Article
Behavioral Sciences
Andrew W. Evans, Dana M. Williams, Daniel T. Blumstein
Summary: When social animals forage together, they may choose to be either producers or scroungers based on the frequency of strategies within the group or their own traits. In a study on yellow-bellied marmots, it was found that consistent strategies as producers or scroungers were associated with sex, but not with age, boldness, or dominance rank. The lack of trait-regulated foraging roles in marmots may be due to their abundant and undefendable food source or their lack of obligate social structure.
Article
Biology
Dominic L. Cram, David J. Lloyd-Jones, Jessica E. M. van der Wal, Jess Lund, Iahaia O. Buanachique, Musaji Muamedi, Carvalho I. Nanguar, Antonio Ngovene, Shirley Raveh, Winnie Boner, Claire N. Spottiswoode
Summary: In the mutualism between humans and greater honeyguides, the birds can flexibly switch between guiding humans to bees' nests and scavenging beeswax. The birds' traits, such as tarsi length and weight, predict their tactic decisions. This producer-scrounger system increases the productivity and resilience of the human-honeyguide mutualism.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Michael S. Reichert, Julie Morand-Ferron, Ipek G. Kulahci, Josh A. Firth, Gabrielle L. Davidson, Sam J. Crofts, John L. Quinn
Summary: The study explores the role of cognition in different foraging tactics in wild mixed-species flocks of great tits and blue tits. It found that individuals improved their scavenging success but birds with a greater proportion of scavenging took longer to learn their rewarding feeder. The results indicate the potential for genetic differences in allocation to alternative foraging tactics and highlight the importance of cognition in utilizing different resource acquisition tactics.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Guillaume Peron
Summary: The theory for movement-based coexistence between species often overlooks small-scale, station-keeping movements. However, at this scale, there are many instances where positive correlations exist between species traits that are expected to be negatively correlated based on current theory. Through simulations, the researcher presents a counter-example to demonstrate that functional tradeoffs are not a necessary condition for movement-based coexistence. This study highlights the significance of species-specific space use patterns under the time allocation tradeoff hypothesis.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2024)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ming Fei Li, T. Jean M. Arseneau-Robar, Eve A. Smeltzer, Julie A. Teichroeb
Summary: The spatial position and feeding success of social foragers in a group are influenced by factors such as time advantage and arrival order. Producers in front-outer positions with finder's advantage benefit more, while early arriving scroungers have higher overall feeding success.
Article
Ecology
Douglas Sponsler, Katharina Kallnik, Fabrice Requier, Alice Classen, A. Fabienne Maihoff, Johanna Sieger, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
Summary: Bumble bees are highly selective generalists, choosing plants based on their characteristics and coexisting based on dietary niche overlap in resource-limited environments. Their floral preferences vary across species and environments, possibly representing adaptive flexibility to high elevations and seasonal changes. Patterns of resource partitioning may determine species coexistence under altered distributions caused by climate and land use change.
Article
Ecology
Rafael Dettogni Guariento, Guilherme Dalponti, Luciana Silva Carneiro, Adriano Caliman
Summary: The emphasis on understanding the interaction among predators and the effects on prey survival has led to a lack of theoretical understanding on prey defence mechanisms in complex multi-predator scenarios. This study used a mathematical approach to evaluate the prevalence of defended prey phenotypes and their ecological consequences. The results showed that the emergence of defended phenotypes depends on predator-induced mortality rates, phenotype costs, and their effect on predator performance. The study also highlighted the importance of defensive strategies in mediating trophic cascades.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jonathan D. Blount, Hannah M. Rowland, Christopher Mitchell, Michael P. Speed, Graeme D. Ruxton, John A. Endler, Lincoln P. Brower
Summary: In many animals, the intensity of warning signals and the amount of defensive chemicals are correlated. This correlation is predicted by models that suggest a trade-off between the production and maintenance of defenses and the availability of antioxidant molecules. A study on monarch butterflies found that in males, the visibility was related to the interaction between oxidative damage and the sequestration of cardenolides. Males with high oxidative damage became less visible with increased sequestration, while those with low oxidative damage became more visible. However, oxidative damage and cardenolide concentration did not affect the visibility of females.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Rieke F. Schons, Simon Vitt, Timo Thuenken
Summary: Spatial food distribution affects food intake, growth, and social behavior, particularly in juvenile social foragers. Clumped food conditions may lead to smaller size and different social behavior in juveniles, but did not show significant inbreeding or environment-dependent inbreeding effects.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Catarina L. Carvalho, Isabel R. Pinto, Rui Costa-Lopes, Dario Paez, Mariana P. Miranda, Jose M. Marques
Summary: This study suggests that, under unstable social structure conditions, low-status group members' support for group-based hierarchy and inequality (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) may serve as an ideological strategy to ensure the legitimacy of future ingroup status-enhancement. SDO is positively related to motivating group members to engage in actions favoring the ingroup by increasing their willingness to compete with a relevant higher-status outgroup.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rachel J. Crisp, Lauren J. N. Brent, Gerald G. Carter
Summary: A study on female common vampire bats revealed that their social rank was not influenced by body size, age, reproductive status, or kinship, grooming, and food sharing. Competitive interactions did not affect the social hierarchy among female vampire bats, possibly due to limited direct competition for food in the wild among frequently roosting females.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Alexis L. Levengood, Kasha Strickland, Vivienne Foroughirad, Janet Mann, Romane H. Cristescu, Ewa Krzyszczyk, Celine H. Frere
Summary: The competition for resources and differences in habitat affect the social interactions and relationships of individual dolphins, with variations seen between males and females. These findings highlight the influence of environmental conditions on long-term social relationships of individuals.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Virginia K. Heinen, Lauren M. Benedict, Angela M. Pitera, Benjamin R. Sonnenberg, Eli S. Bridge, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Summary: In wild food-caching mountain chickadees, spatial cognitive flexibility is associated with social dominance rank, especially in harsh environments at higher elevations. However, spatial learning and memory ability does not show consistent differences related to dominance rank. This suggests that spatial learning and memory ability in specialized food-caching species is a stable trait resilient to social influences.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
E. A. Smeltzer, S. M. Stead, M. F. Li, D. Samson, L. T. Kumpan, J. A. Teichroeb
Summary: Social status can impact an animal's access to sleep opportunities and their sleep quality, with sleeping positions and waking experiences affecting sleep architecture and intensity.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Luis Alfaro, Rosalva Cabrera
Summary: In a collective foraging situation, it was found that smaller groups of Wistar rats tend to have a higher proportion of producers and deplete food faster than larger groups. The balance between producing and scrounging responses is influenced by different prior activities, and the frequency of associated activities correlates with the time spent consuming food. A feedback mechanism may mediate the choice of prior activities and procurement responses.
BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES
(2021)