Mammalian Herbivore Repellents: Tools for Altering Plant Palatability

Kimball, Bruce A.; Taylor, Jimmy D.

doi:10.1564/21aug09

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…For instance, when crayfish are exposed to a predator odour and alarm signal simultaneously, effects are increased [43]. We are confident that we have demonstrated that fear, rather than altered palatability [36], was responsible for these results.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents

Parsons

Blumstein

2010

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundWhether or not animals habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents may depend upon whether there are predators associated with the cues. Understanding the contexts of habituation is theoretically important and has profound implication for the application of predator-based herbivore deterrents. We repeatedly exposed a mixed mob of macropod marsupials to olfactory scents (urine, feces) from a sympatric predator (Canis lupus dingo), along with a control (water). If these predator cues were alarming, we expected that over time, some red kangaroos (Macropus rufous), western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) and agile wallabies (Macropus agilis) would elect to not participate in cafeteria trials because the scents provided information about the riskiness of the area.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe evaluated the effects of urine and feces independently and expected that urine would elicit a stronger reaction because it contains a broader class of infochemicals (pheromones, kairomones). Finally, we scored non-invasive indicators (flight and alarm stomps) to determine whether fear or altered palatability was responsible for the response. Repeated exposure reduced macropodid foraging on food associated with 40 ml of dingo urine, X = 986.75±3.97 g food remained as compared to the tap water control, X = 209.0±107.0 g (P<0.001). Macropodids fled more when encountering a urine treatment, X = 4.50±2.08 flights, as compared to the control, X = 0 flights (P<0.001). There was no difference in effect between urine or feces treatments (P>0.5). Macropodids did not habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents, rather they avoided the entire experimental area after 10 days of trials (R 2 = 83.8; P<0.001).Conclusions/SignificanceResponses to urine and feces were indistinguishable; both elicited fear-based responses and deterred foraging. Despite repeated exposure to predator-related cues in the absence of a predator, macropodids persistently avoided an area of highly palatable food. Area avoidance is consistent with that observed from other species following repeated anti-predator conditioning, However, this is the first time this response has been experimentally observed among medium or large vertebrates − where a local response is observed spatially and an area effect is revealed over time.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents

Parsons

Blumstein

2010

PLoS ONE

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“…The volatile sulfur compounds (rotten egg odors) and short-chain aldehydes (rancid odors) produced by protein and lipid fermentation that were pervasive in each test pen at the time of PB application would not be welcome on landscape surrounding private homes, public parks, etc. Results of this bioassay support earlier contentions that the mere presence of sulfur odors is not the basis of repellency (Kimball and Nolte, 2006b). Despite the volatile sulfur compounds, poultry blood was a poor repellent because it lacked the proteins or peptides found in FM and HC that are necessary to impact seedling palatability.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 79%

Evaluating new protein sources for development of a deer repellent product

Kimball

Perry

2009

Crop Protection

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a b s t r a c tSeveral protein sources were tested as deer repellents with captive deer. Black-tailed deer were offered Western redcedar seedlings treated with corn gluten meal, feather meal, poultry blood, hydrolyzed casein, or a control (latex sticker used for treatment proteins). After 37 days, feather meal and hydrolyzed casein provided equivalent protection against browse damage (only 23% of seedlings significantly browsed). Poultry blood provided less browse protection (44% browsed), while browse damage to seedlings treated with corn gluten meal (73% browsed) was not statistically different than the control (100% browsed). Based on the efficacy of feather meal and its low material cost, this protein hydrolysate should be investigated for use in commercial deer repellent formulations.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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“…Field experiments commonly employ food trays that are placed within the vicinity of a predator scent and left overnight, with the leftover food (referred to as giving up density or GUD) measured as a response variable to the scent treatment (Carthey & Banks, ). Sometimes this forfeiture of food is conflated with a fear response (Kimball & Nolte, ) (Fig. ), even though animals may generally consume less food when it is placed near foul‐smelling scents.…”

Section: Neurobiological Mechanisms Underlying Prey Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biologically meaningful scents: a framework for understanding predator–prey research across disciplines

et al. 2017

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Fear of predation is a universal motivator. Because predators hunt using stealth and surprise, there is a widespread ability among prey to assess risk from chemical information -scents -in their environment. Consequently, scents often act as particularly strong modulators of memory and emotions. Recent advances in ecological research and analytical technology are leading to novel ways to use this chemical information to create effective attractants, repellents and anti-anxiolytic compounds for wildlife managers, conservation biologists and health practitioners. However, there is extensive variation in the design, results, and interpretation of studies of olfactory-based risk discrimination. To understand the highly variable literature in this area, we adopt a multi-disciplinary approach and synthesize the latest findings from neurobiology, chemical ecology, and ethology to propose a contemporary framework that accounts for such disparate factors as the time-limited stability of chemicals, highly canalized mechanisms that influence prey responses, and the context within which these scents are detected (e.g. availability of alternative resources, perceived shelter, and ambient physical parameters). This framework helps to account for the wide range of reported responses by prey to predator scents, and explains, paradoxically, how the same individual predator scent can be interpreted as either safe or dangerous to a prey animal depending on how, when and where the cue was deposited. We provide a hypothetical example to illustrate the most common factors that influence how a predator scent (from dingoes, Canis dingo) may both attract and repel the same target organism (kangaroos, Macropus spp.). This framework identifies the catalysts that enable dynamic scents, odours or odorants to be used as attractants as well as deterrents. Because effective scent tools often relate to traumatic memories (fear and/or anxiety) that cause future avoidance, this information may also guide the development of appeasement, enrichment and anti-anxiolytic compounds, and help explain the observed variation in post-traumatic-related behaviours (including post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD) among diverse terrestrial taxa, including humans.

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Mammalian Herbivore Repellents: Tools for Altering Plant Palatability

Abstract: O u t l o o k s o n Pe s t M a n a g e m e n t -A u g u s t 2 0 1 0 1 8 1

Cited by 17 publications

References 52 publications

Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents

Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents

Evaluating new protein sources for development of a deer repellent product

Biologically meaningful scents: a framework for understanding predator–prey research across disciplines

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