Journal of Animal Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Urban effects on timing and variability of diel activity differ across passerine species and seasons.","authors":"Pablo Capilla-Lasheras, Claire J Branston, Paul Baker, Cara Cochrane, Barbara Helm, Davide M Dominoni","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Life on Earth is adapted to rhythmic cycles in environmental conditions throughout the day and year via diel patterns of behavioural activity. Urban conditions can disrupt such behavioural rhythms of activity. However, most studies so far have investigated urban effects on patterns of activity of single species in a single season. Additionally, we know little about the level of between- and within-individual variation in urban and non-urban populations, and whether they differ. Here, we use automated radio telemetry to record patterns of daily activity in six passerine species (blackbird, robin, great tit, blue tit, dunnock and chaffinch) across two urban and two forest populations during the pre-breeding and post-breeding seasons. We investigate urban effects on five activity-related traits: time of activity onset, time of activity end, duration of diurnal activity, level of diurnal activity and level of nocturnal activity. We employ statistical tools that allow us to estimate urban effects on mean phenotypic values but also quantify urban versus forest differences in between-individual and within-individual phenotypic variation. We found the strongest urban effects on time of activity onset in blackbirds and robins during both the pre- and post-breeding seasons: urban populations of blackbird and robin started their daily activity earlier than their forest counterparts. We did not find this effect in the other species. Urban populations of all species showed higher levels of nocturnal activity than forest populations, but this effect was not offset by lower diurnal activity, suggesting that urban birds may incur higher daily energetic demands. Lastly, our analysis revealed large and consistent differences in variation in the investigated timing traits. Onset and end of daily activity were more variable in urban birds between individuals, implying lower population synchronisation, and more variable within individuals, implying less consistent behaviour, than in their forest counterparts. Conversely, activity levels were more variable in forest birds. We conclude that, for birds, urban life is associated with less rest, less consistency and lower synchronicity, but that effect sizes depend on species and time of the year. Our results warn against generalising the effects of urbanisation on daily rhythms of birds and call for future studies to understand the mechanisms behind species and seasonal differences.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143811386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"The risk perception and response of Azure-winged magpies: On the aspect of feeding behaviour and alarm calls.","authors":"Fan Yu, Cong Yu, Sile Guo, Xu Wang, Jieyun Li, Zhongqiu Li","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prey are expected to effectively perceive predation cues, recognise predators and adopt appropriate anti-predator strategies to enhance their chances of survival. Species with high cognitive abilities tend to be better at these processes, while empirical research is still lacking. The role of cognition in avoiding predation requires further investigation, especially in species with complex social structures and communication systems. Azure-winged magpies (Cyanopica cyanus) have demonstrated great talents in cognitive tasks. We conducted model presentation and playback experiments to test their predator detection and information transmission in the wild. We found that magpies exhibited distinct responses according to the model type (pigeon, falcon and cat) and eye condition of models (covered or uncovered). Individuals postponed the visit to the feeder and took less food in response to predator and eye-uncovered models. The cat model was perceived as a higher risk, and magpies would emit alarm calls with a wider bandwidth, a higher frequency of 5%, and a higher frequency of 95%. We also found that the playback of alarm calls could induce different anti-predator behaviours from conspecifics. Our study examined how Azure-winged magpies perceive information and make decisions to avoid predators. It indicates that the alarm calls of Azure-winged magpies function in encoding and sharing information, providing an in-depth understanding of complex vocal communication and risk cognition in birds.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143803508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Recovery of reef shark populations invokes anti-predator behaviours in mesopredatory reef fishes on a coral reef.","authors":"Zoe Storm, Mark G Meekan, Andreas Eich, Conrad W Speed, Shaun S Killen, Emily K Lester","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Natural experiments where populations of large predators have recovered following management initiatives offer insights into the potential for these animals to structure communities via consumptive and nonconsumptive effects on their prey. Ashmore Reef, a coral reef off the coast of Western Australia, provides such an opportunity. Here, reef shark populations have increased significantly since the enforcement of a no-take MPA in 2008. This change has been accompanied by an increase in the abundance of medium and large mesopredatory teleosts, but a decline in small mesopredatory teleosts. We explored whether these changes in abundance were accompanied by changes in anti-predator (nonconsumptive) behaviours of mesopredators due to an increase in both acute and chronic risks of predation. We analysed videos from Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) collected prior to the enforcement of no-take status in 2004 and after enforcement and shark recovery in 2016 to quantify any changes in anti-predator behaviours of small (<50 cm TL), medium (50-100 cm TL) and large (>100 cm TL) size classes of teleost mesopredators. Comparisons of the effect of chronic and acute risk on the total time teleosts spent in the BRUVS videos, proportional time spent on activities associated with various risks, and foraging intensity were made both within years (acute risk: in videos where sharks were absent compared to present) and between years (chronic risk: 2004 and 2016). Our results indicate that both small- and medium-sized mesopredatory fishes exhibit behaviours indicative of risk-induced trait responses (anti-predator behaviours) in the presence of reef sharks and that these seem to occur as a joint response to the interaction of acute and chronic risks. Our study suggests that the decline of small mesopredatory fishes following the recovery of reef sharks could be due to both the consumptive and nonconsumptive impacts of sharks as predators in this system. These results show that both chronic and acute risks seem to play significant roles in shaping behaviours of mesopredators.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143803423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Understanding and predicting animal movements and distributions in the Anthropocene.","authors":"Sara Gomez, Holly M English, Vanesa Bejarano Alegre, Paul G Blackwell, Anna M Bracken, Eloise Bray, Luke C Evans, Jelaine L Gan, W James Grecian, Catherine Gutmann Roberts, Seth M Harju, Pavla Hejcmanová, Lucie Lelotte, Benjamin Michael Marshall, Jason Matthiopoulos, AichiMkunde Josephat Mnenge, Bernardo Brandao Niebuhr, Zaida Ortega, Christopher J Pollock, Jonathan R Potts, Charlie J G Russell, Christian Rutz, Navinder J Singh, Katherine F Whyte, Luca Börger","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Predicting animal movements and spatial distributions is crucial for our comprehension of ecological processes and provides key evidence for conserving and managing populations, species and ecosystems. Notwithstanding considerable progress in movement ecology in recent decades, developing robust predictions for rapidly changing environments remains challenging. To accurately predict the effects of anthropogenic change, it is important to first identify the defining features of human-modified environments and their consequences on the drivers of animal movement. We review and discuss these features within the movement ecology framework, describing relationships between external environment, internal state, navigation and motion capacity. Developing robust predictions under novel situations requires models moving beyond purely correlative approaches to a dynamical systems perspective. This requires increased mechanistic modelling, using functional parameters derived from first principles of animal movement and decision-making. Theory and empirical observations should be better integrated by using experimental approaches. Models should be fitted to new and historic data gathered across a wide range of contrasting environmental conditions. We need therefore a targeted and supervised approach to data collection, increasing the range of studied taxa and carefully considering issues of scale and bias, and mechanistic modelling. Thus, we caution against the indiscriminate non-supervised use of citizen science data, AI and machine learning models. We highlight the challenges and opportunities of incorporating movement predictions into management actions and policy. Rewilding and translocation schemes offer exciting opportunities to collect data from novel environments, enabling tests of model predictions across varied contexts and scales. Adaptive management frameworks in particular, based on a stepwise iterative process, including predictions and refinements, provide exciting opportunities of mutual benefit to movement ecology and conservation. In conclusion, movement ecology is on the verge of transforming from a descriptive to a predictive science. This is a timely progression, given that robust predictions under rapidly changing environmental conditions are now more urgently needed than ever for evidence-based management and policy decisions. Our key aim now is not to describe the existing data as well as possible, but rather to understand the underlying mechanisms and develop models with reliable predictive ability in novel situations.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143780246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Core symbionts, age at inoculation and diet affect colonization of the bumblebee gut by a common bacterial pathogen.","authors":"Annika S Nelson, McKenna J Larson, Tobin J Hammer","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microbes shape the health of bumblebees, an important group of pollinators, including species of conservation concern. Most microbial research on bumblebees has focused on eukaryotic and viral pathogens or the core gut microbiome, a community of host-specialized bacterial symbionts that helps protect hosts against eukaryotic pathogens. Bumblebees also harbour a third class of microbes: non-core gut bacteria, which are non-host specific and vary among individuals. Understanding their functional role and how they interact with core symbionts is important for bumblebee ecology and management. We surveyed non-core bacteria in wild bumblebee workers (Bombus impatiens) and conducted laboratory experiments with gnotobiotic B. impatiens to examine factors shaping colonization by a focal non-core bacterium (Serratia marcescens) and its consequences for bee health. Non-core bacteria, including Serratia, frequently occur at high abundance in wild bumblebees, with roughly half of individuals harbouring at least 10% non-core gut bacteria. Experiments showed that Serratia marcescens better colonizes the gut when bees are inoculated early (within 1 day of adult emergence) and the core gut microbiome is disrupted. A mixed wildflower pollen diet facilitated the highest level of infection compared with two monofloral pollen treatments. We also provide evidence that Serratia is pathogenic: exposing bees with disrupted gut microbiomes to Serratia strongly reduced lifespan and, as a result, also reduced total reproduction. These results have three important implications: first, non-core bacteria are widespread in wild bumblebees, and some species are opportunistic pathogens. Second, the core gut microbiome plays a crucial role in protecting against these pathogens. Third, the timing of inoculation relative to bee age, as well as diet, is a key factor controlling bacterial pathogen colonization of the gut. Overall, these findings suggest that gut bacterial health could be an important target for monitoring and managing bumblebee health.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143772294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Shrinking body size under climate warming is not associated with selection for smaller individuals in a migratory bird.","authors":"Andrea Romano, Roberto Ambrosini, Manuela Caprioli, Alessandra Costanzo, Andrea Novelli, Diego Rubolini","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How species are responding to climate change is a key topic in evolutionary ecology. Increasing temperatures are expected to affect phenotypic traits involved in thermoregulation, thus decreasing body size and/or increasing body appendages associated with heat exchange, as predicted by Bergmann's and Allen's rules. Results from long-term studies of variation in morphology over time have generally provided results supporting these predictions. However, two outstanding questions are frequently raised in studies relating changes in phenotypes to increasing temperatures: (1) whether such changes involve a shift in animal shape through the non-proportional variation of different body parts; and (2) whether they result from adaptive evolutionary responses. Relying on capture-recapture histories of almost 9000 breeding individuals from a declining Italian population of an Afro-Palearctic migratory bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), we documented a decrease in some body size traits (body mass, keel and wing length) over a 31-year period (1993-2023), with body mass declining the most (up to 4.0% in males). However, this was not the case for bill and partly tarsus length. Intra-individual lifelong changes in morphological traits of sexually mature birds showed only a limited contribution to trends over time in phenotypically plastic morphological traits. Viability and fecundity selection analyses revealed that smaller individuals did not enjoy greater success compared to larger ones. For some traits, the opposite was actually the case. The shifts in body size and, partly, shape over time we observed were coherent with predictions deriving from Bergmann's and Allen's rules. Yet, natural selection did not consistently favour smaller individuals. We thus call for caution in interpreting recent decreases in body size as adaptive evolutionary responses to climate warming, as they may rather reflect phenotypically plastic responses to changing climatic/environmental conditions occurring during early ontogenetic stages.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143772473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Resource partitioning among pelagic predators remains stable despite annual variability in diet composition.","authors":"Elan J Portner, Barbara A Muhling, Antonella Preti, Owyn E Snodgrass, Travis M Richards, Catherine F Nickels, Heidi Dewar, Elliott L Hazen, C Anela Choy","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Diet data are critical for describing predator resource use and partitioning among competitors. However, time series needed to properly assess variability in resource use and partitioning are limited, especially in pelagic (open ocean) ecosystems where predators and prey make broad use of horizontal and vertical habitats. We examined a diet time series spanning two decades (1998-2018) consisting of 2749 stomachs from 10 pelagic predators in the southern California Current Ecosystem (SCCE): albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga), Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), swordfish (Xiphias gladius), blue shark (Prionace glauca), shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus), bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus), short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) and northern right whale dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis). We quantified feeding habits with respect to prey taxonomy, length, vertical habitat and horizontal habitat. From 1998 to 2015, each predator exhibited diet variability but maintained consistent resource partitioning with the other predators. Across years, the diets of predators feeding mostly on shallow-living prey (<200 m) were more variable than those feeding on deeper-dwelling prey (>200 m). Following an increase in the abundance of northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax) in the SCCE starting in 2015, the ecological niches of Pacific bluefin tuna and swordfish converged. During 2016-2018, both predators fed more heavily on northern anchovy and other prey that occupy shallow nearshore habitats. We show that pelagic predators can maintain resource partitioning under a wide range of conditions. However, we also observe that drastic changes in resource availability can alter the degree of niche partitioning among competitors, providing new perspectives on the flexibility of predator niches. As climate change continues to alter food webs, understanding how predators forage will be essential for anticipating changes to pelagic ecosystem structure and services.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143764081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Mechanisms underlying the loss of migratory behaviour in a long-lived bird.","authors":"Pedro Andrade, Aldina M A Franco, Marta Acácio, Sandra Afonso, Cristiana I Marques, Francisco Moreira, Miguel Carneiro, Inês Catry","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70035","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human-induced environmental changes are changing the migration patterns of birds worldwide. Species are adjusting migration timing, shortening and diversifying migratory routes or even transitioning towards residency. While the ultimate causes driving changes in migratory patterns are well established, the underlying mechanisms by which migratory species adapt to environmental change remain unclear. Here, we studied the mechanisms driving the recent and rapid loss of migratory behaviour in Iberian white storks Ciconia ciconia, a long-lived and previously fully migratory species through the African-Eurasian flyway. We combined 25 years of census data, GPS-tracking data from 213 individuals (80 adults and 133 first-year juveniles) tracked up to 7 years and whole-genome sequencing to disentangle whether within- (phenotypic flexibility) or between- (developmental plasticity or microevolution, through selection) individual shifts in migratory behaviour over time explain the observed population-level changes towards residency. Between 1995 and 2020, the proportion of individuals no longer migrating and remaining in Southern Europe year-round increased dramatically, from 18% to 68-83%. We demonstrate that this behavioural shift is likely explained by developmental plasticity. Within first-year birds, 98% crossed the Strait of Gibraltar towards their African wintering grounds, in Morocco or Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the majority shifted towards a non-migratory strategy as they aged-the proportion of migrants decreased to 67% and 33%, in their second and third year of life, respectively. Supporting these findings, only 19% of GPS-tracked adults migrated. We did not find evidence of phenotypic flexibility, as adults were highly consistent in migratory behaviour over multiple years (only 3 individuals changed strategy between years, out of 113 yearly transitions), nor of selection acting on genetic variation, since genomes of adult migrants and residents are essentially undifferentiated and we did not find evidence of selective sweeps in resident birds. Our results suggest that through developmental plasticity, traits that are plastic during specific windows of development become fixed during adulthood. Thus, inter-generational shifts in the frequency of migratory and non-migratory young individuals could drive population changes in migratory behaviour. This can provide a mechanism for long-lived migratory birds to respond to rapid human-driven environmental changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143764079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Warm acclimation reduces the sensitivity of Drosophila species to heat stress at ecologically relevant scales.","authors":"Amalia Baeza Icaza, Gabriela Poblete Ahumada, Enrico L Rezende, Ignacio Peralta-Maraver","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Thermal acclimation is presumed to affect heat tolerance, though it is unclear how this should impact populations under realistic natural conditions. In this study, we quantified how thermal acclimation affects heat tolerance landscapes in Drosophila and, as a consequence, their predicted mortality in the field based on modelling with a dynamic thermal tolerance algorithm. We measured the thermal tolerance of four Drosophila species (D. repleta, D. hydei, D. simulans and D. virilis) acclimated to five constant temperatures covering a range from 18 to 30°C. We then combined this information with field temperatures to construct dynamic tolerance landscapes for these species and examine how survival varies over the course of a year. Our analyses reveal the effect of acclimation on an ecologically relevant scale, specifically through the study of cumulative mortality under natural thermal regimes. We explore how different species respond to thermal challenges during acclimation, generally showing an increase in critical temperature (CT_max) while either reducing or maintaining constant thermal sensitivity (z). Furthermore, we show that while acclimation presents a relatively modest improvement in thermal tolerance during short ramping laboratory trials, this response becomes stronger when tolerance estimates are translated into ecologically relevant timescales, such as annual survival. Our results indicate that acclimation to warm conditions can substantially increase Drosophila thermal tolerance, contradicting the idea that thermal acclimation in ectotherms has only a minor effect. Our work applies novel approaches to studying thermal tolerance and aims to highlight the role of acclimation in ameliorating the impact of global warming.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143719278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

{"title":"Energy landscapes direct the movement preferences of elephants.","authors":"Emilio Berti, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Fritz Vollrath","doi":"10.1111/1365-2656.70023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The movements of animals affect biodiversity, ecological processes, and the resilience of an ecosystem. Movements carry both costs and benefits, and the use of a given landscape provides important insights into an animal's behavioural ecology and decision processes, as well as elucidating ecosystem complexity and informing conservation measures that are ever more important in the age of rapid global changes. The mobility and habitat preferences of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) offer a good example to explore the concept of 'energy landscapes', that is, the interplay between the cost of locomotion and vegetation productivity, balanced by topography, availability of water and human presence and pressures. Our results, building on tracking data from 157 individuals collected between 1998 and 2020 in Northern Kenya, show that energy landscapes explained the elephants' usage of the landscape. In particular, we found that individuals generally avoided energetically costly areas and preferred highly productive habitats. We also found that water availability is important in determining habitat usage, but that its effect varied greatly among elephants, with some individuals preferring habitats avoided by others. Our analysis highlights the importance of the energy landscape as a key driver of habitat preferences of elephants. Energy landscapes rely on fundamental biomechanical and physical principles and provide a mechanistic understanding of the observed preference patterns, allowing us to disentangle key causal drivers of an animal's preferences from correlational effects. This, in turn, has important implications for assessing and planning conservation and restoration measures, such as dispersal corridors, by explicitly accounting for the energy costs of moving.</p>","PeriodicalId":14934,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143709401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}