Foraging strategies of sympatric lagomorphs: implications for differential success in fragmented landscapes

Smith, Douglas; Litvaitis, John A.

doi:10.1139/z00-160

Cited by 35 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Thus, the type of connectivity we assumed does not have to be “hard wired” in any sense—it can emerge during the course of early brain development. This also suggests that the neural system we proposed might be ubiquitous across species, consistent with evidence showing novelty-seeking behaviors in rabbits (Smith and Litvaitis, 2000), birds (Blough, 1984), and squirrels (Duncan and Jenkins, 1998). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Autonomous visual exploration creates developmental change in familiarity and novelty seeking behaviors

Perone¹,

Spencer²

2013

Front. Psychol.

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What motivates children to radically transform themselves during early development? We addressed this question in the domain of infant visual exploration. Over the first year, infants' exploration shifts from familiarity to novelty seeking. This shift is delayed in preterm relative to term infants and is stable within individuals over the course of the first year. Laboratory tasks have shed light on the nature of this familiarity-to-novelty shift, but it is not clear what motivates the infant to change her exploratory style. We probed this by letting a Dynamic Neural Field (DNF) model of visual exploration develop itself via accumulating experience in a virtual world. We then situated it in a canonical laboratory task. Much like infants, the model exhibited a familiarity-to-novelty shift. When we manipulated the initial conditions of the model, the model's performance was developmentally delayed much like preterm infants. This delay was overcome by enhancing the model's experience during development. We also found that the model's performance was stable at the level of the individual. Our simulations indicate that novelty seeking emerges with no explicit motivational source via the accumulation of visual experience within a complex, dynamical exploratory system.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Autonomous visual exploration creates developmental change in familiarity and novelty seeking behaviors

Perone¹,

Spencer²

2013

Front. Psychol.

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“…Although New England cottontail body condition and survival are sensitive to resource availability (Smith & Litvaitis, 2000;Villafuerte, Litvaitis, & Smith, 1997), seasonal differences in the resource needs of New England cottontails are poorly understood. Prior studies of New England cottontail habitat have been primarily constrained to data collected during winter (Barbour & Litvaitis, 1993;Buffum, McGreevy, Gottfried, Sullivan, & Husband, 2015;Villafuerte et al, 1997), which is a limiting period for survival but does not consider differences in resource availability between summer and winter or variation in the resource needs of juveniles or reproducing individuals during the late spring to summer reproductive season.…”

Section: Study System and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition alters seasonal resource selection and promotes use of invasive shrubs by an imperiled native cottontail

Cheeseman

Ryan

Whipps

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Many ecosystems face multiple invaders, and interactions among invasive and native species may complicate conservation efforts for imperiled species. Examination of fine‐scale resource selection can be used to detect patterns in habitat selection resulting from species interactions and assess the value of specific resources, including invasive plants, to wildlife. We used animal location data with mixed‐effects resource selection models to examine seasonal competitive interactions and species‐specific selection for forage and cover resources by an imperiled native lagomorph, the New England cottontail Sylvilagus transitionalis and its nonnative competitor, the eastern cottontail S. floridanus in the eastern Hudson Valley, NY. We found evidence that resource selection by New England cottontails depended on the relative prevalence of eastern cottontails to New England cottontails. Where eastern cottontails were less prevalent New England cottontail selected for resources characteristic of early successional shrublands. Where eastern cottontails were more prevalent, New England cottontails selected for resources characteristic of later successional shrublands. New England cottontail use of certain invasive shrubs depended on the prevalence of eastern cottontails relative to New England cottontails, suggesting response to invasive plants is confounded by interactions with a nonnative competitor. Our results further emphasize the need for conservation efforts to consider invasive management within the ecosystem context. We demonstrate the utility of resource selection studies to assist in this regard by exploring competitive interactions in the absence of removal studies, while simultaneously assessing the impact of habitat components such as invasive vegetation on species of conservation concern. Synthesis and applications Resource selection studies can be directly applied to inform ongoing species conservation where multiple invaders are present or where species interactions influence resource selection. Fine‐scale assessments of resource selection, similar to those presented here, can be used to selectively manage habitat to benefit desired species within the ecosystem context.

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“…, Price et al. ), and like other lagomorphs, predation likely represents a strong evolutionary force that has shaped their morphology and behavior (Lima and Dill , Smith and Litvaitis ). Pygmy rabbits are obligate burrowers that excavate and use burrow systems that serve as effective refuges from all but a few predators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat selection differs across hierarchical behaviors: selection of patches and intensity of patch use

et al. 2017

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Abstract. When animals select habitats, they integrate a suite of behaviors that are influenced by multiple competing resource requirements. Resources that influence decisions about habitat use are likely to differ across spatial scales and hierarchical behaviors. At coarser scales, animals are expected to select resources that are critical to fitness, and at finer scales, to intensively use resources that enhance fitness. Our goal was to contrast habitat selection at two hierarchical behavioral levels (patch selection and intensity of patch use) to test hypotheses about how resources shape habitat use. We applied a two-stage hurdle model to quantify both initial selection and intensity of use of resource patches by a burrowing herbivore, the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). We expected security from predation to influence initial selection of patches, and forage availability to influence intensity of use of selected patches. We monitored locations of adults fitted with radio-collars during winter and summer. We measured vegetation, burrow characteristics, and concealment cover within patches that were used and unused by rabbits, and we quantified burrow densities surrounding patches in a GIS. Selection of used patches from available patches was largely influenced by security resources (presence and proximity of burrows, shrub height, and woody ground cover) during both seasons. Intensity of patch use was also influenced by forage availability and, consequently, differed between seasons. During winter, sagebrush is the primary forage, and greater sagebrush canopy within a patch was associated with increased intensity of use. During summer, rabbits more intensively used patches with greater availability of herbaceous forage. Elucidating how animals make choices about habitats across a diversity of spatial and temporal scales will continue to increase our understanding of the factors that govern distribution of populations and movements of individuals. By extending these concepts to hierarchical behaviors, we can enhance insights into the processes that shape the patterns of habitat use we observe.

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Foraging strategies of sympatric lagomorphs: implications for differential success in fragmented landscapes

Cited by 35 publications

References 25 publications

Autonomous visual exploration creates developmental change in familiarity and novelty seeking behaviors

Autonomous visual exploration creates developmental change in familiarity and novelty seeking behaviors

Competition alters seasonal resource selection and promotes use of invasive shrubs by an imperiled native cottontail

Habitat selection differs across hierarchical behaviors: selection of patches and intensity of patch use

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