Ethology Ecology & Evolution最新文献

{"title":"The bigger the better? Predation and prey size choice in a patchy environment","authors":"S. Vijayan, J. Balaban-Feld, Shamir Badichi, Lotan Tamar Tov-Elem, Burt P. Kotler, W. Mitchell, Z. Abramsky","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1913449","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1913449","url":null,"abstract":"Prey individuals vary in their body size even within groups and are often scattered heterogeneously in patchy environments. A foraging predator has to evaluate and select the patches where it can maximize its energetic gains. We studied the foraging behavior of a predator (little egret, Egretta garzetta) hunting prey groups (goldfish, Carassius auratus) that differed in body size and composition across three different patches (one large, one mixed, and one small). We quantified predator’s stay time, return time and size-specific kills of the prey. The egret spent a similar amount of total time foraging in the three patches; however, it spent more time per-visit in pools containing large-bodied fish and also returned to those pools soonest after leaving to forage elsewhere, suggesting that the predators employ a time management strategy to maximize energetic returns. Furthermore, the egret preferentially killed larger individuals. Such size-selective predation can shift the prey size structure in the landscape and influence the dynamics of species interactions and eventually the structure of the communities.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73940504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Species-specific resource availability as potential correlates of foraging strategy in Atlantic Forest edge-living common marmosets","authors":"J. P. Souza‐Alves, Renata R.D. Chagas Alves, R. Hilário, A. Barnett, B. Bezerra","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1949751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1949751","url":null,"abstract":"In seasonal environments, while some primates change their behavioural patterns according to the total food available, others associate it with plant-specific food availability. We recorded behavioural and ecological data from one marmoset group at the edge of a 522-ha Atlantic Forest fragment in order to verify the seasonal and between-year patterns. We collected behavioural and diet data via scan sampling for 9 months (3 months/season), and estimated the fruiting source density. Fruit resources were significantly more available in the 2012 dry season than the 2012 rainy and 2013 dry seasons. Overall, foraging and moving were the main activities, and fruits and exudates were the principal food items consumed. During the rainy season, the common marmosets devoted more time to eating fruits, increased the niche breadth and food source revisitation frequency, and used the forest’s middle-strata more often. When we compared between-year data, we found that common marmosets rested more frequently, fed more often on invertebrates and had a broader niche breadth in the 2012 dry season than in the 2013 dry season. The availability of specific fruit resources and invertebrates appeared to influence study group activity budget and diet. Variation in food availability may have reduced diet niche breadth and stratum use. Our study confirms the well-established flexibility of common marmosets, and demonstrates key aspects of their foraging strategy to survive in modified habitats.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84561795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vocal performance and the usage of song types in Pale-legged leaf-warbler Phylloscopus tenellipes: a contradictory study","authors":"A. Opaev","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1949752","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1949752","url":null,"abstract":"Performance of vocal signals, such as birdsong, may be a subject to trade-offs among acoustic traits that limit the signal outcomes. Trilled songs in which syllables are repeated in rapid succession present males with a performance challenge resulting in a trade-off between trill rate (rate of repetition) and frequency bandwidth (range of frequency). Individuals of a species might differ in ability to produce high-performance songs that are close to a performance limit. It was suggested that high-performance songs might honestly reveal a high-quality singer, and both males and females might use those songs to detect high-quality singers. To test further this performance hypothesis, I asked whether the usage of song types depended on their performance in the Pale-legged leaf-warbler (Phylloscopus tenellipes), a species with individual repertoires of up to 11 trilled song types. I analyzed 125 song types (n = 25 males) taken from both spontaneous singing and singing elicited by conspecific playback. Songs showed the same performance trade-off between trill rate and frequency bandwidth as found in other passerines. Individuals did not differ relative to one another in their average vocal performance. Males did not preferentially use either high- or low-performance song types in response to playback-simulated territorial intrusion. They also did not modulate the performance of the same song type to signal aggression. Besides, song performance did not differ between predominant song types and all other song types. Since the predominant song type of a given male usually the only one that used in spontaneous singing, a receiver presumably cannot obtain information about the male’s performance ability from his spontaneous singing. Overall, my results did not confirm the role of vocal performance in male–male interaction.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87653256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Repeatability of foraging behavior following a simulated predation attempt depends on color morph, sex, and foraging metric in Red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus)","authors":"Brian P. Waldron, Marissa C. Ganzfried, Cari-Ann M. Hickerson, C. D. Anthony","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1941268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1941268","url":null,"abstract":"Behavioral repeatability greatly affects the capacity of an individual to respond to varying environments. When multiple behaviors within individuals are repeatable and correlated across time or across contexts, it is termed a behavioral syndrome. However, not all behaviors exhibit the same level of repeatability, and relatively few studies have examined repeatability in amphibians. We examined the repeatability of foraging behavior in the Eastern Red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), a color-polymorphic terrestrial salamander, following a simulated predation attempt. We tested several hypotheses: (1) Simulated predation would negatively affect foraging, increasing latency to feed and decreasing the number of prey items eaten in a fixed time period compared to a control group; (2) Because striped color morphs of P. cinereus are more aggressive, striped individuals would exhibit “bold” behavior by resuming foraging sooner and consuming more prey; and (3) Foraging behavior would be more repeatable for males. We found that the predation treatment inhibited foraging behavior, although neither morphs nor sexes differed in either forging metric. The number of prey eaten was repeatable for all groups of salamanders. Latency to feed, however, was not repeatable for control salamanders. Simulated predation induced repeatable latencies, but when morphs and sexes were analyzed separately, only unstriped and male salamanders were repeatable, suggesting characteristics of these groups related to behavioral syndromes drive this response. We speculate that the greater repeatability of the unstriped morph’s latency to feed may result from more frequent encounters with predators in the leaf litter matrix while foraging. Striped salamanders from the source population, in turn, exhibit greater territorial success, and thus may experience more variation in encounters with predators and conspecifics over the course of their lifespans. Our results illustrate the need to carefully define the behavior and subset of the population to be tested when studying behavioral repeatability or behavioral syndromes.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89386852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Post-autotomy limb movement in the porcellanid crab Petrolisthes japonicus","authors":"K. Hamasaki, Yuuki Wachi, Shigeki Dan","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1936653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1936653","url":null,"abstract":"Post-autotomy appendage movement has evolved independently in several vertebrate and invertebrate taxa. Moving appendage may divert a predator’s attention away from the body, allowing the prey to escape. Decapod crustaceans, particularly anomuran and brachyuran crabs, have been well studied in terms of autotomy; however, no studies have focused on post-autotomy limb behaviour. We first found post-autotomy limb movement in decapod crustaceans using the porcellanid crab Petrolisthes japonicus. Porcellanid crabs possess large chelipeds. The porcellanid crab autotomizes the cheliped readily when a predator crab grasps it by the cheliped, enabling it to escape. Our laboratory observations revealed that autotomized chelipeds of P. japonicus moved voluntarily: they repeated closing and stretching movements of the chela and remaining parts on the propodus-carpus joint. The number of strokes (a single sequential closing and stretching movement) and the total stroke duration of the chelipeds were about 28 times and 17 sec on average, respectively. Post-autotomy cheliped movement may further improve the anti-predator defence efficacy of large chelipeds with a hair-trigger autotomy response in porcellanid crabs.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78967006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anthills: stressor or opportunity for plant assemblage diversity? Evidence from Mediterranean Dasypyretum grasslands","authors":"C. Battisti, A. Di Giulio, G. Fanelli, F. Cerfolli","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1941269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1941269","url":null,"abstract":"We explored the structure of plant assemblages that settles around the anthills of a guild of Hymenoptera Formicidae (Messor wasmanni Krausse 1910, Tapinoma nigerrimum Nylander 1856 and Aphaenogaster spinosa Emery 1878), observable in urban grasslands dominated by Dasypyrum villosum (Rome, Central Italy). Since it is known that ants act as a disturbing factor on plant assemblages of grasslands, our hypothesis was that vegetation structures suffer from some stressors that affect, in this plant association, the dominant plant structure. We compared the plant assemblages observed in the plots of the anthills with the control grassland assemblages using a diversity/dominance diagram. We recorded 63 plant taxa. The average number of plant species was found to be significantly lower in anthill plots than in control grassland plots. In anthill plots, dominant plant species (Polygonum romanum, Poa trivialis Vulpia myuros, Aira elegantissima and Vulpia ligustica) have been found to be different from control grassland plots (Convolvolus arvensis, Dasypyrum villosum, Poa trivialis and Sheradia arvensis). Anthill plant assemblages were found to be significantly different (One-way PERMANOVA) and poorer in terms of species richness, less diversified, and with a reduced species turnover than control grassland plots. Whittaker plot analysis seems to show that the plant assemblages of the control, with greater evenness, emphasize a stressed condition in anthill plant assemblages. Non-metric multidimensional scaling shows a set of species strictly linked to anthills. Our data seem to confirm the role of ants as a stressor in the plant assemblage structures of Mediterranean urban grasslands. However, our results also show that the peculiar ant nest conditions may favor plant species less represented in the Dasypyretum grasslands (i.e. Polygonum romanum) or even absent in this plant assemblage (i.e. Aira elegantissima, Cynodon dactylon and Poa annua), thus increasing the overall local plant diversity.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80047207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal changes in the wolf Canis lupus diet in Wigry National Park (northeast Poland)","authors":"R. Mysłajek, M. Romański, I. Kwiatkowska, K. Stępniak, M. Figura, A. Nowak-Brzezińska, T. A. Diserens, S. Nowak","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1907787","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1907787","url":null,"abstract":"Earlier studies have indicated that consumption of beavers Castor ssp. by wolves Canis lupus varies seasonally and is influenced by rainfall affecting water levels. Therefore, to determine whether these carnivores prey more often on beavers in drier seasons and years, we assessed the diet of wolves in Wigry National Park (NE Poland) by analysing 303 scats collected from 2017 to 2019. The most important prey of wolves in this region was the wild boar Sus scrofa (25.2% of consumed biomass), Eurasian beaver Castor fiber (24.4%) and roe deer Capreolus capreolus (24.2%). Predator niche breadth was broader in spring-summer (B = 2.24) than in autumn-winter (B = 1.32), mainly due to higher consumption of beavers (37.3% in spring-summer and 10.7% in autumn-winter). Wolves consumed more beavers (40.9%) and had the broadest niche breadth (B = 1.99) in 2019, when the annual rainfall was lowest. Our study provides further evidence that wolves prey on beavers more often in ice-free seasons and drier years.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88925077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Altitudinal body size variation in Rana kukunoris: the effects of age and growth rate on the plateau brown frog from the eastern Tibetan Plateau","authors":"T. Yu, Geng Jia, Hai‐Qin Sun, Wen H. Shi, Xiao L. Li, Hai B. Wang, Meng R. Huang, Shu Y. Ding, Jin P. Chen, Meng Zhang","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1913448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1913448","url":null,"abstract":"Body sizes in endothermic species tend to increase as temperature decreases in accordance with Bergmann’s rule. However, why do some species support Bergmann’s clines while others reverse it? This question should be solved by considering the relative contributions of mean age and growth rate on adult ectotherm body size. Here we studied altitudinal variation in mean body size, age, and growth rate in Rana kukunoris through 16 sites at different altitudes in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Our results revealed that mean body size decreased as altitude increased in each sex, which fails to obey Bergmann’s rule, but supports the converse Bergmann’s rule. Frogs at lower altitudes tended to grow faster than individuals of the same species at higher altitudes. Conversely, age of adults did not significantly increase as altitude increased. Therefore, we suggest that lower growth rate limits the mean individual body size at the altitudes, explaining why this species follows the converse Bergmann’s rule. The effect of age cannot be ignored because decreasing body length with increasing altitudes is not significant when removing the effect of age.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77443344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal and spatial overlap in the behaviors of a native and invasive tree squirrel in southern California","authors":"J. L. Ortiz","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1936651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1936651","url":null,"abstract":"The native western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) and introduced fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) can be found occupying various locales in southern California (USA) either coexisting or living separately. Since the introduction of the fox squirrel in 1904, there have been local extinctions of gray squirrels in parks and natural areas in urban and suburban locations. Little research has focused on the coexistence of these two species with no work with an in-depth focus on their behavior. The objective of this study was to observe the daily activity of gray and fox squirrels in areas where they coexist and those they occupy alone to determine if the presence of the fox squirrel is negatively impacting the behavior of the gray squirrel. Focal animal observations were conducted using the instantaneous sampling method in three habitat types: coexistence, gray squirrel only, and fox squirrel only. Daily activity related to self-maintenance, communication, feeding, and the location in which the animals were observed were recorded within 15-min observations of individual squirrels. There was no negative impact from the fox squirrels; however, there were behavioral similarities among the species when coexisting which suggests niche overlap. An overlap in the use of space and time in shared habitats can be detrimental to the already declining population of gray squirrels in urban and suburban habitats, particularly in times when environmental conditions are less than ideal and resources are less abundant.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84191292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phytophagous consumption by frogs inhabiting bromeliads from Atlantic Forest","authors":"L. T. Sabagh, A. S. Neutzling, C. Rocha","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2021.1936652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1936652","url":null,"abstract":"Analyses of the diets of frog species in a range of different habitats have shown that these amphibians feed primarily on arthropods. In general, frogs are not selective predators, but may vary in their capture mode along a continuum between active and passive foraging. In the present study, we assessed the diet of two bromeliad-breeding frogs of the genus Ololygon (= Scinax) through taxonomic and functional identification (trophic guilds). We innovate in use of trophic guilds of frogs’ preys and use the phytophagous consumption as proxy for favoring bromeliads by frogs. We also assessed the potential relationship between the size of the frogs and that of the prey they ingest, whether consumption rates varied seasonally, and the foraging mode. The results indicated a diet composed predominantly of phytophagous arthropods for both Ololygon species (O. littorea and O. perpusilla). Most of the arthropods consumed belonged to the orders Hemiptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. We found no significant differences among the number of arthropods ingested in the rainy and in the dry seasons in either Ololygon species, nor significant relationship found between the frog size and corresponding prey ingested by individual frogs. The foraging mode of frogs was restricted only to vegetative parts of bromeliads and they did not feed on any potential pollinators. Taken together, these results suggested that frogs may favor the host bromeliad and suggest a potential trophic cascade among frogs, bromeliads, and phytophagous arthropods.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86609817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}