Divorce in common murres (Uria aalge): relationship to parental quality

Behavioral precursors of 12 divorces were examined in 30 color-banded pairs of common murres (Uria aalge) over six breeding seasons. Common murres are long-lived seabirds that typically return each year to the same mate and nest site in dense colonies. At least one parent is present continuously from egg lay to chick fledging. Murres, therefore, have considerable opportunities to compare their mates parental behavior with that of several familiar neighbors. Previous reproductive success was lower for divorcing birds than for reuniting pairs. As predicted by the better option hypothesis, there were clear choosers (seven females and five males) that initiated divorce by moving to a new birds site or by courting a new partner at their current site. Choosers improved their reproductive success after the divorce, whereas their previous partners, the victims did not. Yearly divorce rates (average 8.2% per year) were significantly correlated with yearly mortality rates. Divorces appear to be opportunistic: pairs divorced after varying numbers of reproductive failures with the immediate precursor usually being the disappearance (death) of a murre from a successful neighboring site. In contrast to the delays experienced by victims, choosers formed new pairs quickly and laid their eggs no later than reuniting pairs. Prior to the divorce, victims fed their chicks less often than choosers, and some engaged in other behaviors that compromised egg or chick survival. These observations suggest that deficiencies in parental behavior were precursors to the divorce. This report is one of the first cases where reproductive failure of divorcing pairs has been linked to deficits in the parental behavior of the subsequent divorce victim.Communicated by C. Brown     

Foraging responses of wild house mice to accumulations of conspecific odor as a predation risk

Many predators hunt using the social and waste odors of their prey. It is unknown, however, whether potential prey modify their behavior in response to the risks of predation associated with accumulations of conspecific odor. We examined this question by measuring foraging trade-offs of wild house mice (Mus domesticus) in the field where we increased both predation risk and conspecific odor at artificial food patches in a two-factor design. Mouse giving-up densities (GUDs) were significantly higher in open habitats than in closed habitats but did not differ with the addition of mouse odors. Fine-scale behavioral observations of captive mice confirmed their attraction to the conspecific odor in an enclosure experiment, without any change to the GUD. These results indicate that house mice continue to visit and forage at food patches despite accumulations of predator-attracting odors. This most likely occurs for the social benefits obtained from conspecific odor exploration; however, such behavior may cause mice to become vulnerable to considerable olfactory exploitation by their predators. Future work must therefore focus on how mice trade off the social benefits of investigating odors that also attract their enemies.     

Elk decision-making rules are simplified in the presence of wolves

The risk of predation drives many behavioral responses in prey. However, few studies have directly tested whether predation risk alters the way other variables influence prey behavior. Here we use information theory (Akaike’s Information Criterion, AICc) in a novel way to test the hypothesis that the decision-making rules governing elk behavior are simplified by the presence of wolves. With elk habitat use as the dependent variable, we test whether the number of independent variables (i.e., the size of the models) that best predict this behavior differ when wolves are present vs absent. Thus, we use AICc scores simply to determine the number of variables to which elk respond when making decisions. We measured habitat use using 2,288 locations from GPS collars on 14 elk, over two winters (14 elk winters), in the Gallatin Canyon portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We found that the use of three major habitat components (grass, conifer, sage) was sensitive to many variables on days that wolves were locally absent, with the best models (ΔAICc≤2) averaging 7.4 parameters. In contrast, habitat use was sensitive to few variables on days when wolves were present: the best models averaged only 2.5 parameters. Because fewer variables affect elk behavior in the presence of wolves, we conclude that elk use simpler decision-making rules in the presence of wolves. This simplification of decision-making rules implies that predation risk imposes selection pressures that do not allow prey to respond to other pressures in ways that they otherwise would. If the affected processes are important, then this indirect effect of predation is likely to be important.     

Ecological niche and phylogeny: the highly complex echolocation behavior of the trawling long-legged bat, Macrophyllum macrophyllum

Bats produce echolocation signals that reflect the sensory tasks they perform. In open air or over water, bats encounter few or no background echoes (clutter). Echolocation of such bats is the primary cue for prey perception and varies with the stage of approach to prey, typically comprising search, approach, and terminal group calls. In contrast, bats that glean stationary food from rough surfaces emit more uniform calls without a distinct terminal group. They use echolocation primarily for orientation in space and mostly need additional sensory cues for finding food because clutter echoes overlap strongly with food echoes. Macrophyllum macrophyllum is the only Neotropical leaf-nosed bat (Phyllostomidae) that hunts in clutter-poor habitat over water. As such, we hypothesized that, unlike all other members of its family, but similar to other trawling and aerial insectivorous bats, M. macrophyllum can hunt successfully by using only echolocation for prey perception. In controlled behavioral experiments on Barro Colorado Island, Panamá, we confirmed that echolocation alone is sufficient for finding prey in M. macrophyllum. Furthermore, we showed that pattern and structure of echolocation signals in M. macrophyllum are more similar to aerial and other trawling insectivorous bats than to close phylogenetic relatives. Particularly unique among phyllostomid bats, we found distinct search, approach, and terminal group calls in foraging M. macrophyllum. Call structure, however, consisting of short, multiharmonic, and steep frequency-modulated signals, closely resembled those of other phyllostomid bats. Thus, echolocation behavior in M. macrophyllum is shaped by ecological niche as well as by phylogeny.     

传统生存方式变迁对农村环境的影响

随着农村社会经济的发展,农户的生存方式开始逐步由传统的生存方式逐步转变为现代的生存方式。在具体的案例研究过程中,我们既可以看到传统生存方式的环境友好的一面,也可以看到传统生存方式变迁过程中农户经济行为变化对于农村环境的不利影响。与此同时,社会经济发展过程中,新的现代生产生活要素的介入,在不断使农户的生活逐步走向现代化的同时,也带来了种种环境问题。总之,农村环境问题的产生既有传统生存方式本身存在的问题,也来自于生存方式变迁过程中新的外部物质的介入,因此,对于农村环境的改善需要同时从这两方面着手,在改善农户生存方式的同时,更要从根本上控制外部的污染物质的介入。     

Effects of different levels of song overlapping on singing behaviour in male territorial nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos)

In signalling interactions, animals can directly address information to a specific individual. Vocal overlapping is such a signalling strategy used in songbirds, anurans, and insects. In songbirds, numerous studies using high rates of song overlap to simulate an escalating situation have shown that song overlapping is perceived as a threatening signal by interacting and by listening (eavesdropping) individuals, indicating a high social relevance of song overlapping. Here we present a playback experiment on nocturnally singing male territorial nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos). Using three different rates of song overlap (1, 25, or 50%), we tested whether or not lower levels of song overlapping act as a signal of aggressive intent and if birds would increase the intensity of their response with increasing level of song overlapping. Subjects did not vary song duration in response to the different playback treatments but increasingly interrupted their singing with increasing overlap by the three playback treatments. The effects persisted even after the playback ceased to overlap and switched to an alternating singing mode. These results expand on previous studies by showing that song overlapping is interpreted as an aggressive signal even when it is used at low or moderate levels. They suggest that, within the range tested here, increasing levels of song overlapping are perceived to be increasingly aggressive.     

Does information of predators influence general wariness?

Antipredator behavior includes several qualitatively distinct activities, but few studies have determined the degree to which these activities are independent. If behaviors are not independent, then the nature of the relationship would illustrate potential performance constraints. We studied crimson rosellas (Platycercus elegans) and first focused on acoustic predator discrimination. We measured time allocation before and after playback of one of three experimental treatments (peregrine falcons—Falco peregrinus, wedge-tailed eagles—Aquila audax, and crimson rosellas) to determine whether or not rosellas discriminated predators from non-predators, and specifically whether or not they discriminated large from small predators. We then focused on the decision to flee. We experimentally approached subjects and measured the distance at which they oriented to us (alert distance) and the distance at which they fled (flight initiation distance; FID). We found that rosellas could distinguish among predators; however, there was no effect on general wariness as measured by FID. These two processes of antipredator behavior may, thus, be independent.     

Onsets of schooling behavior and social transmission in chub mackerel Scomber japonicus

Grouping behavior has various types of antipredator functions. Some of these functions require social transmission of information, such as the many-eyes effect, whereas others do not, such as the dilution and confusion effects. Functions of grouping behavior would enhance with social transmission among group members. We investigated and compared the onsets of schooling behavior and social transmission of information in chub mackerel Scomber japonicus. Onset of schooling behavior was observed in rearing tanks by calculating the degree of parallel swimming. Onset of social transmission was examined by using visual cues from conspecifics. A group of five individuals was put in each of three experimental chambers from which they could see a group of conspecifics in the neighboring chamber. A weak electric stimulus was given to one of these chambers, and information transfer among individuals was observed. We found that social transmission by visual cues started on 30 days posthatching (25.1 mm in standard length), which was 2 weeks after the onset of schooling behavior. The late onset of social transmission relative to schooling behavior might be attributed to different predation pressure with development, or by underdevelopment of optic tectum, as the volume of the optic tectum did not increase just after the onset of schooling behavior.     

Effects of Climate and Land-Use Change on Species Abundance in a Central European Bird Community

Abstract:  Although it is known that changes in land use and climate have an impact on ecological communities, it is unclear which of these factors is currently most important. We sought to determine the influence of land-use and climate alteration on changes in the abundance of Central European birds. We examined the impact of these factors by contrasting abundance changes of birds of different breeding habitat, latitudinal distribution, and migratory behavior. We examined data from the semiquantitative Breeding Bird Atlas of Lake Constance, which borders Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Changes in the regional abundance of the 159 coexisting bird species from 1980–1981 to 2000–2002 were influenced by all three factors. Farmland birds, species with northerly ranges, and long-distance migrants declined, and wetland birds and species with southerly ranges increased in abundance. A separate analysis of the two decades between 1980–1981 and 1990–1992 and between 1990–1992 and 2000–2002 showed that the impact of climate change increased significantly over time. Latitudinal distribution was not significant in the first decade and became the most significant predictor of abundance changes in the second decade. Although the spatial scale and temporal resolution of our study is limited, this is the first study that suggests that climate change has overtaken land-use modification in determining population trends of Central European birds.