Marine plastic debris emits a keystone infochemical for olfactory foraging seabirds

Savoca, Matthew S.; Wohlfeil, Martha E.; Ebeler, Susan E.; Nevitt, Gabrielle A.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600395

Cited by 239 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

154

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Consider the sad case of seabirds that consume plastic they find in the ocean, resulting in poisoning and malnutrition. They do so because the chemical odor of the plastic is similar to that of dimethyl sulfide, a compound found in marine algae (159). The birds are effectively tricked into eating plastic because it smells like food.…”

Section: Norms and Essentialism In Nonhuman Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How language shapes the cultural inheritance of categories

Gelman

Roberts

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is widely recognized that language plays a key role in the transmission of human culture, but relatively little is known about the mechanisms by which language simultaneously encourages both cultural stability and cultural innovation. This paper examines this issue by focusing on the use of language to transmit categories, focusing on two universal devices: labels (e.g., shark, woman) and generics (e.g., "sharks attack swimmers"; "women are nurturing"). We propose that labels and generics each assume two key principles: norms and essentialism. The normative assumption permits transmission of category information with great fidelity, whereas essentialism invites innovation by means of an open-ended, placeholder structure. Additionally, we sketch out how labels and generics aid in conceptual alignment and the progressive "looping" between categories and cultural practices. In this way, human language is a technology that enhances and expands the categorization capacities that we share with other animals.language | categories | essentialism | norms | children

show abstract

Section: Norms and Essentialism In Nonhuman Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How language shapes the cultural inheritance of categories

Gelman

Roberts

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the narrowness of foraging cues becomes an issue when seabirds encounter ocean plastic because it emits dimethyl sulfide, a potent foraging cue (Savoca et al, 2016), and therefore many species are prone to errors of over-generalization based on a single cue error.…”

Section: Will Animals Generalize When Stimuli Change?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges of Learning to Escape Evolutionary Traps

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many animals respond well behaviorally to stimuli associated with human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC), such as novel predators or food sources. Yet others make errors and succumb to evolutionary traps: approaching or even preferring low quality, dangerous or toxic options, avoiding beneficial stimuli, or wasting resources responding to stimuli with neutral payoffs. A common expectation is that learning should help animals adjust to HIREC; however, learning is not always expected or even favored in many scenarios that expose animals to ecological and evolutionary traps. We propose a conceptual framework that aims to explain variation in when learning can help animals avoid and escape traps caused by HIREC. We first clarify why learning to correct two main types of errors (avoiding beneficial options and approaching detrimental options) might be difficult (limited by constraints). We then identify and discuss several key behavioral mechanisms (adaptive sampling, generalization, habituation, reversal learning) that can be targeted to help animals learn to avoid traps. Finally, we discuss how individual differences in neophobia/neophilia and personality relate to learning in the context of HIREC traps, and offer some general guidance for disarming traps. Given how devastating traps can be for animal populations, any breakthrough in mitigating trap outcomes via learning could make the difference in developing effective solutions.

show abstract

“…Certain seabirds have been found to ingest large quantities of plastics. Recently, Savoca et al (2016) proposed that procellariforms were ingesting large amounts of plastics because they are attracted to the chemical compound dimethyl sulphide (DMS), which is associated with marine plastics. This is possibly due to DMS also being a natural compound released by marine algae, producing a scent that can be picked up by marine organisms including seabirds and may represent a biological cue for the presence of food.…”

Section: Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%