Behavioral Ecology最新文献

{"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}

{"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> _<i>ij</i> -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}

{"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}

{"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}

{"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}

{"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}

{"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}

{"title":"Influence of visual information on sniffing behavior in a routinely trichromatic primate","authors":"Brigitte M Weiß, Anja Widdig","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae055","url":null,"abstract":"Most catarrhine primates are considered to be strongly visually oriented, obtaining information about conspecifics and their environment from a diversity of visual cues. Other sensory modalities may provide information that is redundant and/or complimentary to visual cues. When cues from multiple sensory modalities are available, these may reinforce or suppress each other, as shown in several taxa ranging from insects to humans. Here, we tested how the presence and ambiguity of visual information affects the use of olfactory cues when exploring food and non-food items in semi-free ranging Barbary macaques at Affenberg Salem, Germany. We presented monkeys with pipes containing food (peanuts, popcorn), non-food (stones, feces) or no items in transparent or opaque containers, and assessed whether animals looked, sniffed and/or grabbed into the pipes depending on visibility of the contents (experiment 1). Visual information had no robust effect on sniffing probability, but monkeys were more likely to sniff before any other form of inspection if the can was opaque than if it was transparent. Both visual and olfactory information affected, whether or not monkeys attempted to retrieve the items from the pipes, whereby monkeys showed an overall decrease in the propensity to grab after sniffing. Furthermore, we manipulated the visual appearance of familiar food items (popcorn) with food colorant (experiment 2), which resulted in substantially increased olfactory inspections compared to unmanipulated popcorn. Taken together, reliance on the olfactory sense was modulated by the available visual information, emphasizing the interplay between different sensory modalities for obtaining information about the environment.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141552557","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}

{"title":"Highly defended nudibranchs ‘escape’ to visually distinct background habitats","authors":"Cedric P van den Berg, Matteo Santon, John A Endler, Karen L Cheney","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae053","url":null,"abstract":"The ‘escape and radiate’ hypothesis predicts that once species have evolved aposematism, defended species can utilise more visually diverse visual backgrounds as they ‘escape’ the need to be well camouflaged. This enables species to explore new ecological niches, resulting in increased diversification rates. To test this hypothesis’ ‘escape’ component, we examined whether the background habitats of 12 nudibranch mollusc species differed among species depending on the presence and strength of chemical defences. We obtained a rich array of colour pattern statistics using Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA) to analyse backgrounds viewed through the eyes of a potential predator (triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus). Colour pattern analysis was done at viewing distances simulating an escalating predation sequence. We identified four latent factors comprising 17 non-correlated colour pattern parameters, which captured the among-species variability associated with differences in chemical defences. We found that chemically defended species, indeed, were found on visually distinct backgrounds with increased colour and luminance contrast, independent of viewing distance. However, we found no evidence for increased among-species background diversity coinciding with the presence and strength of chemical defences. Our results agree with the ‘escape and radiate’ hypothesis, suggesting that potent chemical defences in Dorid nudibranchs coincide with spatiochromatic differences of visual background habitats perceived by potential predators.","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141547105","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}

{"title":"Effects of maternal age and environmental enrichment on learning ability and brain size.","authors":"Náyade Álvarez-Quintero, Sin-Yeon Kim","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arae049","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arae049","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It is well known that maternal age at reproduction affects offspring lifespan and some other fitness-related traits, but it remains understudied whether maternal senescence affects how offspring respond to their environments. Early environment often plays a significant role in the development of an animal's behavioral phenotype. For example, complex environments can promote changes in cognitive ability and brain morphology in young animals. Here, we study whether and how maternal effect senescence influences offspring plasticity in cognition, group behavior, and brain morphology in response to environmental complexity. For this, juvenile 3-spined sticklebacks from young and old mothers (i.e. 1-yr and 2-yr-old) were exposed to different levels of environmental enrichment and complexity (i.e. none, simple, and complex), and their behavior, cognitive ability, and brain size were measured. Exposing fish to enriched conditions improved individual learning ability assessed by a repeated detour-reaching task, increased the size of the whole brain, and decreased aggressive interactions in the shoal. Maternal age did not influence the inhibitory control, learning ability, and group behavioral responses of offspring to the experimental environmental change. However, maternal age affected how some brain regions of offspring changed in response to environmental complexity. In offspring from old mothers, those exposed to the complex environment had larger telencephalons and cerebellums than those who experienced simpler environments. Our results suggest that maternal effect senescence may influence how offspring invest in brain functions related to cognition in response to environmental complexity.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"35 4","pages":"arae049"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11215699/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141475817","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}