Elevation-related differences in annual survival of adult food-caching mountain chickadees are consistent with natural selection on spatial cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Benedict ◽  
A. M. Pitera ◽  
C. L. Branch ◽  
D. Y. Kozlovsky ◽  
B. R. Sonnenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Annual Survival ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
Adult Food ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

scholarly journals Natural Selection and Spatial Cognition in Wild Food-Caching Mountain Chickadees

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 670-676.e3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Sonnenberg ◽  
Carrie L. Branch ◽  
Angela M. Pitera ◽  
Eli Bridge ◽  
Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Wild Food ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

scholarly journals Predictably harsh environment is associated with reduced cognitive flexibility in wild food-caching mountain chickadees

2017 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Croston ◽  
Carrie L. Branch ◽  
Angela M. Pitera ◽  
Dovid Y. Kozlovsky ◽  
Eli S. Bridge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Wild Food ◽  
Harsh Environment ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

Information maintenance of food sources is associated with environment, spatial cognition and age in a food-caching bird

2021 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 153-172
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Benedict ◽  
Angela M. Pitera ◽  
Carrie L. Branch ◽  
Benjamin R. Sonnenberg ◽  
Virginia K. Heinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Food Caching

scholarly journals Mountain chickadees from different elevations sing different songs: acoustic adaptation, temporal drift or signal of local adaptation?

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 150019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie L. Branch ◽  
Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Keyword(s):  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Continuous Distribution ◽  
Song Structure ◽  
Local Adaptations ◽  
Acoustic Adaptation ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

Song in songbirds is widely thought to function in mate choice and male–male competition. Song is also phenotypically plastic and typically learned from local adults; therefore, it varies across geographical space and can serve as a cue for an individual's location of origin, with females commonly preferring males from their respective location. Geographical variation in song dialect may reflect acoustic adaptation to different environments and/or serve as a signal of local adaptation. In montane environments, environmental differences can occur over an elevation gradient, favouring local adaptations across small spatial scales. We tested whether food caching mountain chickadees, known to exhibit elevation-related differences in food caching intensity, spatial memory and the hippocampus, also sing different dialects despite continuous distribution and close proximity. Male songs were collected from high and low elevations at two different mountains (separated by 35 km) to test whether song differs between elevations and/or between adjacent populations at each mountain. Song structure varied significantly between high and low elevation adjacent populations from the same mountain and between populations from different mountains at the same elevations, despite a continuous distribution across each mountain slope. These results suggest that elevation-related differences in song structure in chickadees might serve as a signal for local adaptation.

scholarly journals Ecologically relevant spatial memory use modulates hippocampal neurogenesis

2009 ◽  
Vol 277 (1684) ◽  
pp. 1071-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara D. LaDage ◽  
Timothy C. Roth ◽  
Rebecca A. Fox ◽  
Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Hippocampal Neurogenesis ◽  
Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Adult Hippocampus ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

The adult hippocampus in birds and mammals undergoes neurogenesis and the resulting new neurons appear to integrate structurally and functionally into the existing neural architecture. However, the factors underlying the regulation of new neuron production is still under scrutiny. In recent years, the concept that spatial memory affects adult hippocampal neurogenesis has gained acceptance, although results attempting to causally link memory use to neurogenesis remain inconclusive, possibly owing to confounds of motor activity, task difficulty or training for the task. Here, we show that ecologically relevant, spatial memory-based experiences of food caching and retrieving directly affect hippocampal neurogenesis in mountain chickadees ( Poecile gambeli ). We found that restricting memory experiences in captivity caused significantly lower rates of neurogenesis, as determined by doublecortin expression, compared with captive individuals provided with such experiences. However, neurogenesis rates in both groups of captive birds were still greatly lower than those in free-ranging conspecifics. These findings show that ecologically relevant spatial memory experiences can directly modulate neurogenesis, separate from other confounds that may also independently affect neurogenesis.

scholarly journals Smart is the new sexy: female mountain chickadees increase reproductive investment when mated to males with better spatial cognition

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 897-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie L. Branch ◽  
Angela M. Pitera ◽  
Dovid Y. Kozlovsky ◽  
Eli S. Bridge ◽  
Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

Untangling Elevation-Related Differences in the Hippocampus in Food-Caching Mountain Chickadees: The Effect of a Uniform Captive Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A. Freas ◽  
K. Bingman ◽  
L.D. LaDage ◽  
V.V. Pravosudov
Keyword(s):  
Food Caching ◽  
Mountain Chickadees

scholarly journals Specialized spatial cognition is associated with reduced cognitive senescence in a food-caching bird

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1947) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia K. Heinen ◽  
Angela M. Pitera ◽  
Benjamin R. Sonnenberg ◽  
Lauren M. Benedict ◽  
Carrie L. Branch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Spatial Learning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Wild Food ◽  
Spatial Learning And Memory ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Food Caching ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Survival And Reproduction

Senescence, the gradual reduction and loss of function as organisms age, is a widespread process that is especially pronounced in cognitive abilities. Senescence appears to have a genetic basis and can be affected by evolutionary processes. If cognitive senescence is shaped by natural selection, it may be linked with selection on cognitive abilities needed for survival and reproduction, such that species where fitness is directly related to cognitive abilities should evolve delayed cognitive senescence likely resulting in higher lifetime fitness. We used wild food-caching mountain chickadees, which rely on specialized spatial cognition to recover thousands of food caches annually, to test for cognitive senescence in spatial learning and memory and reversal spatial learning and memory abilities. We detected no signs of age-related senescence in spatial cognitive performance on either task in birds ranging from 1 to 6 years old; older birds actually performed better on spatial learning and memory tasks. Our results therefore suggest that cognitive senescence may be either delayed (potentially appearing after 6 years) or negligible in species with strong selection on cognitive abilities and that food-caching species may present a useful model to investigate mechanisms associated with cognitive senescence.

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