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Ferreira CM, Dammhahn M, Eccard JA. So many choices, so little time: Food preference and movement vary with the landscape of fear. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10330. [PMID: 37520778 PMCID: PMC10372006 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Spatial and temporal variation in perceived predation risk is an important determinant of movement and foraging activity of animals. Foraging in this landscape of fear, individuals need to decide where and when to move, and what resources to choose. Foraging theory predicts the outcome of these decisions based on energetic trade-offs, but complex interactions between perceived predation risk and preferences of foragers for certain functional traits of their resources are rarely considered. Here, we studied the interactive effects of perceived predation risk on food trait preferences and foraging behavior in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in experimental landscapes. Individuals (n = 19) were subjected for periods of 24 h to two extreme, risk-uniform landscapes (either risky or safe), containing 25 discrete food patches, filled with seeds of four plant species in even amounts. Seeds varied in functional traits: size, nutrients, and shape. We evaluated whether and how risk modifies forager preference for functional traits. We also investigated whether perceived risk and distance from shelter affected giving-up density (GUD), time in patches, and number of patch visits. In safe landscapes, individuals increased time spent in patches, lowered GUD and visited distant patches more often compared to risky landscapes. Individuals preferred bigger seeds independent of risk, but in the safe treatment they preferred fat-rich over carb-rich seeds. Thus, higher densities of resource levels remained in risky landscapes, while in safe landscapes resource density was lower and less diverse due to selective foraging. Our results suggest that the interaction of perceived risk and dietary preference adds an additional layer to the cascading effects of a landscape of fear which affects biodiversity at resource level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara Mendes Ferreira
- Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Melanie Dammhahn
- Behavioural Biology, Institute for Neuro‐ and Behavioural BiologyUniversity of MünsterMünsterGermany
| | - Jana A. Eccard
- Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
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2
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Mortelliti A. The importance of animal behavior for ecosystem services. Trends Ecol Evol 2023; 38:320-323. [PMID: 36402652 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Animal behavior plays a critical role in the delivery of ecosystem services, yet the study of animal behavior and ecosystem services rarely intersect. The study of behavior-mediated ecosystem services should be prioritized, focusing on the conditions that allow these critical behaviors to persist and adapt to global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Mortelliti
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME 04469, USA; Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Edificio M, Via Licio Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
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3
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Animal-mediated plant niche tracking in a changing climate. Trends Ecol Evol 2023:S0169-5347(23)00034-4. [PMID: 36932024 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.02.005] [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: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
Over half of plant species are animal-dispersed, and our understanding of how animals can help plants move in response to climate change - a process known as niche tracking - is limited, but advancing rapidly. Recent research efforts find evidence that animals are helping plants track their niches. They also identify key conditions needed for animal-mediated niche tracking to occur, including alignment of the timing of seed availability, the directionality of animal movements, and microhabitat conditions where seeds are deposited. A research framework that measures niche tracking effectiveness by considering all parts of the niche-tracking process, and links together data and models from multiple disciplines, will lead to further insight and inform actions to help ecosystems adapt to a changing world.
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4
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Schoepf I, Pillay N. Multiple interacting factors affect seed predation in an African savanna small mammal community. J Mammal 2023. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyac127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Multiple factors affect seed predation, including seed traits, habitat type, seed predator community composition, predation risk, and seasonality. How all these factors and their interactions simultaneously influence seed predation has rarely been tested experimentally in situ. Here, we assessed the relative contribution of the factors driving seed predation in an African savanna rodent community, comprising six ecologically similar species. We first conducted seed preference tests under semicaptive conditions to determine which seed trait (size, shell hardness, nutritional content) influenced seed predation. Then we performed in situ experiments to establish whether rodent community composition (diversity and abundance), seed type, habitat type, seasonality, predation risk, and their interactions affected seed predation. Semicaptive experiments showed that rodents preferred smaller, lighter seeds, containing relatively high water content. In situ experiments showed that predation risk was an important factor influencing seed predation, with rodents removing considerably more seeds in areas where predation risk was lower. Habitat type also affected seed predation, but its effects were strongly linked to predation risk. In areas where predation risk was higher, rodents removed more seeds in more heterogeneous habitats, whereas in areas where predation risk was lower, rodents removed more seeds in less heterogeneous habitats. Seasonality was the least influential factor shaping seed predation. Rodents removed more seeds in winter compared to other seasons, but only in areas where predation risk was low. We provide experimental evidence for a multifaceted approach to understanding the relative contribution of the different factors driving variation in seed predation in natural communities and show that these factors are likely hierarchically arranged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Schoepf
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa
- Department of Science, University of Alberta , Augustana Campus, Camrose, Alberta , Canada
| | - Neville Pillay
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa
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Merz MR, Boone SR, Mortelliti A. Predation risk and personality influence seed predation and dispersal by a scatter‐hoarding small mammal. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Margaret R. Merz
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology University of Maine Orono Maine USA
| | - Sara R. Boone
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology University of Maine Orono Maine USA
| | - Alessio Mortelliti
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology University of Maine Orono Maine USA
- Department of Life Sciences University of Trieste Trieste Italy
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6
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Ferreira CM, Dammhahn M, Eccard JA. Forager‐mediated cascading effects on food resource species diversity. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9523. [DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Clara Mendes Ferreira
- Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
| | - Melanie Dammhahn
- Behavioural Biology, Institute for Neurobiology and Behavioural Biology University of Münster Münster Germany
| | - Jana A. Eccard
- Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
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7
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Small mammals in a mountain ecosystem: the effect of topographic, micrometeorological, and biological correlates on their community structure. COMMUNITY ECOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42974-022-00104-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAn increasing number of studies have investigated spatial and temporal patterns in species richness and assemblage composition in mountain ecosystems along altitudinal gradients. Small mammals have been successfully used as indicators of environmental health and as proxies of biodiversity. However, information about the composition and distribution of species assemblages in the mosaic of habitat and rocky landform types at a high altitude is still lacking for most of the mountain regions. Through the use of live traps and camera trapping, we described the small mammal community living above the treeline of the Western Dolomites (Italian Alps), investigating the species richness, abundance of individuals and community composition in relation to topographic, micrometeorological, mesohabitat, and biological correlates. A total of five species and 50 individuals were sampled, analysed, and released. At the extremes of the analysed altitudinal range (i.e. 1900 vs 2900 m a.s.l.), community composition was completely different and species richness was related to elevation, steepness, and vegetation cover. At the same time, the taxonomic distinctness of ground-dwelling arthropods (namely carabid beetles and spiders), a proxy of habitat complexity, showed higher values in areas with a greater small mammal species richness. We found a positive effect of steepness and rocky landform type “carsism” on the number of captured individuals, showing the importance of the availability of shelters and underground burrows for the sampled species. As a confirmation of the altitudinal shift for these species in relation to the ongoing climate change, we detected a negative impact of sub-surface ground temperature on small mammal abundance during the monitoring period. In conclusion, small mammals represent an excellent model for understanding the evolutionary processes of ecosystems, population dynamics under changing environmental conditions, and habitat vulnerabilities.
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Nelson S, MacKenzie CM, Morelli TL, Wason J, Wentzell B, Hovel R, Hodgkins G, Miller-Rushing A, Miller D, Tatko S, Cross A, Pounch M. Introduction: Climate Change in the Mountains of Maine and the Northeast. Northeast Nat (Steuben) 2022. [DOI: 10.1656/045.028.s1111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Nelson
- Appalachian Mountain Club, PO Box 298 Gorham, NH 03581
| | | | | | - Jay Wason
- University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469
| | | | - Rachel Hovel
- University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, ME 04938
| | - Glenn Hodgkins
- US Geological Survey New England Water Science Center, Augusta, ME 04330
| | | | - David Miller
- Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, Rangely, ME 04970
| | - Steve Tatko
- Appalachian Mountain Club, Greenville, ME 04441
| | - Amanda Cross
- Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, August, ME 04330
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Boone SR, Brehm AM, Mortelliti A. Seed predation and dispersal by small mammals in a landscape of fear: effects of personality, predation risk and land‐use change. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sara R. Boone
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine Orono ME USA
| | - Allison M. Brehm
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine Orono ME USA
| | - Alessio Mortelliti
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine Orono ME USA
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Mortelliti A, Brehm AM. Environmental heterogeneity and population density affect the functional diversity of personality traits in small mammal populations. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201713. [PMID: 33290673 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding factors affecting the functional diversity of ecological communities is an important goal for ecologists and conservationists. Previous work has largely been conducted at the community level; however, recent studies have highlighted the critical importance of considering intraspecific functional diversity (i.e. the functional diversity of phenotypic traits among conspecifics). Further, a major limitation of existing literature on this topic is the lack of empirical studies examining functional diversity of behavioural phenotypes-including animal personalities. This is a major shortcoming because personality traits can affect the fitness of individuals, and the composition of personalities in a population can have important ecological consequences. Our study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by investigating factors affecting the functional diversity of personality traits in wild animal populations. Specifically, we predicted that the richness, divergence and evenness associated with personality traits would be impacted by key components of forest structure and would vary between contrasting forest types. To achieve our objective we conducted a fully replicated large-scale field experiment over a 4 year period using small mammal populations as a model system. We found that greater heterogeneity in the cover of shrubs, coarse woody debris and canopy cover was associated with a greater richness, lower divergence and lower evenness in personality traits. Greater population density was associated with greater functional richness and lower functional divergence and evenness of personality traits. To maintain a behaviourally diverse population and its associated functions, managers may promote heterogeneity in vegetation and increased population density, which we found to be the most important determinants driving functional diversity of personality traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Mortelliti
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - Allison M Brehm
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME 04469, USA
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