processes such as stochastic resonance, noise can improve the detection of weak stimuli and thus the acquisition of information. It is not clear whether the kinetic parameters that determine a pathway's operation cause noise to reduce or increase the acquisition of information. RESULTS We analyze how the kinetic properties of the reversible binding interactions used by signaling pathways affect the relationship between noise, the response to a signal, and information acquisition. Our results show that, under a wide range of biologically sensible parameter values, a noisy dynamic of reversible binding interactions is necessary to produce distinct responses to different stimuli. As a consequence, noise is indispensable for the acquisition of information in signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS Our observations go beyond previous work by showing that noise plays a positive role in signaling pathways, demonstrating that noise is essential when such pathways acquire information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenio Azpeitia
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Centro de Ciencias Matemáticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico
| | - Eugenio P Balanzario
- Centro de Ciencias Matemáticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico
| | - Andreas Wagner
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA.
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9
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Rojas-Ferrer I, Morand-Ferron J. The impact of learning opportunities on the development of learning and decision-making: an experiment with passerine birds. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190496. [PMID: 32475329 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental context has been shown to influence learning abilities later in life, namely through experiments with nutritional and/or environmental constraints (i.e. lack of enrichment). However, little is known about the extent to which opportunities for learning affect the development of animal cognition, even though such opportunities are known to influence human cognitive development. We exposed young zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata) (n = 26) to one of three experimental conditions, i.e. an environment where (i) colour cues reliably predicted the presence of food (associative learning), (ii) a combination of two-colour cues reliably predicted the presence of food (conditional learning), or (iii) colour cues were non-informative (control). After conducting two different discrimination tasks, our results showed that experience with predictive cues can cause increased choice accuracy and decision-making speed. Our first learning task showed that individuals in the associative learning treatment outperformed the control treatment, while task 2 showed that individuals in the conditional learning treatment had shorter latencies when making choices compared with the control treatment. We found no support for a speed-accuracy trade-off. This dataset provides a rare longitudinal and experimental examination of the effect of predictive versus non-predictive cues during development on the cognition of adult animals. This article is part of the theme issue 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Rojas-Ferrer
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie Private, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5
| | - Julie Morand-Ferron
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie Private, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5
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Bauer S, McNamara JM, Barta Z. Environmental variability, reliability of information and the timing of migration. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200622. [PMID: 32370679 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The timing of migration and migratory steps is highly relevant for fitness. Because environmental conditions vary between years, the optimal time for migration varies accordingly. Therefore, migratory animals could clearly benefit from acquiring information as to when it is the best time to migrate in a specific year. Thus, environmental predictability and variability are fundamental characteristics of migration systems but their relationship and consequence for migratory progression has remained unexplored. We develop a simple dynamic model to identify the optimal migration behaviour in environments that differ in predictability, variability and the number of intermediate stop-over sites. Our results indicate that higher predictability along migration routes enables organisms to better time migration when phenology deviates from its long-term average and thus, increases fitness. Information is particularly valuable in highly variable environments and in the final migration-step, i.e. before the destination. Furthermore, we show that a general strategy for obtaining information in relatively uninformative but variable environments is using intermediate stop-over sites that enable migrants to better predict conditions ahead. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between animal movement and environmental predictability-an important, yet underappreciated factor that strongly influences migratory progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke Bauer
- Department of Bird Migration, Swiss Ornithological Institute, 6204 Sempach, Switzerland
| | - John M McNamara
- School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK
| | - Zoltan Barta
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem ter 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
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11
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Haak CR, Hui FKC, Cowles GW, Danylchuk AJ. Positive interspecific associations consistent with social information use shape juvenile fish assemblages. Ecology 2019; 101:e02920. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 06/12/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R. Haak
- Department of Environmental Conservation & Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program University of Massachusetts Amherst 160 Holdsworth Way Amherst Massachusetts 01003 USA
| | - Francis K. C. Hui
- Research School of Finance Actuarial Studies and Statistics Australian National University Acton 2601 Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Geoffrey W. Cowles
- Department of Fisheries Oceanography School for Marine Science and Technology University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 836 South Rodney French Blvd. New Bedford Massachusetts 02744 USA
| | - Andy J. Danylchuk
- Department of Environmental Conservation & Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program University of Massachusetts Amherst 160 Holdsworth Way Amherst Massachusetts 01003 USA
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12
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DeRango EJ, Schwarz JF, Piedrahita P, Páez-Rosas D, Trillmich F, Krüger O. Intraspecific variation in boldness and exploration shapes behavioral responses to stress in Galápagos sea lion pups. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2775-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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13
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Grecian WJ, Williams HJ, Votier SC, Bearhop S, Cleasby IR, Grémillet D, Hamer KC, Le Nuz M, Lescroël A, Newton J, Patrick SC, Phillips RA, Wakefield ED, Bodey TW. Individual Spatial Consistency and Dietary Flexibility in the Migratory Behavior of Northern Gannets Wintering in the Northeast Atlantic. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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14
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Who’s where? Ecological uncertainty shapes neophobic predator avoidance in Trinidadian guppies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2687-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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16
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Goldman JA, Singh A, Demers EE, Feyten LE, Brown GE. Does donor group size matter? The response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to disturbance cues from conspecific and heterospecific donors. CAN J ZOOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2018-0170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Prey are under immense pressure to make context-specific, behavioural decisions. Prey use public information to reduce the costs associated with making inappropriate decisions. Chemical cues are commonly used by aquatic vertebrates to assess local threats and facilitate behavioural decision making. Previous studies on chemosensory assessment of risk have largely focused on damage-released alarm cues, with the cues released by disturbed or stressed prey (i.e., disturbance cues) receiving less attention. Disturbance cues are “early-warning signals” common among aquatic vertebrates that may warn conspecific and heterospecific prey guild members of potential risk. Initially, we conducted a series of laboratory studies to determine (i) if guppies (Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859) produce and respond to disturbance cues and (ii) if relative concentration (donor group size) determines response intensity. Secondly, we examined if guppies and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata (Günther, 1867)) show similar response patterns to their own vs. heterospecific disturbance cues. Our results suggest that guppies exhibit increased predator avoidance behaviour to conspecific disturbance cues (relative to water from undisturbed conspecifics) and increased donor group size lead to stronger antipredator responses. However, although guppies and cichlids respond to each other’s disturbance cues, we found no effect of donor group size towards heterospecific disturbance cues. Our results suggest that disturbance cues are not generalized cues and present a degree of species-specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack A. Goldman
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Annick Singh
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Ebony E.M. Demers
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Laurence E.A. Feyten
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Grant E. Brown
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
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Brakes P. Sociality and Wild Animal Welfare: Future Directions. Front Vet Sci 2019; 6:62. [PMID: 30941354 PMCID: PMC6433960 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Emergent evidence of aspects of sociality, such as social structure and social learning, across many vertebrate taxa, warrant more detailed consideration of their influence on welfare outcomes for wildlife. Sociality can be dynamic across organismal development, it can: provide protection through safety in numbers; may influence breeding outcomes via mate choice and alloparental care; can influence foraging success through transmission of social information and co-operation; and it can provide opportunities for the spread of novel behavior. Social learning itself provides an important mechanism for resilience in changing environments, but also has the potential to increase vulnerability or facilitate the spread of maladaptive behaviors. The welfare consequences of vertebrates living in social groups are explored using Wilson's 10 qualities of sociality as a framework, and the implications of human activities are discussed. Focus to date has been on the importance of social networks for the welfare of farmed or captive animals. Here I consider the importance of social networks and sociality more generally for the welfare of wildlife and explore Mellor's five domain model for animal welfare within the context of wildlife sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippa Brakes
- Adaptive Rationality Group, Centre of Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
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18
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Martínez AE, Parra E, Collado LF, Vredenburg VT. Deconstructing the landscape of fear in stable multi-species societies. Ecology 2018. [PMID: 28632944 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Animal distributions are influenced by variation in predation risk in space, which has been described as the "landscape of fear." Many studies suggest animals also reduce predation risk by eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls, allowing them to occupy otherwise risky habitats. One unexplored area of study is understanding how different species' alarms vary in quality, and how this variation is distributed in the landscape. We tested this phenomenon in a unique system of avian mixed species flocks in Amazonian rainforests: flock mates (eavesdropping species) strongly associate with alarm-calling antshrikes (genus Thamnomanes), which act as sentinel species. Up to 70 species join these flocks, presumably following antshrike behavioral cues. Since flocks in this region of the Amazon are exclusively led by a single antshrike species, this provides a unique natural system to compare differences in sentinel quality between flocks. We simulated predation threat by flying three species of live trained raptors (predators) towards flocks to compare sentinel probability to (1) produce alarm calls, and (2) encode information about magnitude and type of threat within such alarm calls. Our field experiments show significant differences in the probability of different sentinel species to produce alarm calls and distinguish predators. This variation may have important fitness consequences and shape the "landscape of fear" for eavesdropping species.
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Affiliation(s)
- A E Martínez
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, California, 94132, USA
| | - E Parra
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, California, 94132, USA
| | - L F Collado
- Colka Raptors SAC, Mza. C Lote 10-L Urb. San Eduardo Piura, Piura, Peru
| | - V T Vredenburg
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, California, 94132, USA
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Field JM, Bonsall MB. The evolution of sleep is inevitable in a periodic world. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0201615. [PMID: 30080877 PMCID: PMC6078299 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
There are two contrasting explanations of sleep: as a proximate, essential physiological function or as a behavioral, adaptive state of inactivity and these hypotheses remain widely debated. To investigate the adaptive significance of sleep, we develop an evolutionary argument formulated as a tractable partial differential equation model. We allow demographic parameters such as birth and mortality rates to vary through time in both safe and vulnerable sleeping environments. From this model we analytically calculate population growth rate (fitness) for sleeping and non-sleeping strategies. We find that, in a temporally heterogeneous environment, sleep behavior always achieves a higher fitness than non-sleeping behavior. As organisms do not exist in constant environments, we conclude that the evolution of sleep is inevitable. Further, we suggest that the two contrasting theories need not be mutually exclusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared M. Field
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Mathematical Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Michael B. Bonsall
- Mathematical Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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20
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Frankenhuis WE, Nettle D, McNamara JM. Echoes of Early Life: Recent Insights From Mathematical Modeling. Child Dev 2018; 89:1504-1518. [PMID: 29947096 PMCID: PMC6175464 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
In the last decades, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) has emerged as a central framework for studying early‐life effects, that is, the impact of fetal and early postnatal experience on adult functioning. Apace with empirical progress, theoreticians have built mathematical models that provide novel insights for DOHaD. This article focuses on three of these insights, which show the power of environmental noise (i.e., imperfect indicators of current and future conditions) in shaping development. Such noise can produce: (a) detrimental outcomes even in ontogenetically stable environments, (b) individual differences in sensitive periods, and (c) early‐life effects tailored to predicted future somatic states. We argue that these insights extend DOHaD and offer new research directions.
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Abstract
Evolutionary conflicts arise when the fitness interests of interacting individuals differ. Well-known examples include sexual conflict between males and females and antagonistic coevolution between hosts and parasites. A common feature of such conflicts is that compensating evolutionary change in each of the parties can lead to little overt change in the interaction itself. As a result, evolutionary conflict is expected to persist even if the evolutionary dynamic between the parties reaches an equilibrium. In these cases, it is of interest to know whether certain kinds of interactions are expected to lead to greater or lesser evolutionary conflict at such evolutionary stalemates. Here we present a theoretical analysis showing that when one of the interacting parties can respond to the other through adaptive phenotypic plasticity, evolutionary conflict is reduced. Paradoxically, however, it is the party that does not express adaptive plasticity that experiences less conflict. Conflict for the party displaying adaptive plasticity can increase or decrease, depending on the situation.
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22
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Wagner A. Information theory, evolutionary innovations and evolvability. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 372:rstb.2016.0416. [PMID: 29061889 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
How difficult is it to 'discover' an evolutionary adaptation or innovation? I here suggest that information theory, in combination with high-throughput DNA sequencing, can help answer this question by quantifying a new phenotype's information content. I apply this framework to compute the phenotypic information associated with novel gene regulation and with the ability to use novel carbon sources. The framework can also help quantify how DNA duplications affect evolvability, estimate the complexity of phenotypes and clarify the meaning of 'progress' in Darwinian evolution.This article is part of the themed issue 'Process and pattern in innovations from cells to societies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Wagner
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland .,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.,Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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23
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Suire A, van Baalen M. Rumour propagation and the eco-evolutionary dynamics of social information use. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:rspb.2018.0088. [PMID: 29563268 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Information is a crucial currency for living organisms as it allows them to adjust their behaviour to environmental fluctuations. Thus, natural selection should have favoured the capacity of collecting information from different sources, including social interactions whereby individuals could quickly gain reliable information. However, such conditions may also favour the gathering of potentially detrimental information, such as false or misinterpreted accounts of environmental and social phenomena such as rumours, which may spread via informational cascades. We applied ecological and evolutionary principles to investigate how the propagation of social information at a populational level affects the propensity to assimilate it, here defined as the gullibilty. Our results show that the evolution of an individual's susceptibility to assimilate information strongly depends on eco-evolutionary feedbacks, in particular when both useful and detrimental information circulate. We discuss our results regarding the different information transmission mechanisms involved with particular attention to specific cases of social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Suire
- University of Montpellier, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Montpellier, France
| | - Minus van Baalen
- Equipe Eco-Evolution Mathématique, CNRS UMR 7625 Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Ecole Normale Superieure, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.,Inserm, Ecole Normale Superieure, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.,Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, 91440 Bures-sur-Yvette, France
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24
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Field JM, Bonsall MB. Ignorance can be evolutionarily beneficial. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:71-77. [PMID: 29321852 PMCID: PMC5756876 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Information is increasingly being viewed as a resource used by organisms to increase their fitness. Indeed, it has been formally shown that there is a sensible way to assign a reproductive value to information and it is non‐negative. However, all of this work assumed that information collection is cost‐free. Here, we account for such a cost and provide conditions for when the reproductive value of information will be negative. In these instances, counterintuitively, it is in the interest of the organism to remain ignorant. We link our results to empirical studies where Bayesian behavior appears to break down in complex environments and provide an alternative explanation of lowered arousal thresholds in the evolution of sleep.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared M. Field
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical BiologyMathematical InstituteUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Mathematical Ecology Research GroupDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Michael B. Bonsall
- Mathematical Ecology Research GroupDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
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25
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Aben J, Pellikka P, Travis JMJ. A call for viewshed ecology: Advancing our understanding of the ecology of information through viewshed analysis. Methods Ecol Evol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Job Aben
- Institute of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Petri Pellikka
- Department of Geosciences and GeographyUniversity of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
| | - Justin M. J. Travis
- Institute of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK
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26
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Frankenhuis WE, Fraley RC. What Do Evolutionary Models Teach Us About Sensitive Periods in Psychological Development? EUROPEAN PSYCHOLOGIST 2017. [DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. Sensitive periods in development are widespread in nature. Many psychologists and biologists regard sensitive periods as byproducts of developmental processes. Although this view may be correct in some cases, it is unlikely to be the whole story. There is large variation in sensitive periods (a) between species in the same trait ( Beecher & Brenowitz, 2005 ), (b) between individuals of the same species ( Frankenhuis, Panchanathan, & Belsky, 2016 ), and (c) between different traits within a single individual ( Zeanah, Gunnar, McCall, Kreppner, & Fox, 2011 ). In this article, we discuss recent insights provided by formal models of the evolution of sensitive periods. These models help to identify the conditions in which sensitive periods are likely to evolve, and make predictions about the factors that affect their development. We conclude by discussing future directions for empirical research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - R. Chris Fraley
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
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27
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Engqvist L, Taborsky M. The evolution of strategic male mating effort in an information transfer framework. J Evol Biol 2017; 30:1143-1152. [PMID: 28374957 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Revised: 02/13/2017] [Accepted: 03/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Sperm competition theory predicts that males should use cues indicating the risk and intensity of sperm competition to tailor their sperm investment accordingly. Rival males are an important source of social information regarding sperm competition risk. However, revealing such information may not be in the rival males' interest. Here, we use a theoretical approach based on informed and uninformed games to investigate when information transfer about sperm competition risk to competitors is beneficial for a male, and when it is not. The results show that signalling to potential future mates that a female has already mated is beneficial when the signalling male has a sperm competition disadvantage, whereas it is unfavourable when the signaller has an advantage. The reason for this counterintuitive result is that the rival males' optimal response is to reduce sperm investment when the signaller has a disadvantage and, conversely, to increase investment when the signaller has an advantage. Furthermore, we analysed scenarios where males use alternative reproductive tactics. In this situation, signalling the awareness of sperm competition risk rarely pays; instead, it is beneficial to maintain an information advantage. Thus, it may be beneficial for bourgeois males to accept cuckoldry instead of revealing their sperm competition awareness to reproductive parasites. These results provide new insight into the evolution of communication between rivals in the context of sperm competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Engqvist
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - M Taborsky
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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28
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McLeod DV, Day T. Female plasticity tends to reduce sexual conflict. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:54. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2016] [Accepted: 12/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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29
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OWEN MA, SWAISGOOD RR, BLUMSTEIN DT. Contextual influences on animal decision-making: Significance for behavior-based wildlife conservation and management. Integr Zool 2017; 12:32-48. [DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Megan A. OWEN
- Institute for Conservation Research; San Diego Zoo Global; San Diego California USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of California; Los Angeles California USA
| | - Ronald R. SWAISGOOD
- Institute for Conservation Research; San Diego Zoo Global; San Diego California USA
| | - Daniel T. BLUMSTEIN
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of California; Los Angeles California USA
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30
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31
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32
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Lee AEG, Ounsley JP, Coulson T, Rowcliffe JM, Cowlishaw G. Information use and resource competition: an integrative framework. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20152550. [PMID: 26888031 PMCID: PMC4810826 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Organisms may reduce uncertainty regarding how best to exploit their environment by collecting information about resource distribution. We develop a model to demonstrate how competition can facilitate or constrain an individual's ability to use information when acquiring resources. As resource distribution underpins both selection on information use and the strength and nature of competition between individuals, we demonstrate interdependencies between the two that should be common in nature. Individuals in our model can search for resources either personally or by using social information. We explore selection on social information use across a comprehensive range of ecological conditions, generalizing the producer–scrounger framework to a wide diversity of taxa and resources. We show that resource ecology—defined by scarcity, depletion rate and monopolizability—determines patterns of individual differences in social information use. These differences suggest coevolutionary processes linking dominance systems and social information use, with implications for the evolutionary demography of populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander E G Lee
- The Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Tim Coulson
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - J Marcus Rowcliffe
- The Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- The Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
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33
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Elvidge CK, Chuard PJC, Brown GE. Local predation risk shapes spatial and foraging neophobia patterns in Trinidadian guppies. Curr Zool 2016; 62:457-462. [PMID: 29491935 PMCID: PMC5804278 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zow013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2015] [Accepted: 12/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The "dangerous niche" hypothesis posits that neophobia functions to reduce the cost of habitat use among animals exposed to unknown risks. For example, more dangerous foraging or higher competition may lead to increased spatial neophobia. Likewise, elevated ambient predation threats have been shown to induce phenotypically plastic neophobic predator avoidance. In both cases, neophobia is argued to reduce the cost of living associated with ecological uncertainty. Here, we test the hypothesis that ambient predation shapes both neophobic predator avoidance and spatial and foraging neophobia in Trinidadian guppies. Guppies were exposed to a novel foraging arena paired with a known cue (conspecific alarm cue), a novel cue (lemon odor), or a stream water control in three streams differing in ambient predation risk. We demonstrate that guppies from a high-predation-risk stream exhibited risk-averse foraging patterns regardless of the chemical stimulus presented (high spatial neophobia) and that those from a low-predation-risk stream were only risk-averse when the foraging arenas were paired with conspecific alarm cue (lower spatial neophobia). Those tested in the intermediate-predation-risk stream were consistently intermediate to the high-risk vs. low-risk populations. Our study suggests that ambient predation risk shapes both neophobic predator avoidance and space-use patterns and that neophobia may function as a "generalized" response to ecological uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris K Elvidge
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Pierre J C Chuard
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Grant E Brown
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
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34
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Joyce BJ, Demers EE, Ferrari MCO, Chivers DP, Brown GE. Background Predation Risk and Learned Predator Recognition in Convict Cichlids: Does Risk Allocation Constrain Learning? Ethology 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ebony E. Demers
- Department of Biology; Concordia University; Montreal QC Canada
| | - Maud C. O. Ferrari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; WCVM; University of Saskatchewan; Saskatoon SK Canada
| | | | - Grant E. Brown
- Department of Biology; Concordia University; Montreal QC Canada
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35
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English S, Fawcett TW, Higginson AD, Trimmer PC, Uller T. Adaptive Use of Information during Growth Can Explain Long-Term Effects of Early Life Experiences. Am Nat 2016; 187:620-32. [DOI: 10.1086/685644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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36
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Castellano S, Friard O, Pilastro A. The audience effect and the role of deception in the expression of male mating preferences. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.02.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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37
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Arvidsson LK, Matthysen E. Individual differences in foraging decisions: information-gathering strategies or flexibility? Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw054] [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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38
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Pike RK, McNamara JM, Houston AI. A general expression for the reproductive value of information. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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39
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Joyce BJ, Demers EE, Chivers DP, Ferrari MC, Brown GE. Risk-induced neophobia is constrained by ontogeny in juvenile convict cichlids. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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40
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Stamps JA, Frankenhuis WE. Bayesian Models of Development. Trends Ecol Evol 2016; 31:260-268. [PMID: 26896042 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Revised: 01/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Until recently, biology lacked a framework for studying how information from genes, parental effects, and different personal experiences is combined across the lifetime to affect phenotypic development. Over the past few years, researchers have begun to build such a framework, using models that incorporate Bayesian updating to study the evolution of developmental plasticity and developmental trajectories. Here, we describe the merits of a Bayesian approach to development, review the main findings and implications of the current set of models, and describe predictions that can be tested using protocols already used by empiricists. We suggest that a Bayesian perspective affords a simple and tractable way to conceptualize, explain, and predict how information combines across the lifetime to affect development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judy A Stamps
- Section of Evolution and Ecology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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41
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Panchanathan K, Frankenhuis WE. The evolution of sensitive periods in a model of incremental development. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:rspb.2015.2439. [PMID: 26817766 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensitive periods, in which experience shapes phenotypic development to a larger extent than other periods, are widespread in nature. Despite a recent focus on neural-physiological explanation, few formal models have examined the evolutionary selection pressures that result in developmental mechanisms that produce sensitive periods. Here, we present such a model. We model development as a specialization process during which individuals incrementally adapt to local environmental conditions, while receiving a constant stream of cost-free, imperfect cues to the environmental state. We compute optimal developmental programmes across a range of ecological conditions and use these programmes to simulate developmental trajectories and obtain distributions of mature phenotypes. We highlight four main results. First, matching the empirical record, sensitive periods often result from experience or from a combination of age and experience, but rarely from age alone. Second, individual differences in sensitive periods emerge as a result of stochasticity in cues: individuals who obtain more consistent cue sets lose their plasticity at faster rates. Third, in some cases, experience shapes phenotypes only at a later life stage (lagged effects). Fourth, individuals might perseverate along developmental trajectories despite accumulating evidence suggesting the alternate trajectory is more likely to match the ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karthik Panchanathan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 107 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO 65211-1440, USA
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, PO Box 9104, Nijmegen, 6500 HE, The Netherlands
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42
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Gager Y, Gimenez O, O'Mara MT, Dechmann DKN. Group size, survival and surprisingly short lifespan in socially foraging bats. BMC Ecol 2016; 16:2. [PMID: 26767616 PMCID: PMC4714502 DOI: 10.1186/s12898-016-0056-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2015] [Accepted: 01/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The relationships between group size, survival, and longevity vary greatly among social species. Depending on demographic and ecological circumstances, there are both positive and negative effects of group size variation on individual survival and longevity. For socially foraging species in particular there may be an optimal group size that predicts maximum individual survival that is directly related to the potential for information transfer, social coordination, and costs of conspecific interference. Our aim was to investigate this central aspect of evolutionary ecology by focusing on a socially foraging bat, Molossus molossus. This species optimizes foraging success by eavesdropping on the echolocation calls of group members to locate ephemeral food patches. We expected to find the highest survival and longest lifespans in small groups as a consequence of a trade-off between benefits of information transfer on ephemeral resources and costs of conspecific interference. Results In a mark-recapture study of 14 mixed-sex M. molossus social groups in Gamboa, Panama, spanning several years we found the expected relatively small and intermediate, but stable groups, with a mean size of 9.6 ± 6.7 adults and juveniles. We estimated survival proxies using Cox proportional hazard models and multistate-mark recapture models generated with recapture data as well as automated monitoring of roost entrances in a subset of the groups. Median survival of females was very short with 1.8 years and a maximum estimated longevity of 5.6 years. Contrary to our expectations, we found no relationship between variation in group size and survival, a result similar to few other studies. Conclusions Strong selection towards small group size may result from psychoacoustic and cognitive constraints related to acoustic interference in social foraging and the complexity of coordinated flight. The short lifespans were unexpected and may result from life at the energetic edge due to a highly specialized diet. The absence of a relationship between group size and survival may reflect a similar but optimized survival within the selected range of group sizes. We expect the pattern of small group sizes will be consistent in future research on species dependent on social information transfer about ephemeral resources. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12898-016-0056-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yann Gager
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany. .,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany. .,International Max Planck Research School for Organismal Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Olivier Gimenez
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
| | - M Teague O'Mara
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany. .,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany. .,Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany. .,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama.
| | - Dina K N Dechmann
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany. .,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany. .,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama.
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43
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Brown GE, Demers EE, Joyce BJ, Ferrari MCO, Chivers DP. Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience. Anim Cogn 2015; 18:1331-8. [PMID: 26177895 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0902-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2015] [Revised: 05/19/2015] [Accepted: 07/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to conditions of elevated predation risk, even for relatively short periods, has been shown to induce neophobic responses to novel predators. Such phenotypically plastic responses should allow prey to exhibit costly anti-predator behaviour to novel cues only in situations where the risk of predation is high. While there is evidence that the level of background risk shapes the strength of induced neophobia, we know little about how long neophobic responses are retained. Here we exposed juvenile convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to three background levels of short-term background risk and then tested their responses to novel predator odours. Cichlids exposed to low risk did not show neophobic responses, while those exposed to intermediate and high risk did. Using extinction trials, we demonstrate that the retention of neophobic responses is greater among cichlids exposed to high versus intermediate predation risk conditions. Moreover, we found much longer retention of the neophobic responses when cichlids were tested a single time compared to when they were tested repeatedly in the extinction trials. This work supports the prediction that neophobic responses to specific odours are relatively long lasting but can quickly wane if the cues are experienced repeatedly without them being associated with risk. It is clear that background level of risk and the frequency of exposure to novel cues are crucial factors in determining the retention of risk-related information among prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grant E Brown
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada.
| | - Ebony E Demers
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Brendan J Joyce
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Maud C O Ferrari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, WCVM, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Dr., Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4, Canada
| | - Douglas P Chivers
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Pl., Saskatoon, SK, S7N 1E2, Canada
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44
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Sheehan MJ, Bergman TJ. Is there an evolutionary trade-off between quality signaling and social recognition? Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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45
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Merkle JA, Cherry SG, Fortin D. Bison distribution under conflicting foraging strategies: site fidelity vs. energy maximization. Ecology 2015; 96:1793-801. [DOI: 10.1890/14-0805.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [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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Dall SRX, McNamara JM, Leimar O. Genes as cues: phenotypic integration of genetic and epigenetic information from a Darwinian perspective. Trends Ecol Evol 2015; 30:327-33. [PMID: 25944666 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2014] [Revised: 04/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The development of multicellular organisms involves a delicate interplay between genetic and environmental influences. It is often useful to think of developmental systems as integrating available sources of information about current conditions to produce organisms. Genes and inherited physiology provide cues, as does the state of the environment during development. The integration systems themselves are under genetic control and subject to Darwinian selection, so we expect them to evolve to produce organisms that fit well with current ecological (including social) conditions. We argue for the scientific value of this explicitly informational perspective by providing detailed examples of how it can elucidate taxonomically diverse phenomena. We also present a general framework for linking genetic and phenotypic variation from an informational perspective. This application of Darwinian logic at the organismal level can elucidate genetic influences on phenotypic variation in novel and counterintuitive ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha R X Dall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Tremough, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK.
| | - John M McNamara
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Tremough, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK; School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TW, UK
| | - Olof Leimar
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
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Evans JC, Votier SC, Dall SRX. Information use in colonial living. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 91:658-72. [PMID: 25882618 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2014] [Revised: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Despite the fact that many animals live in groups, there is still no clear consensus about the ecological or evolutionary mechanisms underlying colonial living. Recently, research has suggested that colonies may be important as sources of social information. The ready availability of information from conspecifics allows animals to make better decisions about avoiding predators, reducing brood parasitism, migratory phenology, mate choice, habitat choice and foraging. These choices can play a large part in the development and maintenance of colonies. Here we review the types of information provided by colonial animals and examine the different ways in which decision-making in colonies can be enhanced by social information. We discuss what roles information might take in the evolution, formation and maintenance of colonies. In the process, we illustrate that information use permeates all aspects of colonial living.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian C Evans
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter-Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, U.K
| | - Stephen C Votier
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter-Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, U.K
| | - Sasha R X Dall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter-Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, U.K
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Kane A, Jackson AL, Ogada DL, Monadjem A, McNally L. Vultures acquire information on carcass location from scavenging eagles. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:rspb.2014.1072. [PMID: 25209935 PMCID: PMC4173674 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Vultures are recognized as the scroungers of the natural world, owing to their ecological role as obligate scavengers. While it is well known that vultures use intraspecific social information as they forage, the possibility of inter-guild social information transfer and the resulting multi-species social dilemmas has not been explored. Here, we use data on arrival times at carcasses to show that such social information transfer occurs, with raptors acting as producers of information and vultures acting as scroungers of information. We develop a game-theoretic model to show that competitive asymmetry, whereby vultures dominate raptors at carcasses, predicts this evolutionary outcome. We support this theoretical prediction using empirical data from competitive interactions at carcasses. Finally, we use an individual-based model to show that these producer–scrounger dynamics lead to vultures being vulnerable to declines in raptor populations. Our results show that social information transfer can lead to important non-trophic interactions among species and highlight important potential links among social evolution, community ecology and conservation biology. With vulture populations suffering global declines, our study underscores the importance of ecosystem-based management for these endangered keystone species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Kane
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland
| | - Andrew L Jackson
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland
| | - Darcy L Ogada
- The Peregrine Fund, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, ID 83709, USA National Museums of Kenya, Ornithology Section, PO Box 40658, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
| | - Ara Monadjem
- All Out Africa Research Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Swaziland, Private Bag 4, Kwaluseni, Swaziland
| | - Luke McNally
- Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
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Hovestadt T, Mitesser O, Poethke HJ. Gender-Specific Emigration Decisions Sensitive to Local Male and Female Density. Am Nat 2014; 184:38-51. [DOI: 10.1086/676524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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