Genetic basis of between-individual and within-individual variance of docility

Funded by Alces Software UCLA Academic Senate Division of Life Sciences National Geographic Society National Science Foundation. Grant Numbers: IDBR-0754247, DEB-1119660, DBI-0242960, DBI-0731346 University of Aberdeen Data deposited at Dryad: doi:10.5061/dryad.11vf0.Peer reviewedPostprin

Spearfishing-induced behavioral changes of an unharvested species inside and outside a marine protected area.

By prohibiting fishing, marine protected areas (MPAs) provide a refuge for harvested species. Humans are often perceived as predators by prey and therefore respond fearfully to humans. Thus, fish responses to humans inside and outside of an MPA can provide insights into their perception of humans as a predatory threat. Previous studies have found differences in the distance that harvested species of fish initiate flight (flight initiation distance-FID) from humans inside and outside an MPA, but less is known about unharvested species. We focused on whether the lined bristletooth Ctenochaetus striatus, an unharvested surgeonfish, can discriminate between a snorkeler and a snorkeler with a spear gun inside and outside of a no-take MPA in Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Additionally, we incorporated starting distance (the distance between the person and prey at the start of an experimental approach), a variable that has been found to be important in assessing prey escape decisions in terrestrial species, but that has not been extensively studied in aquatic systems. Lined bristletooth FID was significantly greater in the presence of a spear gun and varied depending on if the spear gun encounter was inside or outside of the MPA. These results imply a degree of sophistication of fish antipredator behavior, generate questions as to how a nontargeted species of fish could acquire fear of humans, and demonstrate that behavioral surveys can provide insights about antipredator behavior

Age and sex influence marmot antipredator behavior during periods of heightened risk

Animals adjust their antipredator behavior according to environmental variation in risk, and to account for their ability to respond to threats. Intrinsic factors that influence an animal’s ability to respond to predators (e.g., age, body condition) should explain variation in antipredator behavior. For example, a juvenile might allocate more time to vigilance than an adult because mortality as a result of predation is often high for this age class; however, the relationship between age/vulnerability and antipredator behavior is not always clear or as predicted. We explored the influence of intrinsic factors on yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) antipredator behavior using data pooled from 4 years of experiments. We hypothesized that inherently vulnerable animals (e.g., young, males, and individuals in poor condition) would exhibit more antipredator behavior prior to and immediately following conspecific alarm calls. As expected, males and yearlings suppressed foraging more than females and adults following alarm call playbacks. In contrast to predictions, animals in better condition respond more than animals in below average condition. Interestingly, these intrinsic properties did not influence baseline time budgets; animals of all ages, sexes, and condition levels devoted comparable amounts of time to foraging prior to alarm calls. Our results support the hypothesis that inherent differences in vulnerability influence antipredator behavior; furthermore, it appears that a crucial, but poorly acknowledged, interaction exists between risk and state-dependence. Elevated risk may be required to reveal the workings of state-dependent behavior, and studies of antipredator behavior in a single context may draw incomplete conclusions about age- or sex-specific strategies

¿El tamaño y la orientación del grupo intruso afecta a la distancia de iniciación al vuelo en aves?

Wildlife managers use flight initiation distance (FID), the distance animals flee an approaching predator, to determine set back distances to minimize human impacts on wildlife. FID is typically estimated by a single person; this study examined the effects of intruder number and orientation on FID. Three different group size treatments (solitary person, two people side–by–side, two people one–behind–the–other) were applied to Pied Currawongs (Strepera graculina) and to Crimson Rosellas (Platycerus elegans). Rosellas flushed at significantly greater distances when approached by two people compared to a single person. This effect was not seen in currawongs. Intruder orientation did not influence the FID of either species. Results suggest that intruder number should be better integrated into estimates of set back distance to manage human visitation around sensitive species.Los gestores de la fauna utilizan la distancia de iniciación al vuelo (FID), la distancia a la que los animales huyen cuando se les acerca un depredador, para determinar las distancias de respuesta a fin de minimizar el impacto humano en la fauna. La FID es estimada típicamente por una sola persona; este estudio examinó los efectos del número y de la orientación del intruso en la FID. Se aplicaron tres tratamientos distintos de tamaño del grupo (persona solitaria, dos personas una al lado de la otra, dos personas una detras de la otra) a currawongs cálidos (Strepera graculina) y a pericos elegantes (Platycerus elegans). Los pericos elegantes huían a distancias perceptiblemente mayores cuando se le acercaban dos personas que cuando se le acercaba una sola. Este efecto no fue observado en los currawongs pálidos. La orientación del intruso no influenció en la FID de ninguna especie. Los resultados sugieren que el número de intrusos debería ser considerado en las estimaciones de las distancias de respuesta, para poder gestionar las visitas de personas cerca de especies sensibles

Heritability and genetic correlations of personality traits in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris)

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Acknowledgments We thank all the marmoteers that helped collect data over the years, and specifically Amanda Lea for help with the pedigree and Leon Chong for help in the field. The comments of two anonymous reviewers helped us improve our original MS. M.B.P. was funded by two U.S. Department of Education GAANN Fellowships, an NSF GK-12 Fellowship, and the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. J.G.A.M. was supported by a Marie-Curie Fellowship. D.T.B was supported by the National Geographic Society, UCLA (Faculty Senate and the Division of Life Sciences), a Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research fellowship and by the NSF (IDBR-0754247 and DEB-1119660 to D.T.B., as well as DBI 0242960 and 0731346 to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory).Peer reviewedPostprin

American Exceptionalism: Population Trends and Flight Initiation Distances in Birds from Three Continents

Background All organisms may be affected by humans' increasing impact on Earth, but there are many potential drivers of population trends and the relative importance of each remains largely unknown. The causes of spatial patterns in population trends and their relationship with animal responses to human proximity are even less known. Methodology/Principal Finding We investigated the relationship between population trends of 193 species of bird in North America, Australia and Europe and flight initiation distance (FID); the distance at which birds take flight when approached by a human. While there is an expected negative relationship between population trend and FID in Australia and Europe, we found the inverse relationship for North American birds; thus FID cannot be used as a universal predictor of vulnerability of birds. However, the analysis of the joint explanatory ability of multiple drivers (farmland breeding habitat, pole-most breeding latitude, migratory habit, FID) effects on population status replicated previously reported strong effects of farmland breeding habitat (an effect apparently driven mostly by European birds), as well as strong effects of FID, body size, migratory habit and continent. Farmland birds are generally declining. Conclusions/Significance Flight initiation distance is related to population trends in a way that differs among continents opening new research possibilities concerning the causes of geographic differences in patterns of anti-predator behavior

Expressive and Instrumental Offending: Reconciling the Paradox of Specialisation and Versatility

Although previous research into specialisation has been dominated by the debate over the existence of specialisation versus versatility, it is suggested that research needs to move beyond the restrictions of this dispute. The current study explores the criminal careers of 200 offenders based on their criminal records, obtained from a police database in the North West of England, aiming to understand the patterns and nature of specialisation by determining the presence of differentiation within their general offending behaviours and examining whether the framework of Expressive and Instrumental offending styles can account for any specialised tendencies that emerge. Fifty-eight offences were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis. Results revealed that a model of criminal differentiation could be identified and that any specialisation is represented in terms of Expressive and Instrumental offending styles

Assessing immediate emotions in the Theory of Planned Behavior can substantially contribute to increases in pro-environmental behavior

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a highly influential and powerful behavior change model that offers promising guidance on promoting urgently needed, pro-environmental action. Recent pro-environmental research has successfully augmented TPB using anticipated emotions—the emotions an individual consciously predicts they will experience in relation to possible outcomes of their decision. However, immediate emotions—the emotions an individual actually experiences during decision-making—have received far less attention. Given that immediate emotions are relevant to pro-environmental decision-making and can address the theoretical and empirical limitations of TPB, we contend that pro-environmental studies should explicitly examine immediate emotions within the TPB framework. This article aims to stimulate rigorous research that enhances pro-environmental communication and policymaking by providing integrative insights into immediate emotions along with recommendations for evaluating immediate emotions in a pro-environmental TPB context

Brain-behavior relationships in incidental learning of non-native phonetic categories

Available online 12 September 2019.Research has implicated the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) in mapping acoustic-phonetic input to sound category representations, both in native speech perception and non-native phonetic category learning. At issue is whether this sensitivity reflects access to phonetic category information per se or to explicit category labels, the latter often being required by experimental procedures. The current study employed an incidental learning paradigm designed to increase sensitivity to a difficult non-native phonetic contrast without inducing explicit awareness of the categorical nature of the stimuli. Functional MRI scans revealed frontal sensitivity to phonetic category structure both before and after learning. Additionally, individuals who succeeded most on the learning task showed the largest increases in frontal recruitment after learning. Overall, results suggest that processing novel phonetic category information entails a reliance on frontal brain regions, even in the absence of explicit category labels.This research was supported by NIH grant R01 DC013064 to EBM and NIH NIDCD Grant R01 DC006220 to SEB. The authors thank F. Sayako Earle for assistance with stimulus development; members of the Language and Brain lab for help with data collection and their feedback throughout the project; Elisa Medeiros for assistance with collection of fMRI data; Paul Taylor for assistance with neuroimaging analyses; and attendees of the 2016 Meeting of the Psychonomic Society and the 2017 Meeting of the Society for Neurobiology of Language for helpful feedback on this project. We also extend thanks to two anonymous reviewers for helpful feedback on a previous version of this manuscript