Difficulties in Monitoring Conspecifics Mediate the Effects of Visual Obstruction on the Level and Synchronization of Vigilance

Beauchamp, Guy

doi:10.3389/fevo.2017.00012

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Few studies have investigated vigilance in this layer breed. When feeding alone, chickens from this breed spent nearly a third of their time vigilant (Beauchamp, 2017), a value certainly in line with estimates from wild species of birds (Beauchamp, 2010). Compared with their wild ancestors, layer breeds in general tend to show similar fear responses to predators albeit at a lower level (Schütz et al, 2001).…”

Section: Study Animalssupporting

confidence: 73%

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Half-Blind to the Risk of Predation

Beauchamp¹

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Blinking serves several functions in animals, but it comes at the cost of intermittent blindness. Blinking can occur spontaneously, but it is commonly associated with head movements. As feeding animals often need to move the head down repeatedly to gather resources, intermittent blindness might represent a hitherto unappreciated cost of feeding. In addition, this cost might also be more prevalent in larger groups as feeding effort typically increases with group size. In chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), blinks associated with head movements occurred at a high frequently during feeding bouts. While blinks tended to be short, the amount of time spent blinking was close to 50% when feeding and increased with group size. By contrast, time spent blinking was much lower when birds simply monitored their surroundings between feeding bouts. Intermittent blinking at this scale when feeding is likely to decrease the ability to detect predation threats in a timely fashion and to monitor neighbors effectively.

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Section: Study Animalssupporting

confidence: 73%

“…For blinks between feeding bouts, I gathered data from the first 10 bouts during which monitoring occurred in a trial. Such monitoring bouts were much less frequent in pairs of birds (Beauchamp, 2017). I thus restricted the analysis of blinks between feeding bouts to trials with solitary birds.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Half-Blind to the Risk of Predation

Beauchamp¹

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…Groups of gulls were defined as all the birds associated no more than five body lengths away from each other, and we only considered groups that had a minimum of four individuals, and where there were no visual obstructions present 25 , such that all individuals had a clear line-of-sight to every other member of the group. The distance of five body-lengths was chosen following pilot testing, and was used because estimating individual separations beyond this length was logistically difficult for distant gulls.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black-headed gulls synchronise their activity with their nearest neighbours

Evans

Lihou

Rands

2018

Sci Rep

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Animals in groups can benefit from synchronising their behaviour, where multiple individuals conduct similar activities at the same moment in time. Previous studies have demonstrated that some species show synchronisation of vigilance behaviour, but have not explored the mechanism driving this behaviour. Synchronisation could be driven by animals copying their closest neighbours, which would mean that close proximity should lead to increased synchronisation. We simultaneously observed the behaviour of multiple individual black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) within resting groups, and compared the activity of a focal individual with its two closest neighbours and a randomly selected control individual. Focal individuals were more likely to be synchronised with their closest neighbour. Synchronisation became less likely if individuals were not the closest neighbour. This suggests that synchronisation seen within groups is dependent upon the spatial positions of its members, and black-headed gulls pay more attention to their closest neighbours.

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“…Studies on other species of ground‐dwelling squirrels, such as yellow‐bellied marmots (Bednekoff & Blumstein, 2009 ; Van Vuren, 2001 ), thirteen‐lined ground squirrels ( Ictidomys tridecemlineatus ; Arenz & Leger, 1997 ), Great Basin ground squirrels ( Urocitellus mollis ; Sharpe & Van Horne, 1998 ), Arctic ground squirrels ( Urocitellus parryii ; Wheeler & Hik, 2014 ), and alpine marmots ( Marmota marmota ; Ferrari et al, 2009 ), also suggest that visual obstruction can increase predation risk. In addition to aiding in predator detection directly, perches may indirectly promote predator detection through the monitoring of conspecifics; even in asocial species, vigilance of neighbors may be interpreted as public information about present risk (Beauchamp, 2017 ; Carrasco & Blumstein, 2011 ; Sirot, 2006 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat selection in a fluctuating ground squirrel population: Density‐dependence and fitness consequences

Aliperti

Jenderseck

Vuren

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Investigating individual‐based habitat settlement decisions is a central theme in ecology, yet studies that quantify density‐dependent habitat selection or tie fitness to resource selection decisions remain rare. We quantified habitat selection in golden‐mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis) across two spatial scales (home‐range placement, and occurrence within the home range) by using 11 consecutive years of data on individual space use, and we used resource selection functions and multilevel modeling to address how habitat preferences may be influenced by density or linked to fitness outcomes. Squirrels preferred dry meadow over other habitat types (wet meadow, aspen, spruce, and willow) at both spatial scales. Squirrels were more likely to use dry meadow that contained shorter vegetation and vision‐enhancing prominences such as rocks (“perches”). The use of dry meadow at each scale was not influenced by changes in density. The use of dry meadow did not lead to increased litter size, pre‐hibernation mass, or survival. However, squirrels that experienced a greater number of perches or lower local densities had higher survival rates. Our results suggest that a lack of visual obstruction, probably facilitating detection of predators, drives habitat selection in this system. Surprisingly, squirrels maintained their preference for dry meadow as density increased, and they experienced reduced survival as a result. This work furthers our understanding about the causes and consequences of changes in habitat use, informing wildlife management and conservation.

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Difficulties in Monitoring Conspecifics Mediate the Effects of Visual Obstruction on the Level and Synchronization of Vigilance

Cited by 13 publications

References 43 publications

Half-Blind to the Risk of Predation

Half-Blind to the Risk of Predation

Black-headed gulls synchronise their activity with their nearest neighbours

Habitat selection in a fluctuating ground squirrel population: Density‐dependence and fitness consequences

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