How does the environment affect fighting? The interaction between extrinsic fighting ability and resource value during contests

Lane, Sarah; Briffa, Mark

doi:10.1242/jeb.187740

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The value of the resource could be determined by satiation state (i.e., if the resource is food), mating history or predatory abundance (i.e., for shelters) (Arnott & Elwood, ; Enquist & Leimar, ; Maynard Smith, ; Maynard Smith & Parker, ). The perceived value of a resource can interact with intrinsic fighting ability to drive contest dynamics (Lane & Briffa, ). In addition, early environmental influences as well as experience in social situations also play a role in fight dynamics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the use of public and private information by an individual is a spectrum, and the position some individual holds is dependent on resource value and predation risk. Indeed, recent work concluded that there is an increasing need to combine intrinsic (e.g., RHP or size) and extrinsic conditions (e.g., resource abundance) to create a more complete view of fighting behaviours (Lane & Briffa, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of social and/or ecological contexts influences assessment strategy use in Tilapia

2019

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Animals engage in costly agonistic contests during which winners procure resources. During these interactions, the combatants obtain and use information to make decisions on whether to persist or to withdraw from the fight, which is termed assessment. Recent theory and work have suggested that the types of assessment employed may be more variable than previously thought, with the use of different strategies possibly being influenced by social and ecological conditions during priming. This study addresses the contextual components (social and ecological) that affect the utilization of one assessment strategy over another. Male tilapia were primed with different combinations of social (large and small animals) and ecological (resource rich or poor) contexts 24 hr prior to fighting in staged, dyadic contests. When opponents were primed with the same context, a clear assessment strategy emerged and differed as a function of priming treatment. Conversely, when fish were primed with different treatment contexts, there was no discernible assessment. In addition, priming conditions had differing effects for large and small fish. Thus, assessment strategies in cichlids are dependent upon a combination of social, ecological contexts and size of the animal. Since assessment strategies change as a function of both of these contexts, as well as others, future framework investigating assessment strategies should include both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may shape fighting dynamics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of social and/or ecological contexts influences assessment strategy use in Tilapia

2019

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“…forage quality), and intrinsic factors related to the subjective value an individual assigns to the resource (i.e. mating opportunity) (Enquist & Leimar, 1987;Lane & Briffa, 2018). Accordingly, as the value of the resource increases, so does the cost that an animal is willing to pay for that resource, for example, in terms of contest duration or energy allocation (Arnott & Elwood, 2008;Enquist & Leimar, 1987;Maynard Smith, 1982).…”

Section: Aggressive Interactions At the Group Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…male age) and extrinsic (e.g. size and quality of the territory assessed by measuring other attributes such as fibre content or crude protein) factors influencing value of resources (Lane & Briffa, 2018) in territorial male guanacos is needed to better understand potential impacts on aggressive behaviour.…”

Section: Aggressive Interactions At the Group Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male aggressiveness in a polygynous ungulate varies with social and ecological context

et al. 2020

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Aggression is a social behaviour which can be affected by numerous factors. The quality and quantity of food resources may play an important role in the aggressiveness of territorial ungulates as the defence of these resources influences female choice and mating opportunities. However, the relationship between food resources and aggression remains poorly understood. We assessed the ecological and social factors that influence aggression in Lama guanicoe, a territorial ungulate exhibiting resource‐defence polygyny, during three periods (group‐formation, mating and post‐mating) in the reproductive seasons of 2014 and 2016. We recorded 460 focal observations of territorial (family groups, solitary) and non‐territorial (mixed and bachelor groups) males. We performed analyses at the population level (including all focal observations) and at the group level (each social unit separately), to test whether the factors that influence aggression differ at these different scales. We also identified proxies of vegetation quality as potential predictors of aggression. At the population level, we found that the presence of aggressive behaviour peaked during the mating season and that post‐mating aggression may have been driven by inter‐annual environmental variations. For family groups and solitary males, variables reflecting high vegetation quality/quantity were predictors of aggressive behaviour, reflecting the resource‐defence strategy of this species. Conversely, for mixed‐group males, aggression may be more associated with social instability and group size, although this hypothesis has yet to be tested. Our research reinforces the idea that aggression can occur in multiple contexts depending on male status (e.g. territorial or non‐territorial) and contributes to our understanding of how ecological (i.e. availability of food resources) and social factors influence aggression in a territorial ungulate.

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“…The possibility that habitat alteration influences the composition of available mates is especially likely in species where resources have to be competed for and monopolised for individuals to be able to attract mates. Environmental factors are known to influence the outcome of competition for resources in general, and the effect can even be larger than the effect of intrinsic properties of individuals (Lane and Briffa 2018). In support of an effect of environmental conditions on the competition for resources needed in mate attraction, a few studies find changes in the environment to alter the number of individual monopolising resources and, thus, being available as mates (Candolin and Vlieger 2013, Candolin et al 2014, Ryder and Sillett 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat deterioration relaxes resource competition and sexual selection in the threespine stickleback

Henriksson

Candolin

2020

Oikos

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The operation of sexual selection depends on ecological conditions. Thus, changes in environmental conditions because of human activities can alter the strength and direction of sexual selection, with implications for evolutionary trajectories and the viability of populations. We show that aquatic algal blooms can relax the operation of sexual selection by influencing which males are available to attract females. This is by influencing the ability of males to maintain a resource needed in mate attraction. When we exposed two competing threespine stickleback males Gasterosteus aculeatus, whose attractiveness to females was known, to either clear or algal‐turbid water, nest abandonment was more common in clear water, and it was usually the unattractive male that abandoned his nest. In turbid water, on the other hand, nest abandonments were less common and when they occurred, the probability increased that the attractive male abandoned his nest, and that the unattractive male subsequently occupied it. This change in the composition of nesting males increased the mating success of unattractive males. Thus, our results reveal a new mechanism through which habitat deterioration can influence sexual selection, by altering success in the competition for a resource critical in mate attraction, a territory with a nest in this case. This could be a common mechanism, considering the prevalence of resource competition in mate choice systems. On a broader level, our results emphasise the importance of considering the impact of environmental changes on the outcome of resource competition when investigating the influence that environmental disturbances have on the operation of sexual selection and thereby on evolutionary processes and population dynamics.

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How does the environment affect fighting? The interaction between extrinsic fighting ability and resource value during contests

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

The role of social and/or ecological contexts influences assessment strategy use in Tilapia

The role of social and/or ecological contexts influences assessment strategy use in Tilapia

Male aggressiveness in a polygynous ungulate varies with social and ecological context

Habitat deterioration relaxes resource competition and sexual selection in the threespine stickleback

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