Article
Biology
Charlotte E. E. Regan, Kristina B. B. Beck, Keith McMahon, Sam Crofts, Josh A. A. Firth, Ben C. C. Sheldon
Summary: There is growing evidence that individuals actively assess the match between their phenotype and their environment when making habitat choice decisions. However, little is known about how the social environment may interact with social phenotype in determining habitat choice. This study used wild great and blue tits to investigate how birds integrate their social phenotype and social environment when choosing where and how to feed. The results showed that both social environment and social phenotype predicted feeder usage, and feeding behavior varied depending on social phenotype.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Kerianne M. Wilson, Michelle Nguyen, Nancy Tyler Burley
Summary: The study found that greater fluidity in the social environment may lead to higher divorce rates, with divorce having short-term costs and remarried pairs typically producing fewer offspring. Behavioral incompatibility may be a driver of divorce.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Joseph F. Welklin, Carrie L. Branch, Angela M. Pitera, Benjamin R. Sonnenberg, Lauren M. Benedict, Virginia K. Heinen, Dovid Y. Kozlovsky, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Summary: Mate choice plays an essential role in evolutionary processes such as sexual dimorphism. While social mate choice is less studied than reproductive mate choice, it can have significant implications for the survival and success of offspring in species with biparental care. In this study, we found that sexually size-dimorphic mountain chickadees exhibit multiple self-referential pairing patterns when choosing social mates. Females preferentially paired with males slightly larger than themselves, suggesting that size-based assortative mating is common in nonhuman animal systems.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Qianxi Fan, E. Mingju, Yusheng Wei, Wei Sun, Haitao Wang
Summary: Female great tits engaging in double breeding choose mates with both genetic compatibility and good genes, preferring males with large breast stripes, high heterozygosity, and lower relatedness. The genetic quality of offspring from double-breeding pairs is higher than that of those from single-breeding pairs.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pei Zhang, Bingyi Zhang, Derek W. Dunn, Xiaoyue Song, Kang Huang, Shixuan Dong, Fei Niu, Meijing Ying, Yingying Zhang, Yixin Shang, Ruliang Pan, Baoguo Li
Summary: Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are important for immunocompetence in vertebrates and influence female mate choice in wild golden snub-nosed monkeys. MHC dissimilarity is favored for social choice, while intermediate MHC dissimilarity is favored for paternal choice. Social mates prefer MHC heterozygotes and higher microsatellite diversity, while paternal mates prefer higher microsatellite diversity. The formation of male-female social pairings is predicted by compatibility based on MHC sharing, but genetic effects do not impact the duration of pairings or the likelihood of producing offspring.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Ian R. Hartley
Summary: In birds, song performance plays a crucial role in contests for resources. This study found that song performance declines after sustained singing, supporting the hypothesis that sustained performance is limited. Additionally, the experiment demonstrated that long trills with high performance elicited a stronger response, highlighting the trade-off between duration and performance quality in communication across taxa.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Elena G. Belkina, Alexander Shiglik, Natalia G. Sopilko, Sergey N. Lysenkov, Alexander Markov
Summary: Under experimental conditions, female mate choice copying in fruit flies appears to be less robust than previously suggested, indicating a need for further research to assess its prevalence in different laboratory lines and natural populations.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tamra C. Mendelson, Gail L. Patricelli, Eileen A. Hebets
Summary: A new evolutionary model proposes that juvenile females mistakenly imprint on male phenotypes that were not preferred by the female they copied, aiming to reconcile mismatches between theory and data.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Eric L. Wagner, Caroline D. Cappello, P. Dee Boersma
Summary: The study found that divorce can have different impacts on the reproductive success of serially monogamous birds, depending on whether an individual obtains a higher-quality mate or nest site. Breeding outcome and changes in nest quality are important factors affecting whether birds stay together as a pair. Although divorce can have some fitness consequences, it is also adaptive for responding to environmental changes.
Review
Ecology
Pietro Pollo, Shinichi Nakagawa, Michael M. Kasumovic
Summary: Male mate choice varies among individuals, with higher quality males and those in better body condition being more selective. Experimental design may influence the understanding of male mating investment patterns.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Monika Jablonszky, Sandor Zsebok, Miklos Laczi, Gergely Nagy, Eva Vaskuti, Laszlo Zsolt Garamszegi
Summary: The study suggests that the social environment can influence the variations in bird song performance, with singing males adjusting their songs based on the identity of the stimulus. Different responses were elicited from male and female stimuli, affecting various aspects of the song including complexity, length, frequency, and rate.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Katerina M. Faust, Michael H. Goldstein
Summary: In species with long-term pair bonds like zebra finches, evaluating the quality of potential mates through courtship, using behavioral cues, is important. Personality traits play a significant role in mate choice, with birds selecting partners similar to them in exploration. The partner's exploration score relative to their own was found to be more important than the absolute score.
Article
Mathematics
Fatemah Mofarreh, Rashad A. Abdel-Baky
Summary: In this paper, the necessary and sufficient conditions for a surface pencil pair interpolating a Bertrand pair are obtained, along with the conclusion for the ruled surface pencil pair. Moreover, the epitomes are mentioned to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed methods in product manufacturing by adjusting the shapes of the surface pencil pair.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
John O. Martin, Nancy Tyler Burley
Summary: Understanding the dynamics of mutual mate choice requires investigation of mate preferences of both sexes using a variety of designs, but fewer studies have focused on male choice in avian models. The results of the study suggest that experimental design can significantly impact the preferences of male zebra finches, highlighting the importance of considering design considerations in mate choice experiments.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael J. Ryan
Summary: Darwin's theory of sexual selection, proposed one hundred fifty years ago, focuses on female preferences for elaborately ornamented males due to their taste for beauty. Research has since explored fitness advantages, sensory ecology, signal design, neural circuits, and neurochemistry, providing insight into the mechanisms behind mate choice. Recent studies inspired by human research in psychophysics, behavioral economics, and neuroaesthetics have further advanced our understanding of mate choices.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Antica Culina, Frank Adriaensen, Liam D. Bailey, Malcolm D. Burgess, Anne Charmantier, Ella F. Cole, Tapio Eeva, Erik Matthysen, Chloe R. Nater, Ben C. Sheldon, Bernt-Erik Saether, Stefan J. G. Vriend, Zuzana Zajkova, Peter Adamik, Lucy M. Aplin, Elena Angulo, Alexandr Artemyev, Emilio Barba, Sanja Barisic, Eduardo Belda, Cemal Can Bilgin, Josefa Bleu, Christiaan Both, Sandra Bouwhuis, Claire J. Branston, Juli Broggi, Terry Burke, Andrey Bushuev, Carlos Camacho, Daniela Campobello, David Canal, Alejandro Cantarero, Samuel P. Caro, Maxime Cauchoix, Alexis Chaine, Mariusz Cichon, Davor Cikovic, Camillo A. Cusimano, Caroline Deimel, Andre A. Dhondt, Niels J. Dingemanse, Blandine Doligez, Davide M. Dominoni, Claire Doutrelant, Szymon M. Drobniak, Anna Dubiec, Marcel Eens, Kjell Einar Erikstad, Silvia Espin, Damien R. Farine, Jordi Figuerola, Pinar Kavak Gulbeyaz, Arnaud Gregoire, Ian R. Hartley, Michaela Hau, Gergely Hegyi, Sabine Hille, Camilla A. Hinde, Benedikt Holtmann, Tatyana Ilyina, Caroline Isaksson, Arne Iserbyt, Elena Ivankina, Wojciech Kania, Bart Kempenaers, Anvar Kerimov, Jan Komdeur, Peter Korsten, Miroslav Kral, Milos Krist, Marcel Lambrechts, Carlos E. Lara, Agu Leivits, Andras Liker, Jaanis Lodjak, Marko Magi, Mark C. Mainwaring, Raivo Mand, Bruno Massa, Sylvie Massemin, Jesus Martinez-Padilla, Tomasz D. Mazgajski, Adele Mennerat, Juan Moreno, Alexia Mouchet, Shinichi Nakagawa, Jan-Ake Nilsson, Johan F. Nilsson, Ana Claudia Norte, Kees van Oers, Markku Orell, Jaime Potti, John L. Quinn, Denis Reale, Tone Kristin Reiertsen, Balazs Rosivall, Andrew F. Russell, Seppo Rytkonen, Pablo Sanchez-Virosta, Eduardo S. A. Santos, Julia Schroeder, Juan Carlos Senar, Gabor Seress, Tore Slagsvold, Marta Szulkin, Celine Teplitsky, Vallo Tilgar, Andrey Tolstoguzov, Janos Torok, Mihai Valcu, Emma Vatka, Simon Verhulst, Hannah Watson, Teru Yuta, Jose M. Zamora-Marin, Marcel E. Visser
Summary: The lack of standards and networking programmes significantly hinders the integration and synthesis of data in various scientific fields. Long-term studies of individually marked animals play a crucial role in understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild. The SPI-Birds Network and Database have been established to address data integration issues and enable a new scale of ecological and evolutionary research based on long-term studies of birds.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Peter Santema, Lotte Schlicht, Kristina B. Beck, Ben C. Sheldon, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: Studies have shown that young altricial birds typically fledge early in the day, but evidence for early fledging contributing to higher postfledging survival is limited. Two alternative explanations were proposed for the morning peak in fledging: one related to developmental threshold of offspring, and the other related to parental provisioning behavior. Results did not support the hypothesis that the timing of fledging affects survival, but suggest a link with nestling development.
Editorial Material
Biology
Rose E. O'Dea, Timothy H. Parker, Yung En Chee, Antica Culina, Szymon M. Drobniak, David H. Duncan, Fiona Fidler, Elliot Gould, Malika Ihle, Clint D. Kelly, Malgorzata Lagisz, Dominique G. Roche, Alfredo Sanchez-Tojar, David P. Wilkinson, Bonnie C. Wintle, Shinichi Nakagawa
Summary: Reducing research waste and increasing scientific evidence value requires changes in actions of researchers and institutions, with a focus on transparency and data sharing. While improvements have been made by ecologists and evolutionary biologists in the past decade, challenges still remain.
Article
Ecology
Willem Bonnaffe, Ben C. Sheldon, Tim Coulson
Summary: The NODEs method is a novel approach for learning ecological and evolutionary processes from time-series data by modelling dynamical systems as ordinary differential equations and dynamical functions with artificial neural networks. It not only describes the functional shapes behind biological processes, but also robustly handles mathematical misspecifications of the dynamical model.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ella F. Cole, Charlotte E. Regan, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: Studies have found small-scale spatial variation in the timing of egg laying for great tits, linked to the health of nearby oak trees, in response to climate change. This suggests spatial differences in the impact of climate change on animals and plants, highlighting the importance of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in responding to climate change, as well as the role of behavioral responses like habitat selection and dispersal in mitigating challenges from climate extremes.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Marija Purgar, Tin Klanjscek, Antica Culina
Summary: This study estimates the waste in ecological research based on a literature review and meta-analysis, revealing that only 11-18% of conducted research in ecology reaches its full informative value. The authors call for urgent actions to reduce this preventable loss and suggest further research on waste in ecology as well as the development of solutions to maximize the potential of ecological research.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
William J. Smith, Ashley T. Sendell-Price, Annette L. Fayet, Teia M. Schweizer, Charles van de Kerkhof, Ben C. Sheldon, Kristen C. Ruegg, Steven Kelly, Lindsay A. Turnbull, Sonya M. Clegg, Jezirski Michel
Summary: Domesticated animals have played a significant role culturally and economically, but their study has been relatively neglected compared to domestic plants. The domestic pigeon, as a model organism, has been pivotal in various fields such as behavior, genetics, and evolution. However, it has hybridized with its progenitor, the Rock Dove, leading to uncertainty in its genetic status. This study identifies relict undomesticated populations of Rock Doves in the British Isles using genomic and morphological data, highlighting the role of hybridization in genetic homogenization.
Article
Ecology
Joe P. P. Woodman, Ella F. F. Cole, Josh A. A. Firth, Christopher M. M. Perrins, Ben C. C. Sheldon
Summary: Age has significant effects on behavior, survival, and reproduction. Age-assortative mating is common, but the mechanisms driving it are not well understood. This study compares breeding data from great tits and mute swans to investigate the contributions of pair retention, cohort age structure, and active age-related mate selection to age assortment. The results show that the drivers of age assortment differ between the species, likely due to their different life histories and demographic differences. Understanding these mechanisms and their consequences is important for wild populations.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Ben C. Sheldon, Loeske E. B. Kruuk, Susan C. Alberts
Summary: Long-term population studies of individual organisms in their natural environments have been influential in understanding ecological and evolutionary processes, and advances in technology have broadened the perspective of these studies.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Kristina B. Beck, Ben C. Sheldon, Josh A. Firth
Summary: The emergence and spread of novel behaviors through social learning can result in rapid changes at the population level, as social connections shape information flow. However, little is known about how information flow is influenced by individuals' learning mechanisms. By comparing four different learning mechanisms on wild great tit networks, we found that individuals with increased social connectivity and reduced social clustering acquired new behaviors faster. However, when the adoption of behaviors depended on the ratio of social connections to informed versus uninformed individuals, social connectivity had no impact on the order of acquisition. Additionally, specific learning mechanisms were found to limit behavioral spread within networks.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marta Maziarz, Richard K. Broughton, Kristina B. Beck, Robert A. Robinson, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: Human activity has affected natural resources and the species that depend on them, resulting in changes in interspecific competition dynamics. This study used automated data collection to examine competition among species with different population trends. Specifically, it focused on the foraging behavior of subordinate marsh tits among socially and numerically dominant blue tits and great tits. The findings showed that marsh tits were less likely to join larger groups of heterospecifics and accessed food less frequently in larger groups. This suggests that subordinate species exhibit temporal avoidance of dominant heterospecifics but have limited spatial avoidance, indicating partial reduction in interspecific competition.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kristina B. Beck, Damien R. Farine, Josh A. Firth, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: The structure of animal societies is influenced by factors such as habitat configuration and population size. In this study, the researchers investigated how population size and habitat configuration affect the social structure of great tits. They found that population size was consistent within locations and predicted by habitat configuration, and that it influenced social structure as measured by network metrics. Additionally, the researchers discovered that social decisions made by individuals played a significant role in shaping social network features.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Kiran G. L. Lee, Adele Mennerat, Dieter Lukas, Hannah L. Dugdale, Antica Culina
Summary: Using research productivity measures for academic performance assessment disadvantages women due to gender roles and unconscious biases in both home and academia. The impact of COVID-19 on research productivity has been studied through surveys and article counts. This study combines 55 research studies and finds that the gender gap in research productivity increased during the pandemic, with the largest changes observed in social sciences and medicine.
Review
Biology
Antica Culina, Lyanne Brouwer
Summary: Individuals of socially monogamous species can use divorce and extra-pair mating as secondary mating strategies to correct for suboptimal partnerships. However, within-season divorce does not seem to be adaptive for breeding success and is not complementary to extra-pair mating. Social and environmental factors may play an important role in explaining variation among populations and species.