Find research datasets worth reusing

Divergence in Heliconius flight behaviour is associated with local adaptation to different forest structures

Micro-habitat choice plays a major role in shaping local patterns of biodiversity. In butterflies, stratification in flight height has an important role in maintaining community diversity. The speciation in Heliconius butterflies is often associated with strong assortative mating, but ecological isolation and local adaptation is also considered essential. Despite its presumed importance, the role of behavioural shifts in early stages of speciation in response to differences in habitat structure is yet to be established. Here, we investigated variation in flight height behaviour in two closely related species, H. erato cyrbia and H. himera, which produce viable hybrids but are isolated across an environmental gradient, spanning lowland wet forest to high altitude scrub forest. We show that the two species fly at different heights in the wild, and demonstrate that this can be explained by differences in the vertical distribution of plant resources. We subsequently explored whether this divergence in flight height has a genetic component using common garden experiments. In both the wild and captivity, H. himera choose to fly lower and feed at lower positions, mirroring differences in resource availability in the wild. We suggest that this shift in foraging behaviour may reflect local adaptation to divergent forest structures highlighting the role of behaviour during early stages of speciation.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

Testing what we know about coffee volatiles affecting behaviour of Hypothenemus hampei

Raw data about laboratory and field assays of volatile compounds that affects coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei.

FIG. 21 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 21. — Lumbar vertebrae of GT 50'06 (dorsal view). Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIG. 17 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 17. — Muscular insertions on the left tibia GT 50'06. Scale bars: 1 cm.

FIG. 7 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 7. — Right lower cheek tooth row of GT 50'06 (p4-m3, occlusal view). Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 3 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 3. — Skeleton of Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (GT 50'06) in situ when discovered.

FIG. 19 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 19. — Rib cage GT 50'06. Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIG. 20 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 20. — Cervical vertebrae of GT 50'06: A, Ventral view; B, Dorsal view. Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIG. 2 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 2. — GT Carrière, at the base of the dune, the green clay levels yielded the fossils.

FIG. 22 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 22. — Caudal vertebrae of GT 50'06 (dorsal view).

FIG. 8 in Skeleton of Early Miocene Bathyergoides neotertiarius Stromer, 1923 (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Namibia: behavioural implication

FIG. 8. — Views of the skull GT 50'06 before cleaning. Scale bar: 1 cm.

Predation risk can modify the foraging behaviour of frugivorous carnivores: implications of rewilding apex predators for plant-animal mutualisms

Apex predators play key roles in food webs and their recovery can trigger trophic cascades in some ecosystems. Intra-guild competition can reduce the abundances of smaller predators and perceived predation risk can alter their foraging behaviour thereby limiting seed dispersal by frugivorous carnivores. However, little is known about how plant-frugivore mutualism could be disturbed in the presence of larger predators. We evaluated the top-down effect of the regional superpredator, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), on the number of visits and fruits consumed by medium-sized frugivorous carnivores, as well as the foraging behaviour of identified individuals, by examining the consumption likelihood and the foraging time. We carried out a field experiment in which we placed Iberian pear (Pyrus bourgaeana) fruits beneath fruiting trees and monitored pear removal by frugivorous carnivores, both inside and outside of lynx ranges. Using camera traps, we recorded the presence of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) and the stone marten (Martes foina), as well as the number of fruits they consumed and their time spent foraging. Red fox was the most frequent fruit consumer carnivore. We found there were fewer visits and less fruit consumed by foxes inside of lynx ranges, but lynx presence did not seem to affect badgers. We did not observe any stone marten visits inside of lynx territories. The foraging behaviour of red foxes was also altered when inside of lynx ranges whereby foxes were less efficient, consuming less fruit per unit of time and having shorter visits. Local availability of fruit resources, forest coverage and individual personality also were important variables to understand visitation and foraging in a landscape of fear. 5. Our results show a potential trophic cascade from apex predators to primary producers. The presence of lynx can reduce frugivorous carnivore numbers and induce shifts in their feeding behaviour that may modify the seed dispersal patterns with likely consequences for the demography of many fleshy-fruited plant species. We conclude that knowledge of the ecological interactions making up trophic webs is anasset to design effective conservation strategies, particularly in rewilding programs.

Dataset for: Sensory environment affects Icelandic threespine stickleback's anti-predator escape behaviour

Human-induced changes in climate and habitats push populations to adapt to novel environments, including new sensory conditions, such as reduced visibility. We studied how colonizing newly formed glacial lakes with turbidity-induced low visibility affects anti-predator behaviour in Icelandic threespine sticklebacks. We tested nearly 400 fish from 15 populations and four habitat types varying in visibility and colonization history in their reaction to two predator cues (mechano-visual versus olfactory) in high versus low visibility light treatments. Fish reacted differently to the cues and were affected by lighting environment, confirming that cue modality and light levels are important for predator detection and evasion. Spring-fed fish, especially from the highlands (likely more diverged from marine fish than lowland fish) reacted fastest to mechano-visual cues and were generally most active. Highland glacial fish showed strong responses to olfactory cues and, counter to predictions from the flexible stem hypothesis, the greatest plasticity in response to light levels. This study, leveraging natural, repeated invasions of novel sensory habitats, 1) illustrates rapid changes in antipredator behaviour that follow due to adaptation, early life experience, or both, and 2) suggests an additional role for behavioural plasticity enabling population persistence in the face of frequent changes in environmental conditions.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

Influence of product selection criteria on clothing purchase and post-purchase behaviours

To analyse the influence of the attributes for sustainable clothing selection on sustainable purchase and post-purchase behaviours.

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2022View details →

Integrating REBT and ACT : An intervention study for managing academic self-handicapping behaviour among young adults

The data consists of pre and post interventions scores of 25 participants who were selected based on their ratings on Academic self -handicapping scale (Geetika & Gupta, 2020) . Thirteen participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group which was exposed to 8 hours of intervention that combined REBT and ACT. Twelve participants were randomly assigned to the control group and did not receive any intervention. The pre-intervention scores on Academic self -handicapping scale (Geetika & Gupta, 2020) were assessed at the beginning of the intervention and at two weeks since the beginning of the intervention. Sub scale scores on Behavioural and Claimed self -handicapping were recorded and overall score by adding the two were also obtained.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Lack of avian predators is associated with behavioural plasticity in nest construction and height in an island songbird

Orange-crowned warblers, Leiothlypis celata sordida, breeding on the California Channel Islands exhibit remarkable variation in their nest structure and placement, providing an intriguing exception to the general pattern that avian nest structure and nest site selection are highly conserved characters. We examined nest construction at both the population and individual scale to test whether warblers on Santa Catalina Island change their nest construction in response to nest height. At the population level, warblers built both lighter, grass-dominated ground nests and heavier off-ground nests that contained more ridged materials and less grass. The probability of nest success was significantly and positively correlated with nest height. At the individual level, we found the same individuals were capable of building on- and off-ground nests between nesting attempts within the same season. However, nest construction was highly variable among individuals and not significantly correlated with nest success after controlling for nest height. We suggest this observed behavioural plasticity in nest construction and nest height is a hierarchical response to the absence of avian predators. Reduced risk from avian predators appears to allow the warblers to use a variety of nest sites, thereby necessitating increased flexibility in nest construction.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Data from: Sustained positive consequences of genetic rescue of fitness and behavioural traits in inbred populations of Drosophila melanogaster

One solution to alleviate the detrimental genetic effects associated with reductions in population size and fragmentation is to introduce immigrants from other populations. While the effects of this genetic rescue on fitness traits are fairly well known, it is less clear to what extent inbreeding depression and subsequent genetic rescue affects behavioural traits. In this study, replicated crosses between inbred lines of Drosophila melanogaster were performed in order to investigate the effects of inbreeding and genetic rescue on egg-to-adult viability and negative geotaxis behaviour - a locomotor response used to measure e.g. the effects of physiological ageing. Transgenerational effects of outcrossing were investigated by examining the fitness consequences in both the F1 and F4 generation. The majority of inbred lines showed evidence for inbreeding depression for both egg-to-adult viability and behavioural performance (95% and 66% of lines, respectively), with inbreeding depression being more pronounced for viability compared to locomotor response. Subsequent outcrossing with immigrants led to an alleviation of the negative effects for both viability and geotaxis response resulting in inbred lines being similar to the outbred controls, with beneficial effects persisting from F1 to F4. Overall, the results clearly show that genetic rescue can provide transgenerational rescue of small, inbred populations by rapidly improving population fitness components. Thus, we show that even the negative effects of inbreeding on behaviour, similar to that of neurodegeneration associated with physiological ageing, can be reversed by genetic rescue.

opencc-zeroDec 2021View details →

Effects of oviposition in a non-host species on foraging behaviour of the parasitoid Cotesia glomerata

Parasitoids lay their eggs in or on a host, usually another insect. During foraging, parasitoids can encounter insects that differ in terms of host suitability and quality. At one extreme end of this spectrum are non-hosts that are unsuitable for offspring development. Non-hosts are generally ignored but parasitization does occur and occasionally also results in egg deposition. Here, we investigate how oviposition in a non-host influences subsequent foraging behaviour of a parasitoid and whether this is mediated by learning. Our study system consists of the endoparasitoid Cotesia glomerata and the presumed non-host caterpillar Mamestra brassicae. In the presence of Pieris brassicae hosts and/or their traces (frass), we observed that C. glomerata inserts its ovipositor into M. brassicae caterpillars. Eggs were deposited, but all eggs disappeared within 96h, confirming the non-host status of M. brassicae. In contrast to our expectation, there was no memory retention after oviposition in a non-host and parasitoids did not alter their behaviour with respect to non-host contacts and ovipositions. Instead, C. glomerata became more motivated to forage on a non-host infested leaf. We propose that egg deposition in non-hosts by C. glomerata might be due to their high egg load, which is thought to make parasitoids less selective on host quality, especially when they have few reproductive opportunities. In such cases, fitness costs to individual females are low. Egg deposition in non-hosts might ultimately lead to host range expansion if parasitoids overcome the defence response of non-hosts over evolutionary time.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Shock or jump: deimatic behaviour is repeatable and polymorphic in a yellow-bellied toad

Inter-individual variation in antipredatory strategies has long attracted curiosity among scientists. Deimatisms is a complex and time-structured antipredatory strategy consisting in prey suddenly unleashing unexpected defences to frighten predators and stop their attack. Being deimatism traditionally considered as a stereotyped antipredatory response, the inter-individual variation in phenotypic traits related to deimatic displays is almost unexplored. In this study, we employed common garden experiments on 71 yellow-bellied toad Bombina pachypus to investigate the extent and pattern of inter-individual variation in the unken-reflex behaviour, a deimatic display performed by some amphibians. Results show that deimatic displays consistently differ among individuals. Only about half of the individuals reacted to the predation stimuli by exhibiting the display, which varied in responsiveness, duration and intensity. All the investigated descriptors were repeatable (R > 0.50, p < 0.01). Finally, we found significant correlations between the measured parameters, defining two alternative behavioural profiles: individuals quickly doing unken-reflex, with high intensity and long duration of the display, and individuals avoiding unken-reflex but rather escaping. Such dichotomy resembles respectively the proactive and reactive coping styles. Such an unexpected variation in deimatic behaviour raises intriguing questions on the evolutionary processes shaping multiple adaptive responses to predation within populations.