Predator encounters have spatially extensive impacts on parental behaviour in a breeding bird community

Predation risk has negative indirect effects on prey fitness, partly mediated through changes in behaviour. Evidence that individuals gather social information from other members of the population suggests that events in a community may impact the behaviour of distant individuals. However, spatially wide-ranging impacts on individual behaviour caused by a predator encounter elsewhere in a community have not been documented before. We investigated the effect of a predator encounter (hawk model presented at a focal nest) on the parental behaviour of pied flycatchers ( Ficedula hypoleuca ), both at the focal nest and at nearby nests different distances from the predator encounter. We show that nest visitation of both focal pairs and nearby pairs were affected, up to 3 h and 1 h, respectively. Parents also appeared to compensate initial disrupted feeding by later increasing nest visitation rates. This is the first evidence showing that the behaviour of nearby pairs was affected away from an immediate source of risk. Our results indicate that the impacts of short-term predator encounters may immediately extend spatially to the broader community, affecting the behaviour of distant individuals. Information about predators is probably quickly spread by cues such as intra- and heterospecific alarm calls, in communities of different taxa.

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Too risky to settle: avian community structure changes in response to perceived predation risk on adults and offspring

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2013.0762 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 280 (1764) ◽

pp. 20130762 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Fangyuan Hua ◽

Robert J. Fletcher ◽

Kathryn E. Sieving ◽

Robert M. Dorazio

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Natural History ◽

Predation Risk ◽

Large Scale ◽

Life History Theory ◽

Life History Strategy ◽

Bird Community ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Potential Force ◽

Perceived Predation Risk

Predation risk is widely hypothesized as an important force structuring communities, but this potential force is rarely tested experimentally, particularly in terrestrial vertebrate communities. How animals respond to predation risk is generally considered predictable from species life-history and natural-history traits, but rigorous tests of these predictions remain scarce. We report on a large-scale playback experiment with a forest bird community that addresses two questions: (i) does perceived predation risk shape the richness and composition of a breeding bird community? And (ii) can species life-history and natural-history traits predict prey community responses to different types of predation risk? On 9 ha plots, we manipulated cues of three avian predators that preferentially prey on either adult birds or offspring, or both, throughout the breeding season. We found that increased perception of predation risk led to generally negative responses in the abundance, occurrence and/or detection probability of most prey species, which in turn reduced the species richness and shifted the composition of the breeding bird community. Species-level responses were largely predicted from the key natural-history trait of body size, but we did not find support for the life-history theory prediction of the relationship between species' slow/fast life-history strategy and their response to predation risk.

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A question of size and fear: competition and predation risk perception among frugivores and predators

Journal of Mammalogy ◽

10.1093/jmammal/gyaa034 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 101 (3) ◽

pp. 648-657

Author(s):

Daiane Cristina Carreira ◽

Jedediah F Brodie ◽

Calebe P Mendes ◽

Katia Maria P M B Ferraz ◽

Mauro Galetti

Keyword(s):

Risk Perception ◽

Predation Risk ◽

Indirect Effects ◽

Species Interactions ◽

Human Impacts ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Fruit Trees ◽

Visitation Rates ◽

Top Predators ◽

Large Predators

Abstract Mammalian spatial and temporal activity patterns can vary depending on foraging behavior or the perception of predation or competition risk among species. These behaviors may in turn be altered by human influences such as defaunation. Herein, we evaluate whether frugivores avoid areas with high visitation rates by potential predators or competitors, and whether this avoidance changes in areas with different degrees of defaunation. We installed 189 cameras under fruit trees in six areas of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil, that differ in the abundance of top predators and large frugivores. Small predators and small frugivores were more frequent at night while large frugivores were more frequent during the day, but small frugivores visited and spent less time at fruiting trees on brighter nights, unlike large predators and large frugivores. Small frugivores also were less frequent in areas with high visitation by large frugivores and more frequent in highly defaunated areas. Our results suggest that the dynamics among mammalian functional groups varied according to diel patterns, potential competitors, and defaunation. We highlight the importance of understanding how species interactions are changing in areas exposed to strong human impacts to mitigate the indirect effects of defaunation.

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Avian Predation Risk Modifies Breeding Bird Community on a Farmland Area

Ecology ◽

10.2307/1939623 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 75 (6) ◽

pp. 1626-1634 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Jukka Suhonen ◽

Kai Norrdahl ◽

Erkki Korpimaki

Keyword(s):

Predation Risk ◽

Bird Community ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Avian Predation

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Evaluating Riparian Restoration Success: Long-Term Responses of the Breeding Bird Community in California’s Lower Putah Creek Watershed

Ecological Restoration ◽

10.3368/er.36.1.76 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 76-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kristen E. Dybala ◽

Andrew Engilis ◽

John A. Trochet ◽

Irene E. Engilis ◽

Melanie L. Truan

Keyword(s):

Bird Community ◽

Riparian Restoration ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Restoration Success ◽

Creek Watershed ◽

Putah Creek

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Effect of forest management on the breeding bird community in southern Sweden

Biological Conservation ◽

10.1016/0006-3207(79)90061-2 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 135-143 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Sven G. Nilsson

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Bird Community ◽

Southern Sweden ◽

Breeding Bird

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Behavioural responses of voles to simulated risk of predation by a native and an alien mustelid: an odour manipulation experiment

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr08031 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 273 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Karen Fey ◽

Peter B. Banks ◽

Hannu Ylönen ◽

Erkki Korpimäki

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Predation Risk ◽

Myodes Glareolus ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Short Term ◽

Behavioural Responses ◽

Alien Predator ◽

Risk Of Predation ◽

The Baltic ◽

The Impact

Context. Potential mammalian prey commonly use the odours of their co-evolved predators to manage their risks of predation. But when the risk comes from an unknown source of predation, odours might not be perceived as dangerous, and anti-predator responses may fail, except possibly if the alien predator is of the same archetype as a native predator. Aims. In the present study we examined anti-predator behavioural responses of voles from the outer archipelagos of the Baltic Sea, south-western Finland, where they have had no resident mammalian predators in recent history. Methods. We investigated responses of field voles (Microtus agrestis) to odours of native least weasels (Mustela nivalis) and a recently invading alien predator, the American mink (Mustela vison), in laboratory. We also studied the short-term responses of free-ranging field voles and bank voles (Myodes glareolus) to simulated predation risk by alien mink on small islands in the outer archipelago of the Baltic Sea. Key results. In the laboratory, voles avoided odour cues of native weasel but not of alien mink. It is possible that the response to mink is a context dependent learned response which could not be induced in the laboratory, whereas the response to weasel is innate. In the field, however, voles reduced activity during their normal peak-activity times at night as a response to simulated alien-mink predation risk. No other shifts in space use or activity in safer microhabitats or denser vegetation were apparent. Conclusions. Voles appeared to recognise alien minks as predators from their odours in the wild. However, reduction in activity is likely to be only a short-term immediate response to mink presence, which is augmented by longer-term strategies of habitat shift. Because alien mink still strongly suppresses vole dynamics despite these anti-predator responses, we suggest that behavioural naiveté may be the primary factor in the impact of an alien predator on native prey. Implications. Prey naiveté has long been considered as the root cause of the devastating impacts of alien predators, whereby native prey simply fail to recognise and respond to the novel predation risk. Our results reveal a more complex form of naiveté whereby native prey appeared to recognise alien predators as a threat but their response is ultimately inadequate. Thus, recognition alone is unlikely to afford protection for native prey from alien-predator impacts. Thus, management strategies that, for example, train prey in recognition of novel threats must induce effective responses if they are expected to succeed.

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Effects of the Introduction of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca on the Composition of a Passerine Bird Community

Ornis Scandinavica ◽

10.2307/3676218 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 79 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Anders Enemar ◽

Bengt Sjostrand

Keyword(s):

Bird Community ◽

Passerine Bird ◽

Ficedula Hypoleuca

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Crying wolf to a predator: deceptive vocal mimicry by a bird protecting young

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2015.0798 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 282 (1809) ◽

pp. 20150798 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Branislav Igic ◽

Jessica McLachlan ◽

Inkeri Lehtinen ◽

Robert D. Magrath

Keyword(s):

Indirect Effects ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Alarm Calls ◽

Toxic Species ◽

Vocal Mimicry ◽

Primary Nest ◽

Defence Strategy ◽

Multiple Species ◽

Defensive Mimicry ◽

As If

Animals often mimic dangerous or toxic species to deter predators; however, mimicry of such species may not always be possible and mimicry of benign species seems unlikely to confer anti-predator benefits. We reveal a system in which a bird mimics the alarm calls of harmless species to fool a predator 40 times its size and protect its offspring against attack. Our experiments revealed that brown thornbills ( Acanthiza pusilla ) mimic a chorus of other species' aerial alarm calls, a cue of an Accipiter hawk in flight, when predators attack their nest. The absence of any flying predators in this context implies that these alarms convey deceptive information about the type of danger present. Experiments on the primary nest predators of thornbills, pied currawongs ( Strepera graculina ), revealed that the predators treat these alarms as if they themselves are threatened by flying hawks, either by scanning the sky for danger or fleeing, confirming a deceptive function. In turn, these distractions delay attack and provide thornbill nestlings with an opportunity to escape. This sophisticated defence strategy exploits the complex web of interactions among multiple species across several trophic levels, and in particular exploits a predator's ability to eavesdrop on and respond appropriately to heterospecific alarm calls. Our findings demonstrate that prey can fool predators by deceptively mimicking alarm calls of harmless species, suggesting that defensive mimicry could be more widespread because of indirect effects on predators within a web of eavesdropping.

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