Same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) is an enigma in behavioral ecology as it does not result in reproduction. Proximately, the effect of sexual signals on SSB could be distinct between signal receivers and senders. For receivers, the absence of sexual signals leads to smaller phenotypic sex differences, leading to frequent accidental SSB between receivers. Alternatively, for senders, sexual signals could help locate another sender, enhancing intentional SSB. Here, we demonstrate this link between sex pheromone signaling and the frequency of same-sex pairing in two Coptotermes termites that use the same chemical as sex pheromones but in different quantities. In termites, mating pairs engage in tandem runs, where a female emits sex pheromones to guide a male as they move together in searching a potential nest site. So, females are signal senders, and males are signal receivers for sexual communication. We found that female-female tandems were more stable in C. formosanus, whose females produce more pheromones. On the other hand, although both species did not show stable male-male tandems, males of C. gestroi, whose females produce fewer pheromones, spent more time attempting to follow another male. Thus, stronger pheromones lead to sender-sender SSB, while weaker pheromones lead to receiver-receiver SSB. The proximate mechanism of SSB is diverse according to the properties of sexual communications in heterosexual contexts.
{"title":"The strength of sexual signals predicts same-sex pairing in two Coptotermes termites","authors":"Nobuaki Mizumoto, Sang-Bin Lee, Thomas Chouvenc","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae067","url":null,"abstract":"Same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) is an enigma in behavioral ecology as it does not result in reproduction. Proximately, the effect of sexual signals on SSB could be distinct between signal receivers and senders. For receivers, the absence of sexual signals leads to smaller phenotypic sex differences, leading to frequent accidental SSB between receivers. Alternatively, for senders, sexual signals could help locate another sender, enhancing intentional SSB. Here, we demonstrate this link between sex pheromone signaling and the frequency of same-sex pairing in two Coptotermes termites that use the same chemical as sex pheromones but in different quantities. In termites, mating pairs engage in tandem runs, where a female emits sex pheromones to guide a male as they move together in searching a potential nest site. So, females are signal senders, and males are signal receivers for sexual communication. We found that female-female tandems were more stable in C. formosanus, whose females produce more pheromones. On the other hand, although both species did not show stable male-male tandems, males of C. gestroi, whose females produce fewer pheromones, spent more time attempting to follow another male. Thus, stronger pheromones lead to sender-sender SSB, while weaker pheromones lead to receiver-receiver SSB. The proximate mechanism of SSB is diverse according to the properties of sexual communications in heterosexual contexts.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142193523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human-induced rapid environmental changes introduce animals to novel selection pressures that may impact how individuals allocate resources into life-history traits. One pervasive anthropogenic stressor, artificial light at night (ALAN), extends into remote areas and masks the day:night cycles to which animals are attuned. Here we ask how animals use this environmental input to dictate their investment in survival and reproductive traits and whether they must trade off investment in these traits in female Gryllus veletis field crickets. Using the second generation of field-collected individuals from a location absent from ALAN, we reared females from the antepenultimate instar through adulthood in either a control environment or one with ALAN. We then measured their investment in survival through two aspects of immunity, encapsulation and lysozyme activity, and their reproductive investment as the number of eggs within a female. We found that ALAN reduced one aspect of immunity, lysozyme activity, and reproductive investment. Further, there was a negative trade-off in investment in encapsulation and reproduction, an investment cost that was not present in females reared without ALAN. Our results suggest a two-fold cost of ALAN on females: one on investment in individual traits and another on a trade-off between them. These maladaptive responses to ALAN could substantially impact natural populations in the short term, and whether populations could respond in the long term remains an open question.
人类引起的快速环境变化使动物面临新的选择压力，这些压力可能会影响个体如何将资源分配到生命史特征上。一种普遍存在的人为压力--夜间人造光（ALAN）--延伸到偏远地区，掩盖了动物所适应的昼夜周期。在这里，我们想知道动物如何利用这种环境输入来决定它们在生存和繁殖特征上的投资，以及它们是否必须在雌性田野蟋蟀（Gryllus veletis field crickles）的这些特征投资上进行权衡。我们利用从一个没有ALAN的地方采集的第二代田间个体，在对照环境或有ALAN的环境中饲养雌性蟋蟀从初生到成年。然后，我们通过免疫力的两个方面--包囊和溶菌酶活性--测量了它们的生存投资，并通过雌虫体内的卵数测量了它们的生殖投资。我们发现，ALAN降低了免疫力的一个方面，即溶菌酶活性和生殖投资。此外，在封装和繁殖方面的投资出现了负的权衡，这种投资成本在未饲养 ALAN 的雌性中并不存在。我们的研究结果表明，ALAN对雌性动物造成了两方面的成本：一方面是对个体性状的投资，另一方面是对它们之间的权衡。这些对ALAN的不适应反应可能会在短期内对自然种群产生重大影响，而种群是否能在长期内做出反应仍是一个悬而未决的问题。
{"title":"Anthropogenic light impacts life-history traits and induces a trade-off in female field crickets","authors":"Darren Rebar, Tingyuan Xiao, Elizabeth Murdock","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae064","url":null,"abstract":"Human-induced rapid environmental changes introduce animals to novel selection pressures that may impact how individuals allocate resources into life-history traits. One pervasive anthropogenic stressor, artificial light at night (ALAN), extends into remote areas and masks the day:night cycles to which animals are attuned. Here we ask how animals use this environmental input to dictate their investment in survival and reproductive traits and whether they must trade off investment in these traits in female Gryllus veletis field crickets. Using the second generation of field-collected individuals from a location absent from ALAN, we reared females from the antepenultimate instar through adulthood in either a control environment or one with ALAN. We then measured their investment in survival through two aspects of immunity, encapsulation and lysozyme activity, and their reproductive investment as the number of eggs within a female. We found that ALAN reduced one aspect of immunity, lysozyme activity, and reproductive investment. Further, there was a negative trade-off in investment in encapsulation and reproduction, an investment cost that was not present in females reared without ALAN. Our results suggest a two-fold cost of ALAN on females: one on investment in individual traits and another on a trade-off between them. These maladaptive responses to ALAN could substantially impact natural populations in the short term, and whether populations could respond in the long term remains an open question.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142193520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The hypothesis of slow-fast syndromes predicts a correlation between personality type and learning style; fast explorers would have a more proactive (fast but inflexible) learning style whereas slow explorers would be more reactive (slow but flexible) learners. Empirical evidence for this personality-cognition coupling remains inconclusive and heavily biased towards birds. Moreover, most studies did not examine the personality-cognition correlation when the cognitive task is discerning food quality, a scenario directly related to energy acquisition that underpins the evolution of slow-fast syndromes. In this study, we examined the exploration-cognition correlation in the context of avoidance learning in an opportunistic predator - the common sun skink Eutropis multifasciata. We quantified exploration tendencies of individuals in an unfamiliar environment and compared foraging behaviors when lizards associated prey color and taste during the initial learning trials and subsequent reverse learning trials, where the color-taste associations were switched. We found that fast explorers were less choosy and modified their foraging behaviors less with experience, conforming to a more proactive cognitive style. In contrast, slow explorers were reactive learners and were able to change foraging behaviors in both learning and reverse learning phases, even though the ability to do so depended on the color-taste treatment. Contrary to conventional predictions, the proactive-reactive learning styles in our focal species was not differentiated by a learning speed-flexibility trade-off. Our findings offer nuanced support to the slow-fast syndromes and suggest that the two types of exploration-cognition correlations could be different responses to fast-changing environmental predictability.
{"title":"Exploration correlates with dietary choosiness and avoidance learning style in a generalist predator","authors":"Chi-Yun Kuo, Yu-Hsi Chen, Ai-Ching Meng, Yu-Zhe Wu, Shan-Yu Yang, Ching-Ning Yeh","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae065","url":null,"abstract":"The hypothesis of slow-fast syndromes predicts a correlation between personality type and learning style; fast explorers would have a more proactive (fast but inflexible) learning style whereas slow explorers would be more reactive (slow but flexible) learners. Empirical evidence for this personality-cognition coupling remains inconclusive and heavily biased towards birds. Moreover, most studies did not examine the personality-cognition correlation when the cognitive task is discerning food quality, a scenario directly related to energy acquisition that underpins the evolution of slow-fast syndromes. In this study, we examined the exploration-cognition correlation in the context of avoidance learning in an opportunistic predator - the common sun skink Eutropis multifasciata. We quantified exploration tendencies of individuals in an unfamiliar environment and compared foraging behaviors when lizards associated prey color and taste during the initial learning trials and subsequent reverse learning trials, where the color-taste associations were switched. We found that fast explorers were less choosy and modified their foraging behaviors less with experience, conforming to a more proactive cognitive style. In contrast, slow explorers were reactive learners and were able to change foraging behaviors in both learning and reverse learning phases, even though the ability to do so depended on the color-taste treatment. Contrary to conventional predictions, the proactive-reactive learning styles in our focal species was not differentiated by a learning speed-flexibility trade-off. Our findings offer nuanced support to the slow-fast syndromes and suggest that the two types of exploration-cognition correlations could be different responses to fast-changing environmental predictability.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142193521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gabriel Máximo Xavier, Marcelo Oliveira Gonzaga, Vitor Campos de Castro, William Dias Silva, Alisson Montanheiro Valentim, Rafael Rios Moura
Parasitoid larvae consume their hosts to obtain the nutritional resources required for their development. Parasitoid wasps can optimally select the size of their hosts by laying unfertilised and fertilised eggs according to the amount of biomass available for consumption by the larvae. However, parasitoids may eventually experience low host availability within the optimal range of body sizes, affecting the survival of their offspring. In this study, we identified a situation in which all available hosts (Leucauge volupis) were smaller than those previously observed to be parasitised by Hymenoepimecis pinheirensis at the same study site. Therefore, we investigated how these parasitoids can bypass the scarcity of ideal hosts. Female wasps biased their oviposition toward the largest L. volupis females available. In this suboptimal scenario, they did not oviposit only unfertilised eggs, which developed into relatively small offspring (males). In this situation, they lay fertilised eggs mainly on larger spiders. Larval mortality was high, but the larvae attached to the larger spiders were more likely to complete their development. In general, H. pinheirensis females managed to target the best hosts available, but could not delay the oviposition of fertilised eggs or avoid offspring mortality. Here, we discuss the potential causes of asynchronies in the life cycles of parasitoid wasps and their hosts, the availability of optimal hosts, and how these factors may affect their populations
寄生幼虫消耗宿主以获得发育所需的营养资源。寄生蜂可以根据幼虫可消耗的生物量，通过产下未受精卵和受精卵来选择寄主的大小。然而，寄生蜂最终可能会在最佳体型范围内遇到宿主可用性低的情况，从而影响其后代的生存。在本研究中，我们发现在同一研究地点，所有可用宿主（Leucauge volupis）的体型都小于之前观察到的被 Pinheirensis Hymenoepimecis 寄生的宿主。因此，我们研究了这些寄生虫如何绕过理想寄主稀缺的问题。雌蜂偏向于向最大的 L. volupis 雌蜂产卵。在这种次优情况下，它们不会只产下未受精卵，这些卵会发育成相对较小的后代（雄性）。在这种情况下，它们主要将受精卵产在较大的蜘蛛身上。幼虫死亡率很高，但附着在较大蜘蛛身上的幼虫更有可能完成发育。总的来说，松毛虫雌性能够选择最好的宿主，但却不能延迟受精卵的产卵时间或避免后代死亡。在此，我们讨论了造成寄生蜂及其寄主生命周期不同步的潜在原因、最佳寄主的可用性，以及这些因素可能对其种群产生的影响
{"title":"Effects of host size on progeny sex and survivorship of Hymenoepimecis pinheirensis","authors":"Gabriel Máximo Xavier, Marcelo Oliveira Gonzaga, Vitor Campos de Castro, William Dias Silva, Alisson Montanheiro Valentim, Rafael Rios Moura","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae068","url":null,"abstract":"Parasitoid larvae consume their hosts to obtain the nutritional resources required for their development. Parasitoid wasps can optimally select the size of their hosts by laying unfertilised and fertilised eggs according to the amount of biomass available for consumption by the larvae. However, parasitoids may eventually experience low host availability within the optimal range of body sizes, affecting the survival of their offspring. In this study, we identified a situation in which all available hosts (Leucauge volupis) were smaller than those previously observed to be parasitised by Hymenoepimecis pinheirensis at the same study site. Therefore, we investigated how these parasitoids can bypass the scarcity of ideal hosts. Female wasps biased their oviposition toward the largest L. volupis females available. In this suboptimal scenario, they did not oviposit only unfertilised eggs, which developed into relatively small offspring (males). In this situation, they lay fertilised eggs mainly on larger spiders. Larval mortality was high, but the larvae attached to the larger spiders were more likely to complete their development. In general, H. pinheirensis females managed to target the best hosts available, but could not delay the oviposition of fertilised eggs or avoid offspring mortality. Here, we discuss the potential causes of asynchronies in the life cycles of parasitoid wasps and their hosts, the availability of optimal hosts, and how these factors may affect their populations","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"79 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142193524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-13eCollection Date: 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arae066
Pengzhen Huang, Malgorzata E Arlet, Krishna N Balasubramaniam, Brianne A Beisner, Eliza Bliss-Moreau, Lauren J N Brent, Julie Duboscq, Iván García-Nisa, Stefano S K Kaburu, Rachel Kendal, Martina Konečná, Pascal R Marty, Brenda McCowan, Jérôme Micheletta, Julia Ostner, Oliver Schülke, Gabriele Schino, Bonaventura Majolo
In animal social groups, the extent to which individuals consistently win agonistic interactions and their ability to monopolize resources represent 2 core aspects of their competitive regime. However, whether these two aspects are closely correlated within groups has rarely been studied. Here, we tested the hypothesis that hierarchy steepness, which is generally used to represent power differentials between group members, predicts the variation in the distribution of fitness-related benefits (i.e. fecundity, infant survival, mating success, and feeding success) in relation to individual dominance ranks. We tested this hypothesis in primate groups using comparative phylogenetic meta-analytical techniques. Specifically, we reviewed published and unpublished studies to extract data on individual dominance ranks, their access to fitness-related benefits, and hierarchy steepness. We collected and included in our analysis a total of 153 data points, representing 27 species (including 2 chimpanzee sub-species). From these, we used 4 common methods to measure individual dominance ranks and hierarchy steepness, i.e. Dij -based normalized David's scores, randomized Elo-ratings, and David's scores and Elo-ratings estimated in Bayesian frameworks. We found that hierarchy steepness had no effect on the strength of the relationship between dominance rank and access to fitness-related benefits. Our results suggest that hierarchy steepness does not reflect between-group variation in the extent to which individual dominance affects the acquisition of fitness-related benefits in primates. Although the ability to win agonistic encounters is essential, we speculate that other behavioral strategies adopted by individuals may play crucial roles in resource acquisition in animal competitive regimes.
在动物社会群体中，个体持续赢得争斗的程度和垄断资源的能力是其竞争机制的两个核心方面。然而，这两个方面在群体内部是否密切相关却很少有人研究。在这里，我们检验了一个假设，即等级陡度（通常用来表示群体成员之间的权力差异）可以预测与个体优势等级相关的适生性相关利益（即繁殖力、婴儿存活率、交配成功率和觅食成功率）分布的变化。我们利用系统发育元分析比较技术在灵长类群体中检验了这一假设。具体来说，我们回顾了已发表和未发表的研究，提取了有关个体优势等级、它们获得与适生相关的益处以及等级陡峭度的数据。我们共收集了 153 个数据点，代表 27 个物种（包括 2 个黑猩猩亚种），并将其纳入分析。在这些数据中，我们使用了 4 种常用的方法来测量个体的优势等级和等级陡度，即基于 D ij 的归一化大卫评分、随机 Elo 评分以及贝叶斯框架中估算的大卫评分和 Elo 评分。我们发现，等级制度的陡峭程度对支配等级与获得体能相关利益之间的关系强度没有影响。我们的研究结果表明，在灵长类动物中，等级陡峭度并不能反映个体优势地位对获取体能相关益处的影响程度的群体间差异。虽然赢得争斗的能力至关重要，但我们推测个体采取的其他行为策略可能在动物竞争制度中对资源获取起着至关重要的作用。
{"title":"Relationship between dominance hierarchy steepness and rank-relatedness of benefits in primates.","authors":"Pengzhen Huang, Malgorzata E Arlet, Krishna N Balasubramaniam, Brianne A Beisner, Eliza Bliss-Moreau, Lauren J N Brent, Julie Duboscq, Iván García-Nisa, Stefano S K Kaburu, Rachel Kendal, Martina Konečná, Pascal R Marty, Brenda McCowan, Jérôme Micheletta, Julia Ostner, Oliver Schülke, Gabriele Schino, Bonaventura Majolo","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae066","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arae066","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In animal social groups, the extent to which individuals consistently win agonistic interactions and their ability to monopolize resources represent 2 core aspects of their competitive regime. However, whether these two aspects are closely correlated within groups has rarely been studied. Here, we tested the hypothesis that hierarchy steepness, which is generally used to represent power differentials between group members, predicts the variation in the distribution of fitness-related benefits (i.e. fecundity, infant survival, mating success, and feeding success) in relation to individual dominance ranks. We tested this hypothesis in primate groups using comparative phylogenetic meta-analytical techniques. Specifically, we reviewed published and unpublished studies to extract data on individual dominance ranks, their access to fitness-related benefits, and hierarchy steepness. We collected and included in our analysis a total of 153 data points, representing 27 species (including 2 chimpanzee sub-species). From these, we used 4 common methods to measure individual dominance ranks and hierarchy steepness, i.e. <i>D</i> <sub><i>ij</i></sub> -based normalized David's scores, randomized Elo-ratings, and David's scores and Elo-ratings estimated in Bayesian frameworks. We found that hierarchy steepness had no effect on the strength of the relationship between dominance rank and access to fitness-related benefits. Our results suggest that hierarchy steepness does not reflect between-group variation in the extent to which individual dominance affects the acquisition of fitness-related benefits in primates. Although the ability to win agonistic encounters is essential, we speculate that other behavioral strategies adopted by individuals may play crucial roles in resource acquisition in animal competitive regimes.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"35 5","pages":"arae066"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11347755/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142078953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In wetland ecosystems, birds play a crucial role in nutrient cycling through various activities such as excrement deposition, sediment disturbance during foraging, and utilization of mud and vegetation for nesting. Particularly noteworthy are species exhibiting colonial breeding or high sociability, as they can significantly influence waterbody communities and act as ecosystem engineers in these habitats. Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) possess all these characteristics, making them potential ecosystem engineers. In this study, we aim to test the hypothesis that Chilean Flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) exert such effects on an important non-breeding wetland. Moreover, we seek to elucidate the underlaying reasons for these effects and their relationship with flock size and foraging behavior. To accomplish this, we conducted a year-long study on the flock of Chilean Flamingos at Lagoa do Peixe National Park in southern Brazil. We collected environmental and behavioral data, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen levels, water turbidity, salinity, and temperature, from areas both with and without flamingos. Our findings suggest a significant role of Chilean Flamingos in maintaining the nutrient cycle within wetland ecosystems. This is attributed not only to the high levels of guano deposition, but also to the bioturbation caused by their foraging behaviors. Furthermore, we observed a significant correlation between flock size, the mean duration of foraging behaviors, and the magnitude of these effects. This study points the likely effects of flamingos to wetlands ecosystems, emphasizing the intricate interplay between these birds and their habitats and highlights the importance of conserving both the species and their ecosystems.
在湿地生态系统中，鸟类通过排泄物沉积、觅食过程中对沉积物的扰动以及利用泥浆和植被筑巢等各种活动，在营养循环中发挥着至关重要的作用。尤其值得注意的是，表现出群居繁殖或高度社会性的物种，因为它们能极大地影响水体群落，并在这些栖息地扮演生态系统工程师的角色。火烈鸟（腓尼基蝶科）具备所有这些特征，因此是潜在的生态系统工程师。在这项研究中，我们旨在验证智利火烈鸟（Phoenicopterus chilensis）对重要的非繁殖湿地产生这种影响的假设。此外，我们还试图阐明产生这些影响的根本原因及其与鸟群大小和觅食行为的关系。为此，我们对巴西南部佩斯湖国家公园（Lagoa do Peixe National Park）的智利火烈鸟群进行了为期一年的研究。我们收集了有火烈鸟和没有火烈鸟区域的环境和行为数据，包括氮、磷、溶解氧水平、水体浑浊度、盐度和温度。我们的研究结果表明，智利火烈鸟在维持湿地生态系统的营养循环方面发挥着重要作用。这不仅要归功于大量的鸟粪沉积，还要归功于火烈鸟觅食行为造成的生物扰动。此外，我们还观察到，鸟群大小、觅食行为的平均持续时间与这些影响的程度之间存在明显的相关性。这项研究指出了火烈鸟可能对湿地生态系统造成的影响，强调了这些鸟类与其栖息地之间错综复杂的相互作用，并强调了保护火烈鸟物种及其生态系统的重要性。
{"title":"Flamingos As Ecosystem Engineers: Flock Size And Foraging Behaviors Linked To Nutrient Availability","authors":"Henrique Cardoso Delfino, Caio José Carlos","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae062","url":null,"abstract":"In wetland ecosystems, birds play a crucial role in nutrient cycling through various activities such as excrement deposition, sediment disturbance during foraging, and utilization of mud and vegetation for nesting. Particularly noteworthy are species exhibiting colonial breeding or high sociability, as they can significantly influence waterbody communities and act as ecosystem engineers in these habitats. Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) possess all these characteristics, making them potential ecosystem engineers. In this study, we aim to test the hypothesis that Chilean Flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) exert such effects on an important non-breeding wetland. Moreover, we seek to elucidate the underlaying reasons for these effects and their relationship with flock size and foraging behavior. To accomplish this, we conducted a year-long study on the flock of Chilean Flamingos at Lagoa do Peixe National Park in southern Brazil. We collected environmental and behavioral data, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen levels, water turbidity, salinity, and temperature, from areas both with and without flamingos. Our findings suggest a significant role of Chilean Flamingos in maintaining the nutrient cycle within wetland ecosystems. This is attributed not only to the high levels of guano deposition, but also to the bioturbation caused by their foraging behaviors. Furthermore, we observed a significant correlation between flock size, the mean duration of foraging behaviors, and the magnitude of these effects. This study points the likely effects of flamingos to wetlands ecosystems, emphasizing the intricate interplay between these birds and their habitats and highlights the importance of conserving both the species and their ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"93 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141882986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Acceptance of avian brood parasitism by hosts is one of the most enigmatic aspects of brood parasite-host coevolution. The most common explanation for acceptance of parasitism by hosts of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is evolutionary lag, which suggests that hosts have not had enough time to evolve defenses against parasitism. Alternatively, acceptance may be the optimal strategy when the costs of rejecting parasitism exceed the benefits. The lack of nest site hypothesis applies to secondary cavity-nesting birds that cannot excavate their own nests and predicts that hosts accept parasitism instead of deserting a parasitized nest when there are no vacant nest sites available in which to renest. I tested this hypothesis using the prothonotary warbler (Pronotaria citrea), a commonly parasitized, cavity-nesting cowbird host. I used a paired nest box design and predicted that if hosts accept parasitism because of a lack of alternative nest sites, they should desert parasitized nests and renest in the vacant nest box on their territory. I recorded 37 cases where a nest was parasitized and warblers only deserted 2 parasitized nest boxes for a vacant nest box. Both desertions were attributable to factors other than parasitism and the rate of desertion did not differ from controls that only had a single nest box. Moreover, seven of the warblers initiated clutches in nest boxes that already contained cowbird egg despite having vacant nest boxes available on their territories. These results indicate that warblers do not accept parasitism because of tolerance, but likely due to evolutionary lag.
{"title":"No evidence of adaptive tolerance of parasitism in a cavity-nesting brood parasite host","authors":"Brian D Peer","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae058","url":null,"abstract":"Acceptance of avian brood parasitism by hosts is one of the most enigmatic aspects of brood parasite-host coevolution. The most common explanation for acceptance of parasitism by hosts of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is evolutionary lag, which suggests that hosts have not had enough time to evolve defenses against parasitism. Alternatively, acceptance may be the optimal strategy when the costs of rejecting parasitism exceed the benefits. The lack of nest site hypothesis applies to secondary cavity-nesting birds that cannot excavate their own nests and predicts that hosts accept parasitism instead of deserting a parasitized nest when there are no vacant nest sites available in which to renest. I tested this hypothesis using the prothonotary warbler (Pronotaria citrea), a commonly parasitized, cavity-nesting cowbird host. I used a paired nest box design and predicted that if hosts accept parasitism because of a lack of alternative nest sites, they should desert parasitized nests and renest in the vacant nest box on their territory. I recorded 37 cases where a nest was parasitized and warblers only deserted 2 parasitized nest boxes for a vacant nest box. Both desertions were attributable to factors other than parasitism and the rate of desertion did not differ from controls that only had a single nest box. Moreover, seven of the warblers initiated clutches in nest boxes that already contained cowbird egg despite having vacant nest boxes available on their territories. These results indicate that warblers do not accept parasitism because of tolerance, but likely due to evolutionary lag.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"107 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141872952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
To maximize camouflage across visually heterogeneous habitats, animals have evolved a variety of strategies, including polyphenism, color change, and behavioral background matching. Despite the expected importance of behavioral processes for mediating camouflage, such as selection for matching substrates, behavior has received less attention than color traits themselves, and interactions between color change and behavior are largely unexplored. Here, we investigated behavioral background matching in green and red chameleon prawns (Hippolyte varians) over the course of a color change experiment. Prawns were housed on mismatching green and red seaweeds for 30 days and periodically given a choice test between the same seaweeds in y-choice trials over the experiment. We found that, as prawns change color and improve camouflage (to the perspective of a fish predator), there is a reinforcing shift in behavior. That is, as prawns shift from red to green color, or vice versa, their seaweed color preference follows this. We provide key empirical evidence that plasticity of appearance (color) is accompanied by a plastic shift in behavior (color preference) that reinforces camouflage in a color changing species on its natural substrate. Overall, our research highlights how short-term plasticity of behavior and longer-term color change act in tandem to maintain crypsis over time.
为了在视觉异质的生境中最大限度地伪装，动物进化出了多种策略，包括多色性、颜色变化和行为背景匹配。尽管预期行为过程对伪装具有重要的中介作用，例如对匹配底物的选择，但与颜色特征本身相比，行为受到的关注较少，而且颜色变化与行为之间的相互作用在很大程度上尚未被探索。在这里，我们研究了绿色和红色变色对虾（Hippolyte varians）在颜色变化实验过程中的行为背景匹配。对虾在不匹配的绿色和红色海藻上饲养了 30 天，并在实验过程中定期在相同海藻之间进行 Y 选择测试。我们发现，随着对虾颜色的改变和伪装能力的提高（从鱼类捕食者的角度来看），对虾的行为会发生强化转变。也就是说，当对虾从红色转向绿色，或反之亦然时，它们对海藻颜色的偏好也会随之改变。我们提供了重要的实证证据，表明外观（颜色）的可塑性伴随着行为（颜色偏好）的可塑性转变，从而强化了变色物种在其自然底质上的伪装。总之，我们的研究强调了行为的短期可塑性和颜色的长期变化是如何协同作用以长期保持隐身性的。
{"title":"Background selection for camouflage shifts in accordance with color change in an intertidal prawn","authors":"Samuel D Green, Alastair Wilson, Martin Stevens","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae060","url":null,"abstract":"To maximize camouflage across visually heterogeneous habitats, animals have evolved a variety of strategies, including polyphenism, color change, and behavioral background matching. Despite the expected importance of behavioral processes for mediating camouflage, such as selection for matching substrates, behavior has received less attention than color traits themselves, and interactions between color change and behavior are largely unexplored. Here, we investigated behavioral background matching in green and red chameleon prawns (Hippolyte varians) over the course of a color change experiment. Prawns were housed on mismatching green and red seaweeds for 30 days and periodically given a choice test between the same seaweeds in y-choice trials over the experiment. We found that, as prawns change color and improve camouflage (to the perspective of a fish predator), there is a reinforcing shift in behavior. That is, as prawns shift from red to green color, or vice versa, their seaweed color preference follows this. We provide key empirical evidence that plasticity of appearance (color) is accompanied by a plastic shift in behavior (color preference) that reinforces camouflage in a color changing species on its natural substrate. Overall, our research highlights how short-term plasticity of behavior and longer-term color change act in tandem to maintain crypsis over time.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141785561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sophie Helen Smith, Lucie M Queste, Daniel Shane Wright, Caroline Nicole Bacquet, Richard M Merrill
Mating cues are often comprised of several elements, which can act independently, or in concert to attract a suitable partner. Individual elements may also function in other contexts, such as anti-predator defense or camouflage. In Heliconius butterflies, wing patterns comprise several individual color pattern elements, which advertise the butterflies’ toxicity to predators. These wing patterns are also mating cues, and males predominantly court females that possess the same wing pattern as their own. However, it is not known whether male preference is based on the full wing pattern or only individual pattern elements. We compared preferences of male H. erato lativitta between female models with the full wing pattern and those with some pattern elements removed. We found no differences in preference between the full wing pattern model and a model with pattern elements removed, indicating that the complete composition of all elements is not essential to the mating signal. Wing pattern preferences also contribute to pre-mating isolation between two other Heliconius taxa, H. erato cyrbia and H. himera, therefore, we next compared preferences for the same models in these species. H. erato cyrbia and H. himera strongly differed in preferences for the models, potentially providing a mechanism for how pre-mating isolation acts between these species. These findings suggest that contrasting levels of selective constraint act on elements across the wing pattern
{"title":"Mating preferences act independently on different elements of visual signals in Heliconius butterflies","authors":"Sophie Helen Smith, Lucie M Queste, Daniel Shane Wright, Caroline Nicole Bacquet, Richard M Merrill","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae056","url":null,"abstract":"Mating cues are often comprised of several elements, which can act independently, or in concert to attract a suitable partner. Individual elements may also function in other contexts, such as anti-predator defense or camouflage. In Heliconius butterflies, wing patterns comprise several individual color pattern elements, which advertise the butterflies’ toxicity to predators. These wing patterns are also mating cues, and males predominantly court females that possess the same wing pattern as their own. However, it is not known whether male preference is based on the full wing pattern or only individual pattern elements. We compared preferences of male H. erato lativitta between female models with the full wing pattern and those with some pattern elements removed. We found no differences in preference between the full wing pattern model and a model with pattern elements removed, indicating that the complete composition of all elements is not essential to the mating signal. Wing pattern preferences also contribute to pre-mating isolation between two other Heliconius taxa, H. erato cyrbia and H. himera, therefore, we next compared preferences for the same models in these species. H. erato cyrbia and H. himera strongly differed in preferences for the models, potentially providing a mechanism for how pre-mating isolation acts between these species. These findings suggest that contrasting levels of selective constraint act on elements across the wing pattern","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141718637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lucy Baker, Chris Taylor, Francis Gilbert, Tom Reader
Despite Batesian mimicry often eliciting predator avoidance, many Batesian mimics, such as some species of hoverfly (Syrphidae), are considered to have an “imperfect” resemblance to their model. One possible explanation for the persistence of apparently imperfect mimicry is that human perceptions of mimicry are different from those of natural predators. Natural predators of hoverflies have different visual and cognitive systems from humans, and they may encounter mimics in a different way. For example, whilst humans often encounter hoverflies at rest on vegetation, or in photographs or textbooks, where they are typically viewed from above, natural predators may approach hoverflies from the side or below. To test how viewing angle affects the perception of mimicry, images of mimetic hoverflies and their models (wasps and bees) were shown from different angles in an online survey. Participants were asked to distinguish between the images of models and mimics. The results show that the viewing angle does affect perceived mimicry in some species, although it does not provide a complete explanation for the persistence of imperfect mimicry in nature. The effect is also highly species-specific. This suggests that to understand better how selection has shaped mimetic accuracy in hoverflies and other taxa, further study is required of the viewing angles that predators utilize most commonly in nature.
{"title":"How does viewing angle affect the perceived accuracy of Batesian mimicry in hoverflies?","authors":"Lucy Baker, Chris Taylor, Francis Gilbert, Tom Reader","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae054","url":null,"abstract":"Despite Batesian mimicry often eliciting predator avoidance, many Batesian mimics, such as some species of hoverfly (Syrphidae), are considered to have an “imperfect” resemblance to their model. One possible explanation for the persistence of apparently imperfect mimicry is that human perceptions of mimicry are different from those of natural predators. Natural predators of hoverflies have different visual and cognitive systems from humans, and they may encounter mimics in a different way. For example, whilst humans often encounter hoverflies at rest on vegetation, or in photographs or textbooks, where they are typically viewed from above, natural predators may approach hoverflies from the side or below. To test how viewing angle affects the perception of mimicry, images of mimetic hoverflies and their models (wasps and bees) were shown from different angles in an online survey. Participants were asked to distinguish between the images of models and mimics. The results show that the viewing angle does affect perceived mimicry in some species, although it does not provide a complete explanation for the persistence of imperfect mimicry in nature. The effect is also highly species-specific. This suggests that to understand better how selection has shaped mimetic accuracy in hoverflies and other taxa, further study is required of the viewing angles that predators utilize most commonly in nature.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141547151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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