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

¿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

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

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

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

Chaos, containment and change: responding to persistent offending by young people

This article reviews policy developments in Scotland concerning 'persistent young offenders' and then describes the design of a study intended to assist a local planning group in developing its response. The key findings of a review of casefiles of young people involved in persistent offending are reported. It emerges that youth crime and young people involved in offending are more complex and heterogeneous than is sometimes assumed. This, along with a review of some literature about desistance from offending, reaffirms the need for properly individualised interventions. Studies of 'desisters' suggest the centrality of effective and engaging working relationships in this process. However, these studies also re-assert the significance of the social contexts of workers’ efforts to bring 'change' out of 'chaos'. We conclude therefore that the 'new correctionalism' must be tempered with appreciation of the social exclusion of young people who offend

High Antipredatory Efficiency of Insular Lizards: A Warning Signal of Excessive Specimen Collection?

We live-captured lizards on islands in the Gulf of California and the Baja California peninsula mainland, and compared their ability to escape predation. Contrary to expectations, endemic lizard species from uninhabited islands fled from humans earlier and more efficiently than those from peninsular mainland areas. In fact, 58.2% (n = 146) of the lizards we tried to capture on the various islands escaped successfully, while this percentage was only 14.4% (n = 160) on the peninsular mainland. Separate evidence (e.g., proportion of regenerated tails, low human population at the collection areas, etc.) challenges several potential explanations for the higher antipredatory efficiency of insular lizards (e.g., more predation pressure on islands, habituation to humans on the peninsula, etc.). Instead, we suggest that the ability of insular lizards to avoid predators may be related to harvesting by humans, perhaps due to the value of endemic species as rare taxonomic entities. If this hypothesis is correct, predation-related behavioral changes in rare species could provide early warning signals of their over-exploitation, thus encouraging the adoption of conservation measures

Maternal effects on anogenital distance in a wild marmot population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD