Social learning of predators in the dark: understanding the role of visual, chemical and mechanical information

Manassa, R. P.; McCormick, Mark I.; Chivers, Douglas P.; Ferrari, Maud C. O.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0720

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Iowa darters (Etheostoma exile (Girard, 1859)) reduce exploratory behaviour and alter movement patterns in response to disturbance cues (Wisenden et al 1995). Likewise, orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula (Lacépède, 1802)) show a significant antipredator response to disturbance cues (Manassa et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does donor group size matter? The response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to disturbance cues from conspecific and heterospecific donors

et al. 2019

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Prey are under immense pressure to make context-specific, behavioural decisions. Prey use public information to reduce the costs associated with making inappropriate decisions. Chemical cues are commonly used by aquatic vertebrates to assess local threats and facilitate behavioural decision making. Previous studies on chemosensory assessment of risk have largely focused on damage-released alarm cues, with the cues released by disturbed or stressed prey (i.e., disturbance cues) receiving less attention. Disturbance cues are “early-warning signals” common among aquatic vertebrates that may warn conspecific and heterospecific prey guild members of potential risk. Initially, we conducted a series of laboratory studies to determine (i) if guppies (Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859) produce and respond to disturbance cues and (ii) if relative concentration (donor group size) determines response intensity. Secondly, we examined if guppies and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata (Günther, 1867)) show similar response patterns to their own vs. heterospecific disturbance cues. Our results suggest that guppies exhibit increased predator avoidance behaviour to conspecific disturbance cues (relative to water from undisturbed conspecifics) and increased donor group size lead to stronger antipredator responses. However, although guppies and cichlids respond to each other’s disturbance cues, we found no effect of donor group size towards heterospecific disturbance cues. Our results suggest that disturbance cues are not generalized cues and present a degree of species-specificity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does donor group size matter? The response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to disturbance cues from conspecific and heterospecific donors

et al. 2019

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“…59–62]. Learning about predators can occur through direct experience or through social learning from experienced individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from the mistakes of others: How female elk (Cervus elaphus) adjust behaviour with age to avoid hunters

2017

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In animal behaviour, there is a dichotomy between innate behaviours (e.g., temperament or personality traits) versus those behaviours shaped by learning. Innate personality traits are supposedly less evident in animals when confounded by learning acquired with experience through time. Learning might play a key role in the development and adoption of successful anti-predator strategies, and the related adaptation has the potential to make animals that are more experienced less vulnerable to predation. We carried out a study in a system involving a large herbivorous mammal, female elk, Cervus elaphus, and their primary predator, i.e., human hunters. Using fine-scale satellite telemetry relocations, we tested whether differences in behaviour depending on age were due solely to selection pressure imposed by human hunters, meaning that females that were more cautious were more likely to survive and become older. Or whether learning also was involved, meaning that females adjusted their behaviour as they aged. Our results indicated that both human selection and learning contributed to the adoption of more cautious behavioural strategies in older females. Whereas human selection of behavioural traits has been shown in our previous research, we here provide evidence of additive learning processes being responsible for shaping the behaviour of individuals in this population. Female elk are indeed almost invulnerable to human hunters when older than 9–10 y.o., confirming that experience contributes to their survival. Female elk monitored in our study showed individually changing behaviours and clear adaptation as they aged, such as reduced movement rates (decreased likelihood of encountering human hunters), and increased use of secure areas (forest and steeper terrain), especially when close to roads. We also found that elk adjusted behaviours depending on the type of threat (bow and arrow vs. rifle hunters). This fine-tuning by elk to avoid hunters, rather than just becoming more cautious during the hunting season, highlights the behavioural plasticity of this species. Selection on behavioural traits and/or behavioural shifts via learning are an important but often-ignored consequence of human exploitation of wild animals. Such information is a critical component of the effects of human exploitation of wildlife populations with implications for improving their management and conservation.

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“…McCormick (2009) found that juvenile P. amboinensis were located further away from bleached and degraded coral than live coral and suggested that this may be due to the noxious cues from degrading habitat pushing individuals further away from the shelter. Olfactory cues are a crucial source of information with which to inform their activities, particularly for site-attached organisms, providing information on foraging opportunities (DeBose & Paul, 2014), available mates (Oliveira & Gonc ßalves, 2008), stressful encounters (Manassa et al, 2013) and successful or attempted predation events (L€ onnstedt & McCormick, 2015). By moving further away from degraded habitats, fish may be attempting to extract themselves from the boundary layer of the coral and enable themselves to receive unmodified olfactory information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat degradation disrupts neophobia in juvenile coral reef fish

McCormick

Chivers

Allan

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

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Habitat degradation not only disrupts habitat-forming species, but alters the sensory landscape within which most species must balance behavioural activities against predation risk. Rapidly developing a cautious behavioural phenotype, a condition known as neophobia, is advantageous when entering a novel risky habitat. Many aquatic organisms rely on damage-released conspecific cues (i.e. alarm cues) as an indicator of impending danger and use them to assess general risk and develop neophobia. This study tested whether settlement-stage damselfish associated with degraded coral reef habitats were able to use alarm cues as an indicator of risk and, in turn, develop a neophobic response at the end of their larval phase. Our results indicate that fish in live coral habitats that were exposed to alarm cues developed neophobia, and, in situ, were found to be more cautious, more closely associated with their coral shelters and survived four-times better than non-neophobic control fish. In contrast, fish that settled onto degraded coral habitats did not exhibit neophobia and consequently suffered much greater mortality on the reef, regardless of their history of exposure to alarm cues. Our results show that habitat degradation alters the efficacy of alarm cues with phenotypic and survival consequences for newly settled recruits.

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Social learning of predators in the dark: understanding the role of visual, chemical and mechanical information

Cited by 30 publications

References 50 publications

Does donor group size matter? The response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to disturbance cues from conspecific and heterospecific donors

Does donor group size matter? The response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to disturbance cues from conspecific and heterospecific donors

Learning from the mistakes of others: How female elk (Cervus elaphus) adjust behaviour with age to avoid hunters

Habitat degradation disrupts neophobia in juvenile coral reef fish

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