Neighbourhood watch: multiple alarm callers communicate directional predator movement in Richardson’s ground squirrels, Spermophilus richardsonii

Thompson, Amy B.; Hare, James F.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.04.028

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus, become more cautious at feeders near broadcasts of tufted titmice alarm calls (Schmidt et al, 2008), which could reduce their longer-term risk of predation by affecting spatial patterns of foraging. Spatial changes in calling over time can track predator movement, at least within species (McGregor & Dabelsteen, 1996;Thompson & Hare, 2010), so that eavesdropping on a whole community might provide dynamic information on spatial risk. Spatial changes in calling over time can track predator movement, at least within species (McGregor & Dabelsteen, 1996;Thompson & Hare, 2010), so that eavesdropping on a whole community might provide dynamic information on spatial risk.…”

Section: (B) Gaining Spatial Information On Dangermentioning

confidence: 99%

Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: from mechanisms to consequences

et al. 2014

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Animals often gather information from other species by eavesdropping on signals intended for others. We review the extent, benefits, mechanisms, and ecological and evolutionary consequences of eavesdropping on other species' alarm calls. Eavesdropping has been shown experimentally in about 70 vertebrate species, and can entail closely or distantly related species. The benefits of eavesdropping include prompting immediate anti-predator responses, indirect enhancement of foraging or changed habitat use, and learning about predators. Eavesdropping on heterospecifics can provide more eyes looking for danger, complementary information to that from conspecifics, and potentially information at reduced cost. The response to heterospecific calls can be unlearned or learned. Unlearned responses occur when heterospecific calls have acoustic features similar to that used to recognize conspecific calls, or acoustic properties such as harsh sounds that prompt attention and may allow recognition or facilitate learning. Learning to recognize heterospecific alarm calls is probably essential to allow recognition of the diversity of alarm calls, but the evidence is largely indirect. The value of eavesdropping on different species is affected by problems of signal interception and the relevance of heterospecific alarm calls to the listener. These constraints on eavesdropping will affect how information flows among species and thus affect community function. Some species are 'keystone' information producers, while others largely seek information, and these differences probably affect the formation and function of mixed-species groups. Eavesdroppers might also integrate alarm calls from multiple species to extract relevant and reliable information. Eavesdropping appears to set the stage for the evolution of interspecific deception and communication, and potentially affects communication within species. Overall, we now know that eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls is an important source of information for many species across the globe, and there are ample opportunities for research on mechanisms, fitness consequences and implications for community function and signalling evolution.

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Section: (B) Gaining Spatial Information On Dangermentioning

confidence: 99%

Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: from mechanisms to consequences

et al. 2014

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“…A sample size this large compares favorably to that employed in studies of Richardson's ground squirrel alarm communication that have revealed individual discrimination of alarm signalers (n = 14 in Hare 1998a), differential response relative to past signaler reliability (9 ≤ n ≤ 18 in Hare and Atkins 2001), the role of brief, frequency-modulated "chucks" in enhancing receiver vigilance and promoting localization of the signaler (10 ≤ n ≤ 15 in Sloan et al 2005), and receiver discrimination of multi-signaler alarm call bouts wherein signalers recruit sequentially toward versus away from the receiver (6 ≤ n ≤ 20 in Thompson and Hare 2010). Thus, we can conclude that Richardson's ground squirrel juveniles do not accord alarm signals emanating from their own dam any greater credence than those propagated by other adult females.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, we could detect no significant interaction between adult female caller type and juvenile receiver sex in exploratory two-factor ANOVAs examining immediate response (F 2,17 = 0.11, P = 0.89), initial vigilance duration (F 2,17 = 0.13, P = 0.88), and total vigilance duration (F 2,17 = 0.33, P = 0.73). Thus, as with previous studies of Richardson's ground squirrel alarm call responsiveness (Sloan and Hare, 2004;Hare, 2008a, 2008b;Thompson and Hare, 2010), we did not consider the sex of juvenile receivers further in our analyses, pooling results from both male and female juveniles to test for effects of signaler identity.…”

Section: Data Coding and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The initial response of each subject as call playback commenced was coded as one of five possible behaviors used routinely in studies of Richardson's alarm communication to assess initial responsiveness to alarm signals (Hare, 1998a;Hare and Atkins, 2001;Warkentin et al, 2001;Wilson and Hare, 2003, 2006Sloan and Hare, 2004, 2006Sloan et al, 2005;Hare, 2008a, 2008b;Thompson and Hare, 2010). Four general postures typical of Richardson's ground squirrels were considered to represent varying degrees of vigilance ranging from non-vigilant to highly vigilant.…”

Section: Data Coding and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hare (1998a) demonstrated that juvenile female Richardson's ground squirrels recognize alarm callers as individuals using a field playback experiment employing a habituation-discrimination paradigm (Halpin, 1974;Johnston and Jernigan, 1994). Subsequent research has revealed that Richardson's ground squirrels use that ability to: 1) weight their response according to the past reliability of individual signalers (Hare and Atkins, 2001), 2) assess the veracity of predatory threat by enumerating the number of alarm signalers (Sloan and Hare, 2008), and, 3) discriminate situations in which a multi-caller bout of alarm signaling is progressing toward or moving away from them, hence implying increasing or decreasing threat respectively (Thompson and Hare, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The song remains the same: Juvenile Richardson’s ground squirrels do not respond differentially to mother’s or colony member’s alarm calls

Hare

Warkentin

2012

Current Zoology

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Alarm calls are emitted by Richardson's ground squirrels Urocitellus richardsonii in response to avian and terrestrial predators. Conspecifics detecting these calls respond with increased vigilance, promoting predator detection and evasion, but in doing so, lose time from foraging. That loss can be minimized if alarm call recipients discriminate among signalers, and weight their response accordingly. For juvenile ground squirrels, we predicted that the trade-off between foraging and vigilance could be optimized via selective response to alarm calls emitted by their own dam, and/or neighboring colony members over calls broadcast by less familiar conspecifics. Alarm calls of adult female Richardson's ground squirrels were elicited in the field using a predator model and recorded on digital audio tape. Free-living focal juveniles were subjected to playbacks of a call of their mother, and on a separate occasion a call from either another adult female from their own colony, or an adult female from another colony. Neither immediate postural responses and escape behavior, nor the duration of vigilance manifested by juveniles differed with exposure to alarm calls of the three adult female signaler types. Thus, juveniles did not respond preferentially to alarm calls emitted by their mothers or colony members, likely reflecting the high cost of ignoring alarm signals where receivers have had limited opportunity to establish past signaler reliability [Current Zoology 58 (5): 773-780, 2012].

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Behaviors associated with vocal communication of squirrels

Diggins

2021

Ecosphere

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Vocal communication is an important method squirrels (Sciuridae) use to transfer information from one individual to others. While behaviors associated with vocal communication have been explored in individual species or single call-types in specific groups of squirrels, no comprehensive review of these behaviors exists for Sciuridae. Herein, I review the current literature to describe behaviors associated with vocal communication in three groups of squirrels: ground squirrels, tree squirrels, and flying squirrels. I discuss the behavioral functions of squirrel vocalizations. A wide variety of behaviors are associated with particular call-types produced by squirrels, including alarm, agonistic, discomfort, affiliative, mating, and neonatal calls. There are large knowledge gaps in cataloging the vocal repertoires and associated behaviors of many species of squirrels, including commonly studied species such as marmots and ground squirrels, as alarm calls are typically focused on and other call-types are understudied or ignored. Since vocal communication is important to the development, reproduction, and survival of squirrels, further understanding the biological and ecological drivers behind vocal repertoires is critical to evaluating the ethology of this family as a whole.

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Neighbourhood watch: multiple alarm callers communicate directional predator movement in Richardson’s ground squirrels, Spermophilus richardsonii

Cited by 25 publications

References 34 publications

Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: from mechanisms to consequences

Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: from mechanisms to consequences

The song remains the same: Juvenile Richardson’s ground squirrels do not respond differentially to mother’s or colony member’s alarm calls

Behaviors associated with vocal communication of squirrels

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