Dispersing brush mice prefer habitat like home

During natal dispersal, young animals leave their natal area and search for a new area to live. In species in which individuals inhabit different types of habitat, experience with a natal habitat may increase the probability that a disperser will select the same type of habitat post-dispersal (natal habitat preference induction or NHPI). Despite considerable interest in the ecological and the evolutionary implications of NHPI, we lack empirical evidence that it occurs in nature. Here we show that dispersing brush mice (Peromyscus boylii) are more likely to search and settle within their natal habitat type than expected based on habitat availability. These results document the occurrence of NHPI in nature and highlight the relevance of experience-generated habitat preferences for ecological and evolutionary processes

Effects of natural and anthropogenic change on habitat use and movement of endangered salt marsh harvest mice.

The northern salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris halicoetes) is an endangered species endemic to the San Francisco Bay Estuary. Using a conservation behavior perspective, we examined how salt marsh harvest mice cope with both natural (daily tidal fluctuations) and anthropogenic (modification of tidal regime) changes in natural tidal wetlands and human-created diked wetlands, and investigated the role of behavioral flexibility in utilizing a human-created environment in the Suisun Marsh. We used radio telemetry to determine refuge use at high tide, space use, and movement rates to investigate possible differences in movement behavior in tidal versus diked wetlands. We found that the vast majority of the time salt marsh harvest mice remain in vegetation above the water during high tides. We also found no difference in space used by mice during high tide as compared to before or after high tide in either tidal or diked wetlands. We found no detectable difference in diurnal or nocturnal movement rates in tidal wetlands. However, we did find that diurnal movement rates for mice in diked wetlands were lower than nocturnal movement rates, especially during the new moon. This change in movement behavior in a relatively novel human-created habitat indicates that behavioral flexibility may facilitate the use of human-created environments by salt marsh harvest mice

Effects of low-density urbanization on genetic structure in the Song Sparrow.

Urbanization fragments landscapes and can impede the movement of organisms through their environment, which can decrease population connectivity. Reduction in connectivity influences gene flow and allele frequencies, and can lead to a reduction in genetic diversity and the fixation of certain alleles, with potential negative effects for populations. Previous studies have detected effects of urbanization on genetic diversity and structure in terrestrial animals living in landscapes that vary in their degree of urbanization, even over very short distances. We investigated the effects of low-intensity urbanization on genetic diversity and genetic structure in Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia). We captured 208 Song Sparrows at seven sites along a gradient of urbanization in and around Blacksburg, VA, USA, then genotyped them using a panel of fifteen polymorphic microsatellite loci. We found that genetic diversity was comparable among the seven study sites, and there was no evidence of genetic structuring among sites. These findings suggest that over a gradient of urbanization characterized by low density urban development, Song Sparrows likely exist in a single panmictic population

Supplement 1. Details of the spatially-explicit capture–recapture model, including R code and all data files.

<h2>File List</h2><div> <p><a href="SECR_Wojan_MultiSession_v7_1.R">SECR_Wojan_MultiSession_v7_1.R</a> (MD5: de06a7bd07f3d7feb96d1e9c69cb05b8)   <i>R code for SECR analysis</i></p> <p><a href="MultiSession20131112captures.txt">MultiSession20131112captures.txt</a> (MD5: 7dab2facef2bb179cacc4dcbdd8abcc2)   <i>mark-recapture data for population density estimates</i></p> <p><a href="MultiSession20131112sessions.txt">MultiSession20131112sessions.txt</a> (MD5: d3f25b235e111124755bfd4fa6b3b1c0)   <i>data identifying trap sessions</i></p> <p><a href="MultiSession20131112traps.txt">MultiSession20131112traps.txt</a> (MD5: f2df71eaf8eb8e29a3bdd3aba49c4560)   <i>data identifying X,Y UTM coordinates of trap locations</i></p> <p><a href="NatalSettleLocations20131118.csv">NatalSettleLocations20131118.csv</a> (MD5: d1dd10122476ff05f1092369ca619483)   <i>X,Y UTM coordinates of pre- and post-dispersal locations of radio-tracked animals</i></p> <p><a href="NatalSettleLocations20131118long.csv">NatalSettleLocations20131118long.csv</a> (MD5: 94e43854158cfb8ba61d7ab3752f2d7d)<i>   X,Y UTM coordinates of pre- and post-dispersal locations of radio-tracked animals in long format</i></p> <p><a href="NatalSettleLocationsSet2_20140103.csv">NatalSettleLocationsSet2_20140103.csv</a> (MD5: )   <i>X,Y UTM coordinates of pre- and post-dispersal locations of trapped animals</i></p> <p><a href="NatalSettleLocationsSet2_20140103long.csv">NatalSettleLocationsSet2_20140103long.csv</a> (MD5: )<i>    X,Y UTM coordinates of pre- and post-dispersal locations of trapped animals in long format</i></p> <p><a href="SECR_Wojan_MultiSession_v7_1_20140707_out.txt">SECR_Wojan_MultiSession_v7_1_20140707_out.txt</a> (MD5: 98d356356211c7b780bff18a985dd604)   <i>R code to create an output file holding the results of the SECR analysis</i></p> </div><h2>Description</h2><div> <p><b>SECR_Wojan_MultiSession_v7_1.R</b></p> <p>This is the R script used to run the spatially-explicit capture-recapture (SECR) analysis. Except for changing directory references, this file (along with the accompanying 3 data files) could be used to recreate the analysis used in this manuscript.</p> <p><b>MultiSession20131112captures.txt</b></p> <p>This file contains the mark-recapture information for the individual mice used in the population density estimates (focal dispersers are not included in this file).</p> <p>The variables are:</p> <ul> <li>trap – this is the unique number for each trap. These numbers correspond to the variable "trapID" in the file MultiSession20131112traps.txt, which gives the (X,Y) coordinates for each trap number. Coordinates are in UTM Zone 10. </li> <li>id – this is a unique identifier to each individual mouse used in the population density estimates.  These do not include or correspond to any of the dispersing mice used in the analysis.</li> <li>session – this is a uniquely coded time period corresponding to a multi-day trapping session. See the variable "sessionID" in the file MultiSession20131112sessions.txt for the information for each session including the number of trap nights and date.</li> </ul> <p><b>MultiSession20131112sessions.txt</b></p> <p>This file contains data identifying each session (the variable "session" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt).</p> <p>The variables are:</p> <ul> <li>sessionID – these are unique identifiers for each multi-day trapping session and correspond to the variable "session" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt</li> <li>nights – this is the number of trapping nights for each trapping session (either 2 or 3)</li> <li>year – this is the year during which that trapping session was conducted.</li> <li>month – this is the month during which the first night of the trapping session was conducted, 1=January, 2=February, 3=March, etc.</li> <li>firstday – this is the date of the month for the first night of the multiple nights of trapping for that trapping session</li> </ul> <p>For example, sessionID=1 was for 3 nights beginning on 23 June 2004.</p> <p><b>MultiSession20131112traps.txt</b></p> <p>This file contains the trap location data (this becomes the R data frame "trapcoords")<br> The variables are:</p> <ul> <li>trapID – these are simply unique identifiers (1 to 43) for each trap and correspond to the variable "trap" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt</li> <li>UTMx – this is the x-axis UTM coordinate for each trap (UTM Zone 10)</li> <li>UTMy – this is the y-axis UTM coordinate for each trap (UTM Zone 10)</li> </ul> <p><b>NatalSettleLocations20131118.csv</b></p> <p>This file contains the UTM coordinates (Zone 10) for each disperser from the radio-tracked data set ("Set 1").</p> <p>The variables are:</p> <ul> <li>ID - this is a unique identifier for a dispersing individual</li> <li>natalX – this is the x-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its natal site</li> <li>natalY – this is the y-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its natal site</li> <li>natalsession - this identifies the trapping session for the natal period and corresponds to the variable "session" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt and the variable "sessionID" in the file MultiSession20131112sessions.txt</li> <li>settleX - this is the x-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its settlement site</li> <li>settleY - this is the y-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its settlement site</li> <li>settlesession - this identifies the trapping session for the settlement period and corresponds to the variable "session" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt and the variable "sessionID" in the file MultiSession20131112sessions.txt</li> <li>set - this identifies that these dispersers belong to "Set 1" (the radio-tracked set of dispersers)</li> </ul> <p><b>NatalSettleLocations20131118long.csv</b></p> <p>This file contains the UTM coordinates (Zone 10) for each disperser from the radio-tracked data set ("Set 1").</p> <p>The variables are:</p> <ul> <li>Period – this identifies if the location is the dispersers "natal" or "settle" location</li> <li>ID – this is a unique identifier for a dispersing individual</li> <li>UTMx – this is the x-axis UTM coordinate for the location (natal/settle)</li> <li>UTMy – this is the y-axis UTM coordinate for the location (natal/settle)</li> <li>session – this identifies the trapping session and corresponds to the variable "session" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt and the variable "sessionID" in the file MultiSession20131112sessions.txt</li> <li>set – this identifies that these dispersers belong to "Set 1" (the  radio-tracked set of dispersers)</li> </ul> <p><b> </b><b>NatalSettleLocationsSet2_20140103.csv</b></p> <p>This file contains the UTM coordinates (Zone 10) for each disperser from the live-trapped data set ("Set 2").</p> <p>The variables are:</p> <ul> <li>ID - this is a unique identifier for a dispersing individual</li> <li>natalX – this is the x-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its natal site</li> <li>natalY – this is the y-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its natal site</li> <li>natalsession - this identifies the trapping session for the natal period and corresponds to the variable "session" in the file MultiSession20131112captures.txt and the variable "sessionID" in the file MultiSession20131112sessions.txt</li> <li>settleX - this is the x-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its settlement site</li> <li>settleY - this is the y-axis UTM coordinate of the disperser at its settlement site</li> </ul></div><p>...</p

Social mating system and sex-biased dispersal in mammals and birds: a phylogenetic analysis.

The hypothesis that patterns of sex-biased dispersal are related to social mating system in mammals and birds has gained widespread acceptance over the past 30 years. However, two major complications have obscured the relationship between these two behaviors: 1) dispersal frequency and dispersal distance, which measure different aspects of the dispersal process, have often been confounded, and 2) the relationship between mating system and sex-biased dispersal in these vertebrate groups has not been examined using modern phylogenetic comparative methods. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of the relationship between mating system and sex-biased dispersal in mammals and birds. Results indicate that the evolution of female-biased dispersal in mammals may be more likely on monogamous branches of the phylogeny, and that females may disperse farther than males in socially monogamous mammalian species. However, we found no support for a relationship between social mating system and sex-biased dispersal in birds when the effects of phylogeny are taken into consideration. We caution that although there are larger-scale behavioral differences in mating system and sex-biased dispersal between mammals and birds, mating system and sex-biased dispersal are far from perfectly associated within these taxa

Average movement rates of salt marsh harvest in meters per hour for treatments.

<p>All rates before, during, and after high tides are included in this analysis.</p><p>Average movement rates of salt marsh harvest in meters per hour for treatments.</p