Land‐use change and the ecological consequences of personality in small mammals

Brehm, Allison M.; Mortelliti, Alessio; Maynard, George A.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.

doi:10.1111/ele.13324

Cited by 68 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

105

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Based on these previous findings we speculate that an individual's personality will affect the interaction with novel seeds; in particular, following Brehm et al (2019) we predict that bolder and less anxious individuals will be more likely to interact with novel seeds. Further, Brehm et al (2019) found that landuse change shifts the distribution of personalities within a population, by increasing the proportion of bold, active and anxious individuals and in-turn affecting the potential survival and dispersal of seeds. We thus speculate that small mammal controls on the climate-driven range shift of woody plant species may be also mediated by land-use change effects on the distribution of personalities within a population.…”

Section: Speculationsmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…months), allowing for the calculation of indices such as the seed dispersal effectiveness (Schupp et al 2010) and it would also be important to place each species on a predator-mutualist continuum (Zwolak and Crone 2012). Further, we recommend that future seed dispersal studies focusing on 'novel' seeds also consider the critical role played by rodent population density (Lichti et al 2017), the availability of seeds (Xiao et al 2013) as well as the important role of individual-level factors such as personality (Brehm et al 2019).…”

Section: Seed Size Affects Plant Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Speculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent work Brehm et al (2019) found that an individual's personality affects its choice of seeds, as well as how distant and where seeds are cached. Based on these previous findings we speculate that an individual's personality will affect the interaction with novel seeds; in particular, following Brehm et al (2019) we predict that bolder and less anxious individuals will be more likely to interact with novel seeds. Further, Brehm et al (2019) found that landuse change shifts the distribution of personalities within a population, by increasing the proportion of bold, active and anxious individuals and in-turn affecting the potential survival and dispersal of seeds.…”

Section: Speculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Small mammal controls on the climate‐driven range shift of woody plant species

Mortelliti

Grentzmann

Fraver

et al. 2019

Oikos

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change is resulting in shifts in species’ ranges as species inhabit new climatically suitable areas. A key factor affecting range‐shifts is the interaction with predators. Small mammals, being primary seed predators and dispersers in forest ecosystems, may play a major role in determining which plant species will successfully expand and the rate at which range‐shifts will occur. Plants dispersing seeds beyond the species’ current range limits will encounter seed predators to which these seeds are novel; however, empirical studies of seed predator–novel seed interactions are lacking. The aims of our study were to: 1) quantify seed selection by small mammals presented with ‘novel’ seeds; 2) quantify the post‐selection fate of ‘novel’ seeds; and 3) identify seed traits that affect seed selection and post‐selection seed fate. We designed a field experiment exposing small mammal communities to novel seeds produced by plants expected to shift their ranges in response to climate change. We matched novel seeds with reference ‘familiar’ seeds and studied key steps defining interactions between small mammals and novel seeds. We found that the probability of selection of a novel seed varied among species and was, at times, higher than the selection probability of familiar seeds. Key traits that affected seed selection and the distance a seed was dispersed for caching were shell hardness and seed mass. We also found that 33% of dispersed seeds were cached in optimal germination sites (e.g. within fallen logs and buried under the leaf litter mat). Through seed emergence trials we found that emergence was higher for larger seeds, suggesting that the role of small mammals may be modulated by emergence rates. Our results suggest that the interaction between small mammals and novel seeds may have cascading effects on climate‐induced plant range shifts and community composition.

show abstract

Section: Speculationsmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Seed Size Affects Plant Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Speculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Speculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Small mammal controls on the climate‐driven range shift of woody plant species

Mortelliti

Grentzmann

Fraver

et al. 2019

Oikos

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Indeed, dispersal evolves even in the simplest of systems in response to altered conditions (Hamilton and May 1977;Hargreaves and Eckert 2014), and can be especially important for sessile organisms, such as plants, that have limited opportunities for movement. Seed dispersal, or the movement of offspring away from the source parent plant, provides the opportunity for migration (Zobel et al 2010), facilitating gene flow (Sexton et al 2009), range shifts (Davis and Shaw 2001;Hargreaves et al 2015), and spatial tracking of favorable environmental conditions (Edelaar and Bolnick 2012;Brehm et al 2019) -all which allow for species persistence despite local extirpation (Tilman 1994). Two important drivers of selection on dispersal ability are climate and habitat connectivity or isolation (Mantyka-Pringle et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local climate and habitat continuity interact to alter contemporary dispersal potential

Sullivan

Hamilton

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the evolution of dispersal under changing global environments is essential to predicting a species ability to track shifting ecological niches. Two important, but anthropogenically altered, sources of selection on dispersal are climate and habitat continuity.Despite the likelihood these global drivers of selection act simultaneously on plant populations, their combined effects on dispersal are rarely examined. To understand the interactive effect of climate and habitat continuity on dispersal potential, we study Geum triflorum -a perennial grassland species that spans a wide range of environments, including both continuous prairie and isolated alvar habitats. We explore how the local climate of the growing season and habitat continuity (continuous vs isolated) interact to alter dispersal potential. We find a consistent interactive effect of local climate and habitat continuity on dispersal potential. Across continuous prairie populations, an increased number of growing degree days favors traits that increase dispersal potential. However, for isolated alvar populations, dispersal potential tends to decrease as the number of growing degree days increase. Our findings suggest that under continued warming, populations in continuous habitats will benefit from increased gene flow, while isolated populations will become increasingly segregated, with reduced potential to track shifting fitness optima.

show abstract

Land‐use change alters associations between personality and microhabitat selection

Brehm

Mortelliti

2021

Ecological Applications

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecologists commonly assess ecological patterns at the population level, focusing on the average response of all individuals within a population, but to predict how populations will respond to land‐use change we must understand how changes to habitat differentially affect individuals within a population. For example, forest management is a widespread type of land‐use that impacts wildlife through the loss of key habitat features, but individuals within a population may vary in their responses to this loss due to differences in habitat selection among individuals. Specifically, intraspecific variation in habitat selection has been linked to animal personalities (i.e., consistent behavioral differences among conspecifics), but previous research has not examined whether the relationship between personality and habitat selection is influenced by land‐use change. To address this knowledge gap, we tested the hypothesis that land‐use change alters the association between personality and microhabitat selection in small mammals. Specifically, we investigated two main questions: (1) To what extent are personality type and microhabitat selection correlated among conspecifics? (2) Does land‐use change alter individual patterns of microhabitat selection? To answer these questions, we conducted a large‐scale field experiment over 4 years, contrasting unmanaged forest (control) with managed forest (two silvicultural treatments) in Maine, USA. We examined the relationships between habitat selection and personality traits in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and southern red‐backed voles (Myodes gapperi). We found that personality traits were correlated with microhabitat selection at multiple spatial scales. Furthermore, land‐use change altered these patterns of selection; resulting in either the loss of personality‐associated selection or in novel patterns of selection in managed forests. These findings suggest that promoting structural complexity at multiple spatial scales, such as by interspersing stands of mature forest with managed stands, may maintain a variety of intraspecific habitat selection patterns and the associated ecological outcomes.

show abstract

Land‐use change and the ecological consequences of personality in small mammals

Cited by 68 publications

References 57 publications

Small mammal controls on the climate‐driven range shift of woody plant species

Small mammal controls on the climate‐driven range shift of woody plant species

Local climate and habitat continuity interact to alter contemporary dispersal potential

Land‐use change alters associations between personality and microhabitat selection

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About