scholarly journals Cross-Context Responses to Novelty in Rural and Urban Small Mammals

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Mazza ◽  
Inken Czyperreck ◽  
Jana A. Eccard ◽  
Melanie Dammhahn

The Anthropocene is the era of urbanization. The accelerating expansion of cities occurs at the expense of natural reservoirs of biodiversity and presents animals with challenges for which their evolutionary past might not have prepared them. Cognitive and behavioral adjustments to novelty could promote animals’ persistence under these altered conditions. We investigated the structure of, and covariance between, different aspects of responses to novelty in rural and urban small mammals of two non-commensal rodent species. We ran replicated experiments testing responses to three novelty types (object, food, or space) of 47 individual common voles (Microtus arvalis) and 41 individual striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius). We found partial support for the hypothesis that responses to novelty are structured, clustering (i) speed of responses, (ii) intensity of responses, and (iii) responses to food into separate dimensions. Rural and urban small mammals did not differ in most responses to novelty, suggesting that urban habitats do not reduce neophobia in these species. Further studies investigating whether comparable response patters are found throughout different stages of colonization, and along synurbanization processes of different duration, will help illuminate the dynamics of animals’ cognitive adjustments to urban life.

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Evans ◽  
F. J. C. Fletcher ◽  
P. J. Loader ◽  
F. G. Rooksby

SummaryThe avifauna of Western Samoa is dominated by indigenous species, including several endemic ones. They are primarily birds of the rainforest and, since the islands have already suffered severe loss of this habitat and there is likely to be increased pressure on it in the future, their long-term prospects are not good. At present, introduced, non-native birds are not a threat to indigenous species, being confined largely to urban habitats, and there is little interaction with forest species. Several indigenous species exploit manmodified habitats, however, and it is possible that, as has occurred elsewhere, some of them may adapt fully to urban life.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Geggie ◽  
M. B. Fenton

We compared the foraging activity of populations of Eptesicus fuscus in rural and urban settings in eastern Ontario and western Quebec by monitoring their echolocation calls and by radio tracking individuals during the summer of 1980. Foraging was detected in all of the rural and urban habitats we monitored. There were no significant differences in the levels of foraging activity over different urban habitats, but the overall foraging rates were significantly higher in the rural than in the urban areas. Foraging in rural areas was significantly higher in residential zones and over water and was less common in parkland and farmland. Bats in rural areas foraged among aggregations of insects at lights, a pattern of behaviour not seen among urban bats. Differences in foraging rates and the fact that rural bats spent significantly less time away from their roosts suggest that prey density was lower in the urban setting. Although urban habitats appear to provide E. fuscus with a wealth of roosting sites, food supplies are lower there.


2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 142-147
Author(s):  
Josef Suchomel ◽  
Jan Šipoš ◽  
Ladislav Čepelka ◽  
Marta Heroldová

A unique evaluation of the apple tree trunk bark damage caused by common vole and European hare was presented. Damage was found in an apple orchard under organic farming, in Central Moravia (Czech Republic), at 700 m a.s.l. There were two cultivated apple cultivars Red Spring and Melodie/Angold. Damage occurred in winter with the snow cover lasting from December to February. In total 1 012 trees and 95.7% of trees were damaged. The cv. Red Spring was damaged more than cv. Melodie/Angold. Almost 90% of the dead trees were killed by common voles. While hares damaged both cultivars equally, voles damaged the cv. Red Spring to a significantly greater extent (P = 0.04). The study confirms the need of further research on the development of methodologies for orchard protection from damage caused by small mammals.


2014 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 295-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent van der Vinne ◽  
Mirre J.P. Simons ◽  
Inonge Reimert ◽  
Menno P. Gerkema

Author(s):  
Ndyetabura O. Theonest ◽  
Ryan W. Carter ◽  
Elizabeth Kasagama ◽  
Julius D. Keyyu ◽  
Gabriel M. Shirima ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 2315-2327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jareño ◽  
Javier Viñuela ◽  
Juan José Luque-Larena ◽  
Leticia Arroyo ◽  
Beatriz Arroyo ◽  
...  

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