{"title":"竞争和性别年龄等级会改变群体大小对白尾鹿警惕性的影响","authors":"Erik R. Olson, Timothy R. Van Deelen","doi":"10.1007/s10211-023-00430-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Increased group size is predicted to dilute predation risk for individuals and increase predator detection at the group level. Individual vigilance tends to decrease with group size for many species. However, this pattern varies across species, context, space, and time. We explored the effects of group size on vigilance behaviors of white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>) in relation to season, sex-age status, group composition, diminishing food returns, and intraspecific competition. We used classical behavioral observation methods and camera traps to study deer behavior. Sex-age class, season, intraspecific competition, and diminishing food returns interacted with group size to shape vigilance behaviors in deer. During spring, the effect of group size was essentially non-existent, and during winter, vigilance patterns exhibited a non-linear relationship with group size. Subadult deer benefited most in terms of increased foraging and decreased vigilance from the presence of 1–2 conspecifics, likely a maternal family group. This effect diminished in the presence of additional conspecifics (≥3), apparently as a function of contest competition. Individual deer spent less time at a site in areas with greater intraspecific abundance; however, in the presence of conspecifics, the relationship was reversed. Our research suggests that maternal family groups play an important seasonal role in vigilance behaviors of deer. Our study demonstrates the complex effects of group size in white-tailed deer. Group size effects are generally considered to be in response to changes in predation risk; however, our work supports a growing body of evidence that group size effects may also be influenced by intraspecific interactions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Competition and sex-age class alter the effects of group size on vigilance in white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus\",\"authors\":\"Erik R. Olson, Timothy R. Van Deelen\",\"doi\":\"10.1007/s10211-023-00430-8\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><p>Increased group size is predicted to dilute predation risk for individuals and increase predator detection at the group level. Individual vigilance tends to decrease with group size for many species. However, this pattern varies across species, context, space, and time. We explored the effects of group size on vigilance behaviors of white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>) in relation to season, sex-age status, group composition, diminishing food returns, and intraspecific competition. We used classical behavioral observation methods and camera traps to study deer behavior. Sex-age class, season, intraspecific competition, and diminishing food returns interacted with group size to shape vigilance behaviors in deer. During spring, the effect of group size was essentially non-existent, and during winter, vigilance patterns exhibited a non-linear relationship with group size. Subadult deer benefited most in terms of increased foraging and decreased vigilance from the presence of 1–2 conspecifics, likely a maternal family group. This effect diminished in the presence of additional conspecifics (≥3), apparently as a function of contest competition. Individual deer spent less time at a site in areas with greater intraspecific abundance; however, in the presence of conspecifics, the relationship was reversed. Our research suggests that maternal family groups play an important seasonal role in vigilance behaviors of deer. Our study demonstrates the complex effects of group size in white-tailed deer. Group size effects are generally considered to be in response to changes in predation risk; however, our work supports a growing body of evidence that group size effects may also be influenced by intraspecific interactions.</p></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":6879,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"acta ethologica\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.1000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-10-18\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"acta ethologica\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"99\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10211-023-00430-8\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"生物学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"acta ethologica","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10211-023-00430-8","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Competition and sex-age class alter the effects of group size on vigilance in white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus
Increased group size is predicted to dilute predation risk for individuals and increase predator detection at the group level. Individual vigilance tends to decrease with group size for many species. However, this pattern varies across species, context, space, and time. We explored the effects of group size on vigilance behaviors of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in relation to season, sex-age status, group composition, diminishing food returns, and intraspecific competition. We used classical behavioral observation methods and camera traps to study deer behavior. Sex-age class, season, intraspecific competition, and diminishing food returns interacted with group size to shape vigilance behaviors in deer. During spring, the effect of group size was essentially non-existent, and during winter, vigilance patterns exhibited a non-linear relationship with group size. Subadult deer benefited most in terms of increased foraging and decreased vigilance from the presence of 1–2 conspecifics, likely a maternal family group. This effect diminished in the presence of additional conspecifics (≥3), apparently as a function of contest competition. Individual deer spent less time at a site in areas with greater intraspecific abundance; however, in the presence of conspecifics, the relationship was reversed. Our research suggests that maternal family groups play an important seasonal role in vigilance behaviors of deer. Our study demonstrates the complex effects of group size in white-tailed deer. Group size effects are generally considered to be in response to changes in predation risk; however, our work supports a growing body of evidence that group size effects may also be influenced by intraspecific interactions.
期刊介绍:
acta ethologica publishes empirical and theoretical research papers, short communications, commentaries, reviews and book reviews as well as methods papers in the field of ethology and related disciplines, with a strong concentration on the behavior biology of humans and other animals.
The journal places special emphasis on studies integrating proximate (mechanisms, development) and ultimate (function, evolution) levels in the analysis of behavior. Aspects of particular interest include: adaptive plasticity of behavior, inter-individual and geographic variations in behavior, mechanisms underlying behavior, evolutionary processes and functions of behavior, and many other topics.
acta ethologica is an official journal of ISPA, CRL and the Portuguese Ethological Society (SPE)