Changes in fox squirrel anti-predator behaviors across the urban–rural gradient

McCleery, Robert A.

doi:10.1007/s10980-009-9323-2

Cited by 111 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Organisms in urban habitats often display traits that differ from those of their rural counterparts, including differences in daily activity patterns (McClennen et al 2001), vocalizations (Slabbekoorn and Peet 2003;Wood and Yezerinac 2006), migratory behavior (Partecke and Gwinner 2007), anti-predator behavior (Mccleary 2009), fear of humans (Carrete and Tella 2010) and conspecific aggression (Coss et al 2002;Galbreath et al 2014). However, it is often unclear if such changes in urban animals represent evolutionary and genetically based adaptations, as suggested by several recent studies (Atwell et al 2012;Miranda et al 2013;Mueller et al 2013), or changes due to habituation or other forms of learning and plasticity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, urban birds would be likely to have more experience with loud noises, cars and other moving objects than rural birds, just as they are more likely to have more experience with humans. Other studies examining differences in boldness between urban and rural animals have used the playback of predator vocalizations to simulate the presence of a predator (Mccleary 2009;Coleman et al 2008). However, comparing boldness in urban and rural populations using predator calls could measure greater boldness in urban animals, either due to a greater general boldness, reduced responses to predators due to the absence of predators in the urban environment or, if the urban animals have habituated to humans, due to a transfer of habituation (Mccleary 2009;Geffroy et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in measures of boldness even when underlying behavioral syndromes are present in two populations of the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Myers

Hyman

2016

J Ethol

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One commonly studied behavioral syndrome is the correlation between aggression and boldness. Studies in song sparrows (M. melodia) have found greater aggression and boldness in urban populations and a correlation between aggression and boldness in rural populations, but not within urban populations. In previous studies, boldness was measured as flight initiation distance (FID), which may reflect habituation by urban birds to human presence. In this study, we measured boldness using playbacks of heterospecific alarm calls and investigated whether higher boldness is a general trait of urban birds and whether the same pattern of correlations between aggression and boldness would be seen. We conducted trials involving FID, alarm call playbacks and conspecific song playbacks on 25 birds from both an urban and a rural site. The results showed that urban birds were bolder, as measured by FID and response to alarm calls. Boldness and aggression were correlated in rural birds with each method of measuring boldness but were correlated in urban birds only when using alarm call playbacks. Our results suggest that a behavioral syndrome exists in both urban and rural populations but that urban birds are able to decrease their response to human disturbance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in measures of boldness even when underlying behavioral syndromes are present in two populations of the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Myers

Hyman

2016

J Ethol

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“…In these applications, the tool could inform and permit optimisation of management strategies based on frightening ('hazing') and active deterrents. However, a caveat of this application is that pests may habituate to the stimulus (Magle et al 2005;McCleery 2009) and effective pest control is likely to remain multi-faceted (e.g. alternating between a high number of threatening stimuli or reinforcing the presence of stimuli with actual danger).…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

AvianBuffer: An interactive tool for characterising and managing wildlife fear responses

Guay

Dongen

Robinson

et al. 2016

Ambio

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The characterisation and management of deleterious processes affecting wildlife are ideally based on sound scientific information. However, relevant information is often absent, or difficult to access or contextualise for specific management purposes. We describe 'AvianBuffer', an interactive online tool enabling the estimation of distances at which Australian birds respond fearfully to humans. Users can input species assemblages and determine a 'separation distance' above which the assemblage is predicted to not flee humans. They can also nominate the diversity they wish to minimise disturbance to, or a specific separation distance to obtain an estimate of the diversity that will remain undisturbed. The dataset is based upon flight-initiation distances (FIDs) from 251 Australian bird species (n = 9190 FIDs) and a range of human-associated stimuli. The tool will be of interest to a wide audience including conservation managers, pest managers, policy makers, land-use planners, education and public outreach officers, animal welfare proponents and wildlife ecologists. We discuss possible applications of the data, including the construction of buffers, development of codes of conduct, environmental impact assessments and public outreach. This tool will help balance the growing need for biodiversity conservation in areas where humans can experience nature. The online resource will be expanded in future iterations to include an international database of FIDs of both avian and non-avian species.

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“…In general, when FIDs are compared between conspecifics in urban and nonurban environments, the urban animals have shorter FIDs, allowing humans to approach them at closer distances, than rural ones (Table 9.2). This may be because urban prey species have learned that humans that maintain a minimal distance do not usually prey on animals and are ultimately benign (Frid and Dill 2002;McCleery 2009). However, this phenomenon may not apply to anurans, for their FID seems to (Møller and Ibáñez-Álamo 2012).…”

Section: Anti-predator Behavior and Response To Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is currently unclear whether individual animals in urban environments are more tolerant of humans due to habituation (McCleery 2009) or whether there is a selection bias toward animals that are more tolerant or docile (Martin and Réale 2008). It may be that the most predictive factor explaining an individual's increased tolerance to humans is how many generations the species has been present in urban areas (Møller 2008).…”

Section: Anti-predator Behavior and Response To Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Wildlife Behavior

Ryan

Partan

2014

Urban Wildlife

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Wild animals in urban areas face unique challenges. They live in environments modified by and for humans without having evolved in them, but unlike domesticated animals, they remain under the auspices of natural selection. We do not yet know how living in urban areas will ultimately affect the animals that share our urban environments, but we are at the beginning of a new and important scientific effort to study the effects of urbanization on wildlife. Early signs suggest that animals that can tolerate urbanization are quite different in behavior and physiology than those that are limited in distribution to natural areas .In this chapter, we focus on how animal behavior changes in response to urbanization. We use the term urban to refer to habitats undergoing intense human development for purposes of human residency, as seen in cities and suburbs (see Gehrt 2010). Understanding why some animals successfully adapt their behavior to urban areas and others do not can contribute to both the management of urban wildlife and the conservation of species that do not fare well during urbanization. After addressing the behavioral effects of urbanization, we conclude with implications for evolution and biodiversity of animals in urban environments. We have limited our review to terrestrial vertebrates with a few exceptions. Aquatic animal

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Changes in fox squirrel anti-predator behaviors across the urban–rural gradient

Cited by 111 publications

References 29 publications

Differences in measures of boldness even when underlying behavioral syndromes are present in two populations of the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Differences in measures of boldness even when underlying behavioral syndromes are present in two populations of the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

AvianBuffer: An interactive tool for characterising and managing wildlife fear responses

Urban Wildlife Behavior

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