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40 results for “habitat choice”
Data for: The interaction between metabolic rate, habitat choice, and resource use in a polymorphic freshwater species
<p>Raw respirometry data and respirometry code</p> <p>Data.xlsx is the data about each fish that was used for all analyses including Stable Isotope values, length, weight, sex, and habitat. This is the data that is used in the R code. </p> <p>Example code of the models used in our analyses</p> <p>TEF_metabolism.xlsx is data on the fish that were kept in the lab for almost a year. </p> <p> </p>
Supplementary material to "Habitat detection, habitat choice copying, or mating benefits: what drives conspecific attraction in a nomadic songbird?"
<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <ol> <li>Conspecific attraction during habitat selection is common among animals, but the ultimate (i.e., fitness-related) reasons for this behavior often remain enigmatic.</li> <li>We aimed to evaluate the following three hypotheses for conspecific attraction during the breeding season in male Wood Warblers (<em>Phylloscopus</em> <em>sibilatrix</em>): the habitat detection hypothesis, the habitat choice copying hypothesis, and the female preference hypothesis. These hypotheses make different predictions with respect to the relative importance of social and non-social information during habitat assessment, and whether benefits accrue as a consequence of aggregation.</li> <li>We tested the above hypotheses using a combination of a two-year playback experiment, spatial statistics and mate choice models.</li> <li>The habitat detection hypothesis was the most likely explanation for conspecific attraction and aggregation in male Wood Warblers, based on the following results: 1) males were attracted to conspecific song playbacks, but fine-scale habitat heterogeneity was the better predictor of spatial patterns in the density of settling males; 2) male pairing success did not increase, but instead slightly decreased, as connectivity with other males (i.e., the number and proximity of neighboring males) increased.</li> <li>Our study highlights how consideration of the process by which animals detect and assess habitat, together with the potential fitness consequences of resulting aggregations, are important for understanding conspecific attraction and spatially clustered distributions.</li> </ol>
Codes and data from: The effect of habitat choice on evolutionary rescue in subdivided populations
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Data from: Habitat geometry and limited perceptual range affect habitat choice of a trap-building predator
By considering various biotic and abiotic factors, organisms are expected to distinguish among suitable habitats of different quality and choose the one that offers them the highest fitness payoff. According to the ideal-free-distribution model, density drives organism choice and ultimately distribution among habitats. However, deviations from the basic model are common, as it does not take into account intrinsic and extrinsic constraints. Two important constraints are those of habitat geometry (e.g., habitat area, habitat shape), and perceptual range. We used a trap-building predator, the wormlion larva, to examine these constraints. We manipulated the geometry of the preferred shaded microhabitat and the distance of individuals from it, and assessed their effect on wormlion habitat choice, distribution patterns and performance. Habitat geometry affected wormlion microhabitat choice and distribution patterns, measured as distance from the habitat center and spatial pattern type, but had no effect on performance, expressed as the area of the pit-trap constructed. The interaction between habitat geometry and density was inconsistent regarding the distribution patterns, affecting distance from the center but not the spatial pattern type. Furthermore, we found that wormlions demonstrated a low perceptual range, which limited their ability to sense proximate shaded conditions. We highlight the importance of incorporating the interplay between habitat geometry, density and perceptual range when studying habitat choice and spatial patterns, and suggest that spatial patterns should be analyzed in more than a single way.
Ecological causes of fluctuating natural selection on habitat choice in an amphibian
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Data from: A habitat and a parasite: Adult and larval parasitic freshwater mussels impact habitat choice and predator-prey interactions of a host fish and its prey
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Heterogeneity of locked-pasture snow conditions modulate habitat and movement choices of a facultative migrant, data archive
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Data from: Habitat geometry and limited perceptual range affect habitat choice of a trap-building predator
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Infection status as the basis for habitat choices in a wild amphibian
<p>Animals challenged with disease may select specific habitat conditions that help prevent or reduce infection. Whereas pre-infection avoidance of habitats with a high risk of disease exposure has been documented in both captive and free-ranging animals, evidence of post-infection habitat switching to conditions that promote the clearing of infection is limited to laboratory experiments. The extent to which wild animals proximately modify habitat choices in response to infection status therefore remains unclear. We investigated pre-infection behavioral avoidance and post-infection habitat switching using wild, radio-tracked boreal toads (<i>Anaxyrus boreas boreas</i>) in a population challenged with <i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis </i>(<i>Bd</i>); a pathogenic fungus responsible for a catastrophic panzootic affecting hundreds of amphibian species worldwide. <span>Boreal toads did not preemptively avoid microhabitats with conditions conducive to <i>Bd </i>growth. Infected individuals, however, selected warmer, more open habitats, </span>which were associated with elevated body temperature and the subsequent clearing of infection<span>. Our results suggest that disease </span>can comprise an important selective pressure on animal habitat and space use<span>. </span>Habitat selection models therefore may be greatly improved by including variables that quantify infection risk and/or the infection status of individuals through time.</p>
Flexible habitat choice by aphids exposed to multiple cues reflecting present and future benefits
Mothers choose suitable habitats for laying offspring to maximize fitness. Since habitat quality varies in space and time, mothers gather information to choose among available habitats through multiple cues reflecting different aspects of habitat quality at present and in the future. However, it is unclear how females assess and integrate different cues associated with current rewards and future safety to optimize oviposition/larviposition decisions, especially across small spatial scales. Here we tested the individual and interactive effects of leaf surface, leaf orientation and leaf bending direction on larviposition site choice and fitness benefits of wheat aphids (<i>Metopolophium dirhodum</i>) within individual leaves. We found that females preferred upper over lower surfaces for gaining current food-related rewards, downward- over upward-facing surfaces for avoiding potential abiotic risks, and sunken over protruding surfaces for avoiding potential biotic risks. When facing conflicting cues during larviposition, females preferred downward-facing/sunken surfaces over upper surfaces, suggesting that females prioritize potential safety at the cost of current rewards during decision making. Most importantly, our combined-cue experiments showed females still assessed secondary cues (i.e. the upper surface) when first-ranked cues (i.e. the downward-facing/sunken surface) are available, even though females only gained relatively small fitness rewards through secondary cues, and females can integrate different cues associated with current rewards and potential safety in a multiplicative way to make flexible and complex larviposition decisions. Overall, our findings provide new insights into how animals collect and process multi-cue information associated with current rewards and potential safety to maximize fitness at small spatial scales.
Data from: A probable case of incipient speciation in Schizocosa wolf spiders driven by allochrony, habitat use and female mate choice
There is growing evidence that speciation can occur between populations that are not geographically isolated. The emergence of assortative mating is believed to be critical to this process, but how assortative mating arises in diverging populations is poorly understood. The wolf spider genus Schizocosa has become a model system for studying mechanisms of assortative mating. We conducted a series of experiments to identify the factors that control mate pair formation in a Schizocosa population that includes both ornamented and non-ornamented males. We show that the population also includes two previously unrecognised female phenotypes. One female phenotype mates mostly or exclusively with ornamented males, and the other mates mostly or exclusively with unornamented males. Assortative mating within these groups is maintained by differences in maturation time, microhabitat use, and female mate preference. We conclude that the population is not a single species as previously believed, but rather an incipient species pair with multiple overlapping mechanisms of reproductive isolation. The identification of a new incipient species pair in the well-studied and rapidly speciating Schizocosa clade presents new opportunities for the study of speciation without geographic isolation.
Data from: Intraguild predation leads to cascading effects on habitat choice, behaviour and reproductive performance
Intraguild predation (IGP) is a commonly recognized mechanism influencing the community structure of predators, but the complex interactions are notoriously difficult to disentangle. The mesopredator suppression hypothesis predicts that a superpredator may either simultaneously repress two mesopredators, restrain the dominant one and thereby release the subdominant mesopredator, or elicit different responses by both mesopredators. We show the outcome arising from such conditions in a three-level predator assemblage (Eurasian eagle owl Bubo bubo L., northern goshawk Accipiter gentilis L. and common buzzard Buteo buteo L.) studied over 25 years. In the second half of the study period, the eagle owl re-colonized the study area, thereby providing a natural experiment of superpredator introduction. We combined this set-up with detailed GIS analysis of habitat use and a field experiment simulating intrusion by the superpredator into territories of the subdominant mesopredator, the buzzard. Although population trends were positive for all three species in the assemblage, the proportion of failed breeding attempts increased significantly in both mesopredators after the superpredator re-colonized the area. We predicted that superpredator-induced niche shifts in the dominant mesopredator may facilitate mesopredator coexistence in superpredator-free refugia. We found significant changes in nesting habitat choice in goshawk, but not in buzzard. Since competition for enemy-free refugia and the rapid increase in population density may have constrained niche shifts of the subdominant mesopredator, we further predicted behavioural changes in response to the superpredator. The field experiment indeed showed a significant increase in aggressive response of buzzards towards eagle owl territory intrusion over the course of 10 years, probably due to phenotypic plasticity in the response towards superpredation risk. Overall, our results show that intraguild predation can be a powerful force of behavioural change, simultaneously influencing habitat use and aggressiveness in predator communities. These changes might help to buffer mesopredator populations against the negative effects of intraguild predation.
Data from: Matching habitat choice in nomadic crossbills appears most pronounced when food is most limiting
Of the various forms of non-random dispersal, matching habitat choice, whereby individuals preferentially reside in habitats where they are best adapted, has relatively little empirical support. Here I use mark-recapture data to test for matching habitat choice in two nomadic ecotypes of North American Red Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra complex) that occur in the lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests in the South Hills, Idaho every summer. Crossbills are adapted for foraging on seeds in conifer cones, and in the South Hills the cones are distinctive, favoring a relatively large bill. During a period when seed was most limiting, only the largest individuals approximating the average size of the locally adapted ecotype remained for a year or more. During a period when seed was less limiting, proportionately more individuals remained and the trend for larger individuals to remain was weaker. Although matching habitat choice is difficult to demonstrate, it likely contributed to the observed patterns. Otherwise, nearly unprecedented intensities of natural selection would be needed. Given the nomadic behavior of most crossbill ecotypes and the heterogeneous nature of conifer seed crops, matching habitat choice should be favored and likely contributes to their adaptation to alternative conifers and rapid diversification.
Data from: Habitat choice meets thermal specialization: competition with specialists may drive suboptimal habitat preferences in generalists
Limited dispersal is classically considered as a prerequisite for ecological specialization to evolve, such that generalists are expected to show greater dispersal propensity compared with specialists. However, when individuals choose habitats that maximize their performance instead of dispersing randomly, theory predicts dispersal with habitat choice to evolve in specialists, while generalists should disperse more randomly. We tested whether habitat choice is associated with thermal niche specialization using microcosms of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, a species that performs active dispersal and habitat choice. We found that thermal specialists preferred optimal habitats as predicted by theory, a link that should make specialists more likely to track suitable conditions under environmental changes than expected under the random dispersal assumption. Surprisingly, generalists also performed habitat choice but with a preference for suboptimal habitats. Since this result challenges current theory, we developed a simple metapopulation model to understand under which circumstances such a preference for suboptimal habitats should evolve. We showed that competition between generalists and specialists may favor a preference for niche margins in generalists under environmental variability. Our results demonstrate that the behavioral dimension of dispersal—here, habitat choice—fundamentally alters our predictions of how dispersal evolve with niche specialization, making dispersal behaviors crucial for ecological forecasting facing environmental changes.
Data from: 'Prudent habitat choice': a novel mechanism of size-assortative mating
Assortative mating, an ubiquitous form of nonrandom mating, strongly impacts Darwinian fitness and can drive biological diversification. Despite its ecological and evolutionary importance, the behavioural processes underlying assortative mating are often unknown, and in particular, mechanisms not involving mate choice have been largely ignored so far. Here, we propose that assortative mating can arise from 'prudent habitat choice', a general mechanism that acts under natural selection, and that it can occur despite a complete mixing of phenotypes. We show that in the cichlid Eretmodus cyanostictus size-assortative mating ensues, because individuals of weaker competitive ability ignore high-quality but strongly competed habitat patches. Previous studies showed that in E. cyanostictus, size-based mate preferences are absent. By field and laboratory experiments, here we showed that (i) habitat quality and body size are correlated in this species; (ii) territories with more stone cover are preferred by both sexes in the absence of competition; and (iii) smaller fish prudently occupy vacant territories of worse quality than do larger fish. Prudent habitat choice is likely to be a widespread mechanism of assortative mating, as both preferences for and dominance-based access to high-quality habitats are generic phenomena in animals.
Factors influencing the habitat choice of pangolins (Manis spp.) in low land of Nepal
<p><span>Pangolins in the genus <i>Manis </i>are nocturnal, burrowing, insectivorous mammals listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Of the eight extant pangolin species worldwide, two species are found in Nepal: the Chinese pangolin (<i>Manis pentadactyla</i>) and the Indian pangolin (<i>Manis crassicaudata</i>). Despite having a great ecological role by controlling the ants or termite population, little attention has been given to the conservation interventions of both species of pangolins found in the Terai region (low land) of Nepal. The present study assesses habitat use and factors affecting the habitat choice of pangolins in low land (Terai), Nepal. The research was focused on Amritdharapani community forest of Chitwan district. Pangolin burrows were used as the indirect signs of pangolin presence. A total of thirty-nine burrows were observed at elevations ranging from 301 to 413 m asl. Burrows were frequently associated with north-west aspects, gentle slope (15º to 20º), moderate canopy cover (51 to 75%), red-colored soil, and acidic soils with pH 6.5 to 7. The burrows were most common in areas with weak human disturbance (i.e. 1500 to 1700 m from settlements), 800 to 1200 m from roads, and with-in 300 m from a water source and with-in 20 m from the nearest termitarium. This study revealed distance to settlement, distance to road, soil pH, and canopy cover as major factors affecting the habitat choice of pangolins in the study area. </span></p>
Performance-based habitat choice can drive rapid adaptive divergence and reproductive isolation - Data
<p>Data for Performance-based habitat choice can drive rapid adaptive divergence and reproductive isolation</p>
Extra-pair fertilizations counter the reproductive isolation emerging from performance-based habitat choice Data
<p>Experimental rapid and small-scale ecological population divergence in the absence of current natural selection Data</p>
Factors influencing the habitat choice of pangolins (Manis spp.) in low land of Nepal
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Data from: Habitat choice meets thermal specialization: competition with specialists may drive suboptimal habitat preferences in generalists
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