Behavioural and physiological plasticity in social hierarchies

Individuals occupying dominant and subordinate positions in social hierarchies exhibit divergent behaviours, physiology and neural functioning. Dominant animals express higher levels of dominance behaviours such as aggression, territorial defence and mate-guarding. Dominants also signal their status via auditory, visual or chemical cues. Moreover, dominant animals typically increase reproductive behaviours and show enhanced spatial and social cognition as well as elevated arousal. These biobehavioural changes increase energetic demands that are met via shifting both energy intake and metabolism and are supported by coordinated changes in physiological systems including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axes as well as altered gene expression and sensitivity of neural circuits that regulate these behaviours. Conversely, subordinate animals inhibit dominance and often reproductive behaviours and exhibit physiological changes adapted to socially stressful contexts. Phenotypic changes in both dominant and subordinate individuals may be beneficial in the short-term but lead to long-term challenges to health. Further, rapid changes in social ranks occur as dominant animals socially ascend or descend and are associated with dynamic modulations in the brain and periphery. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of how behavioural and phenotypic changes associated with social dominance and subordination are expressed in neural and physiological plasticity. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’.

Discerning Poland’s Contemporary Strategic Culture: An analysis of the 2020 National Security Strategy of the Republic of Poland

The article analyses the Polish government’s recently published National Security Strategy in an attempt to discern the broad outlines of the strategic culture within Poland’s strategic community. The article adopts a ‘fourth generation’ approach to the conception of strategic culture, which posits that there are often rival subcultures within strategic communities, which can often result in dramatic shifts in a state’s security policies over time. There is a brief discussion of how conflicting subcultures can be identified in Poland’s foreign policies in the past before the article discusses what Poland’s current Strategy reveals about the strategic culture of today’s decision-makers. It broadly argues that there are obvious continuities in Poland’s security policies, notably in terms of how the Russian Federation is regarded as a hostile state and the degree to which NATO and the EU serve to strengthen Poland’s security. It is also possible to see more minor shifts in Poland’s security policies in recent years, such as a renewed emphasis on territorial defence and a willingness to align itself with several states which are relatively antagonistic towards the EU.

THE PUBLIC’S PERCEPTION OF THE TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCES IN POLAND

Povzetek Vojaški urad za družbene raziskave Vojaškega centra za državljansko vzgojo, ki se ukvarja z družbenimi raziskavami v vojaškem okolju, med drugim proučuje tudi delovanje in dejavnosti Teritorialne obrambe Poljske ter vedenje njenih pripadnikov. Poljake so spraševali, ali menijo, da bi morale biti naloge te nove formacije predvsem pomoč pri obvladovanju posledic naravnih in drugih nesreč, obramba lokalnega prebivalstva in infrastrukture ali druge oblike vojaškega delovanja. Teritorialna obramba je sodelovala tudi pri obvladovanju posledic pandemije na Poljskem. Glavni cilj članka je predstaviti veliko poljsko raziskavo na temo Poljske Teritorialne obrambe. Ključne besede Teritorialna obramba, družbene raziskave, družbena percepcija, SARS-CoV 2, krizno upravljanje. Abstract The functioning and activities of the Territorial Defence Forces and the behaviour of its soldiers are among the many interests of the Military Office of Social Research in the Military Centre for Civic Education, which conducts social research in the military environment. Poles were asked if they believed that the tasks of this new formation should primarily be assistance in actions to combat the effects of natural and other disasters, defence of local people and infrastructure, or other military operations. The Territorial Defence Forces engaged in the fight against the consequences of the pandemic in Poland. The main goal of this article is to present the major Polish research dedicated to the Polish Territorial Defence Forces. Key words Territorial Defence Forces, social research, social perception, SARS-CoV 2, crisis management.

EDITORIAL INDIVIDUAL, STATE, SECURITY

The final issue of Contemporary Military Challenges in 2021 focuses on specific demanding topics. Despite the variety of such topics, this issue focuses mainly on Covid-19 and the situations it has created in the area of security, and how that has impacted individuals, the country as a whole, and its public institution representatives. The focus lies on the security of an individual as a value which is also crucial for the individual personally. This becomes even more important when the individual comes in contact with others, in particularly those who work in state institutions. Last but not least, the issue highlights the importance of the security of the state as the broadest multitude of individuals. In the time marked by Covid-19, the attention of individuals and society as a whole has been focused on people’s health and security. In trying to ensure the latter, the people involved in this process find themselves in variously difficult situations in which even those whose primary occupation is to provide care for others are in one way or another exposed to risks due to their work. Communication and the way in which we communicate are very important even in normal circumstances. In special circumstances, which the Covid-19 period definitely has been, communication is essential. In his recent article published in the Dnevnik daily newspaper’s Saturday supplement “Objektiv”, Igor Kotnik, who holds a PhD in defence studies, writes about the importance of communication in the times of Covid-19. In his article, entitled “Communication in the Times of Covid: From Fear to Peace”, he addresses the importance of the management conducted by the state and its institutions while taking into account the social, mass situations, feelings and responses. He writes that “we have entrusted their management to the state and its institutions by means of a contract, and the latter should strive to reduce the number of citizens who might respond to such situations with denial or fear through the work they put into the management of unpleasant and dangerous situations”. This is a very difficult process, which puts to the test the knowledge and integrity of each person at an individual level in both the domestic and work environments. With regard to the professions in charge of managing the crisis marked by this disease at the national level, the main things put to the test are leadership skills, interpersonal relationships, stress management, public performance, self-protective behaviour, and managing the masses, all with the intent of minimizing the feeling of fear, mistrust and insecurity to the greatest extent possible, and establishing a feeling of security by emphasizing logical explanations and thinking, which should prevail over uncontrolled emotions and possible distress. The example of Covid-19 has many characteristics of a crisis. Whenever a crisis period lasts a long time and is very specific, it can lead to serious changes in the fields of ethics, morale, law, human rights, social values, and security, which can be quite alarming. The papers in this issue address specific aspects of managing the special situations and circumstances that the authors have decided to share with others. In his paper, Suicidality in the Police, Bruno Blažina reveals the research in this field and compares it to the occurrence of the phenomenon and the resulting intervention in the Slovenian Armed Forces and in certain foreign states which are dealing with this issue in a more or less effective way. He assesses that the Slovenian Armed Forces are addressing suicidality in the Slovenian Armed Forces in a systemic way, while the police have not yet established such a system. He proposes new measures for the prevention of suicidality in this state body. Małgorzata Zielińska, Joanna Łatacz and Joanna Zauer write about The Public's Perception of the Territorial Defence Forces in Poland. Poland introduced territorial defence at the beginning of 2017. The researchers focus mainly on the public opinion of its tasks, which the TDF is supposed to carry out within the Polish national security system. The territorial defence is supposed to be active in the system of protection, rescue and relief, be in charge of the safety of the inhabitants and critical infrastructure, and even participate in the implementation of military tasks. The Polish Government has included its territorial defence in the fight against Covid-19. In her paper, Gabriella Ráczkevy-Deák studied the occurrence of Violent Acts against Healthcare Institutions and Workers in Hungary. Their expert knowledge in the field of healthcare does not suffice for confronting challenges such as violent patients, their family members, and even co-workers. In state institutions, additional knowledge and experience from other fields are becoming increasingly sought after. The author focuses mainly on knowledge in the field of communication, self-esteem and self-defence, and offers some system solutions. Rok Filipčič writes about Cultural Heritage and its Preservation in the Times of Armed Conflict. He presents a chronological overview of the development of this field, the key milestones in contemporary history and in the international legal order, and the measures that were introduced for the purposes of protecting cultural heritage at home and abroad. The author presents Slovenian successes and lessons learned, and attributes special emphasis to the protection of this field from the aspect of a military organization. The Military Museum, working within the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, gives special attention to the protection of military cultural heritage in Slovenia.

Whistling in the Dark: an Acoustic Study of Little Spotted Kiwi

<p>Song function and evolution are two central topics of avian bioacoustic research. Discerning why birds sing and why they have such diversity of song can yield rich information on behaviour and speciation, and can provide important tools for conservation. Knowledge of vocal behaviour of a wide range of bird groups is necessary, yet avian bioacoustic studies have been hampered by a bias towards male song birds, with many species and even whole groups relatively unstudied. The New Zealand kiwi (Apterygidae) are vocal and threatened taxa, and calls play an important part in their conservation. Yet kiwi acoustic behaviour is poorly understood, and although the five species differ significantly in their ecology, only one has been subject to detailed acoustic study. This thesis addresses this gap in knowledge of kiwi ecology with the first acoustic study of the little spotted kiwi (LSK). The principal aims are to improve understanding of kiwi calling behaviour, and to provide further acoustic tools for kiwi conservation. On a broader scale, enhanced knowledge of the acoustic ecology of the taxonomically and ecologically distinct kiwi will provide insight into song function and signal evolution in all birds. Sexual call dimorphism in LSK is shown to be unrelated to size differences, and instead has likely functional significance, with male calls more suited for territorial defence. There is striking ‘acoustic cooperation’ between the sexes which constrains the function of duets in LSK. Analysis of complex vocal features, the first in any ratite, reveals that two-voicing is unexpectedly rare in this species, but that non-linear phenomena are common. Their association with territorial calls and high frequencies indicates that these features provide acoustic emphasis to enhance resource defence or convey aggression or fitness information. Non-linear phenomena are very common in nestling LSK calls, in accordance with the hypothesis that they add unpredictability to prevent habituation. LSK have surprisingly low inter-individual call variability, suggesting that this species may not use calls for individual identification. This lack of variability may be a result of the low genetic diversity in this species. A long-term dataset reveals significant fluctuations in calling rates with temporal and environmental factors. These trends indicate that calls serve an important function for reproduction and pair contact, and that calls may reflect foraging activity. They also provide evidence that kiwi are adversely affected by light pollution. A comparison of automated acoustic methods with manual call counts shows that while they have a different biases, autonomous techniques are highly effective for kiwi conservation monitoring. Microphone array methods have great potential for enhancing conservation and behavioural information through spatial monitoring of kiwi, but are demonstrated not to be suitable with currently available equipment.</p>

Whistling in the Dark: an Acoustic Study of Little Spotted Kiwi

<p>Song function and evolution are two central topics of avian bioacoustic research. Discerning why birds sing and why they have such diversity of song can yield rich information on behaviour and speciation, and can provide important tools for conservation. Knowledge of vocal behaviour of a wide range of bird groups is necessary, yet avian bioacoustic studies have been hampered by a bias towards male song birds, with many species and even whole groups relatively unstudied. The New Zealand kiwi (Apterygidae) are vocal and threatened taxa, and calls play an important part in their conservation. Yet kiwi acoustic behaviour is poorly understood, and although the five species differ significantly in their ecology, only one has been subject to detailed acoustic study. This thesis addresses this gap in knowledge of kiwi ecology with the first acoustic study of the little spotted kiwi (LSK). The principal aims are to improve understanding of kiwi calling behaviour, and to provide further acoustic tools for kiwi conservation. On a broader scale, enhanced knowledge of the acoustic ecology of the taxonomically and ecologically distinct kiwi will provide insight into song function and signal evolution in all birds. Sexual call dimorphism in LSK is shown to be unrelated to size differences, and instead has likely functional significance, with male calls more suited for territorial defence. There is striking ‘acoustic cooperation’ between the sexes which constrains the function of duets in LSK. Analysis of complex vocal features, the first in any ratite, reveals that two-voicing is unexpectedly rare in this species, but that non-linear phenomena are common. Their association with territorial calls and high frequencies indicates that these features provide acoustic emphasis to enhance resource defence or convey aggression or fitness information. Non-linear phenomena are very common in nestling LSK calls, in accordance with the hypothesis that they add unpredictability to prevent habituation. LSK have surprisingly low inter-individual call variability, suggesting that this species may not use calls for individual identification. This lack of variability may be a result of the low genetic diversity in this species. A long-term dataset reveals significant fluctuations in calling rates with temporal and environmental factors. These trends indicate that calls serve an important function for reproduction and pair contact, and that calls may reflect foraging activity. They also provide evidence that kiwi are adversely affected by light pollution. A comparison of automated acoustic methods with manual call counts shows that while they have a different biases, autonomous techniques are highly effective for kiwi conservation monitoring. Microphone array methods have great potential for enhancing conservation and behavioural information through spatial monitoring of kiwi, but are demonstrated not to be suitable with currently available equipment.</p>

Radioactivity level of coastal sediments and water across the Sangihe Island as the outlying islands of Indonesia

Indonesia as an archipelagic country is very concerned about maritime development, the outlying islands are the entrance for potential threats of radioactive distribution from global waters. Furthermore, the outlying islands have functions such as territorial defence, security, and sovereignty, economic and ecological. As environmental protection, level of natural and anthropogenic radioactivity was performed due to potential threats. The activity concentration of natural (226Ra, 232Th, and 40K) radionuclides inshore sediments samples are range from 3.44 ± 0.01 Bq kg−1, 5.13 ± 0.03 Bq kg−1 and 151.42 ± 0.04 Bq kg−1 respectively and average concentration level of anthropogenic of 137Cs in sediment and seawater obtained were 0.35 Bq kg−1 and 0.83 Bq m3 respectively. The concentrations value of NORM was lower compare to another region but the ratio sequence 226Ra<232Th<40K relatively have same pattern. The presence of fission product 137Cs in this region comes from global fallout since no nuclear activities in Indonesia and the level of 137Cs are almost same as the estimation the concentration 137Cs in the Pacific Ocean and comparable with other studies. Radioactivity levels in all samples are under the value of radiological hazard index (0.004-0.039, trace hold h-index=1) and annual effective dose rate are in save level (0.01 mSv/y, recommended limit AED=1mSv/year). The level of NORM radioactivity is locally and varied for each region meanwhile anthropogenic radioactivity are global and comparable since there are no nuclear activity in Indonesia.

The many functions of vocal learning

The capacity to learn novel vocalizations has evolved convergently in a wide range of species. Courtship songs of male birds or whales are often treated as prototypical examples, implying a sexually selected context for the evolution of this ability. However, functions of learned vocalizations in different species are far more diverse than courtship, spanning a range of socio-positive contexts from individual identification, social cohesion, or advertising pair bonds, as well as agonistic contexts such as territorial defence, deceptive alarm calling or luring prey. Here, we survey the diverse usages and proposed functions of learned novel signals, to build a framework for considering the evolution of vocal learning capacities that extends beyond sexual selection. For each function that can be identified for learned signals, we provide examples of species using unlearned signals to accomplish the same goals. We use such comparisons to generate hypotheses concerning when vocal learning is adaptive, given a particular suite of socio-ecological traits. Finally, we identify areas of uncertainty where improved understanding would allow us to better test these hypotheses. Considering the broad range of potential functions of vocal learning will yield a richer appreciation of its evolution than a narrow focus on a few prototypical species. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Vocal learning in animals and humans’.

The impact of anthropogenic noise on individual identification via female song in Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus)

When anthropogenic noise occurs simultaneously with an acoustic signal or cue, it can be difficult for an animal to interpret the information encoded within vocalizations. However, limited research has focused on how anthropogenic noise affects the identification of acoustic communication signals. In songbirds, research has also shown that black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) will shift the pitch and change the frequency at which they sing in the presence of anthropogenic, and experimental noise. Black-capped chickadees produce several vocalizations; their fee-bee song is used for mate attraction and territorial defence, and contains information about dominance hierarchy and native geographic location. Previously, we demonstrated that black-capped chickadees can discriminate between individual female chickadees via their fee-bee songs. Here we used an operant discrimination go/no-go paradigm to discern whether the ability to discriminate between individual female chickadees by their song would be impacted by differing levels of anthropogenic noise. Following discrimination training, two levels of anthropogenic noise (low: 40 dB SPL; high: 75 dB SPL) were played with stimuli to determine how anthropogenic noise would impact discrimination. Results showed that even with low-level noise (40 dB SPL) performance decreased and high-level (75 dB SPL) noise was increasingly detrimental to discrimination. We learned that perception of fee-bee songs does change in the presence of anthropogenic noise such that birds take significantly longer to learn to discriminate between females, but birds were able to generalize responding after learning the discrimination. These results add to the growing literature underscoring the impact of human-made noise on avian wildlife, specifically the impact on perception of auditory signals.

Salmon subsidies predict territory size and habitat selection of an avian insectivore

The annual migration and spawning event of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) can lead to cross-boundary delivery of marine-derived nutrients from their carcasses into adjacent terrestrial ecosystems. The densities of some passerine species, including Pacific wrens (Troglodytes pacificus), have been shown to be positively correlated with salmon abundance along streams in Alaska and British Columbia, but mechanisms maintaining these densities remain poorly understood. Riparian areas near salmon streams could provide higher quality habitat for birds through greater food availability and more suitable vegetation structure for foraging and breeding, resulting in wrens maintaining smaller territories. We examined relationships between salmon biomass and Pacific wren territory size, competition, and habitat selection along 11 streams on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. We show that male wren densities increase and territory sizes decrease as salmon-spawning biomass increases. Higher densities result in higher rates of competition as male wrens countersing more frequently to defend their territories along streams with more salmon. Wrens were also more selective of the habitats they defended along streams with higher salmon biomass; they were 68% less likely to select low-quality habitat on streams with salmon compared with 46% less likely at streams without salmon. This suggests a potential trade-off between available high-quality habitat and the cost of competition that structures habitat selection. Thus, the marine-nutrient subsidies provided by salmon carcasses to forests lead to higher densities of wrens while shifting the economics of territorial defence toward smaller territories being defended more vigorously in higher quality habitats.