Prey Responses to Predator's Sounds: A Review and Empirical Study

Hettena, Alexandra M.; Munoz, Nicole E.; Blumstein, Daniel T.

doi:10.1111/eth.12219

Cited by 84 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Thus, we expected to see the highest stress levels and the lowest activity in treatments with variable temperature and predatory cues. In stable temperature treatments with non-predatory bird sounds the activity was expected to stay species-typical and stress levels low , Hettena et al 2014. …”

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confidence: 99%

Sex‐specific variation in the onset of reproduction and reproductive trade‐offs in a boreal small mammal

Sipari

Haapakoski

Klemme

et al. 2014

Ecology

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The global climate change is predicted to cause notable alterations in winter conditions in northern areas. This raises many questions about its possible consequences on northern species and ecosystems. In many areas the time period with an intact snow cover is about to get shorter or even vanish altogether. As the overwintering success of many small mammals is strongly dependent on the protection provided by the snow cover against severe weather conditions and predation, it is obvious that these kinds of environmental alterations should affect the overwintering physiology and behavior, as well as the initiation of breeding after winter. In this thesis I have studied the winter ecology of a small boreal rodent species, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), and the possible consequences of climate change on the physiology, behavior and onset of reproduction in this species. I conducted four experiments under laboratory (II-IV) and semi-natural conditions (I, III). One of my experiments was purely methodological (IV), providing me with validated and accurate endocrinological study methods, and thereby enabling my other experiments. I found that the sex-ratio of the overwintering population affects the physiology and behavior of bank voles and thus, leads to divergent overwintering strategies (I). I was also able to show that the changing winter conditions related to climate change alter the circadian activity pattern and possibly even the anti-predator behavior of this species (II). Further, my studies showed contrasting sex differences in the response to environmental cues regulating the onset of reproduction after winter (III). In case of rapid environmental changes, this could lead to a reproductive mismatch between the sexes and thus, strongly affect fitness. The results of my thesis provide new information about the overwintering mechanisms of a winter-active small boreal rodent, and may help us to predict some of the possible consequences of climate change on northern boreal ecosystems.Keywords: Climate change; overwintering; onset of reproduction; physiology; behavior, predation risk. Science, P.O. Box 35, Saana Sipari, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONSThe thesis is based on the following original papers, which will be referred to in the text by their Roman numerals I-IV. ISipari, S., Haapakoski, M., Klemme, I., Palme, R., Sundell, J., Ylönen, H. Population sex-ratio affecting behavior and physiology of overwintering bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Manuscript. Writing*: I was the main writer in all articles (I-IV), but all authors named in the respective studies contributed to the writing with several comments and notations. INTRODUCTIONSeasonality plays an essential role in the life histories of many species, affecting their physiology, behavior, reproduction and survival. The strongest seasonality occurs in high latitude areas, like the Arctic and boreal regions, where spring, summer, autumn and winter all represent distinct periods in t...

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confidence: 99%

Sex‐specific variation in the onset of reproduction and reproductive trade‐offs in a boreal small mammal

Sipari

Haapakoski

Klemme

et al. 2014

Ecology

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“…Playback experiments can and have been used to test the behavioural responses of animals to an enormous range of sounds, including the vocalizations of other animals (Hettena, Munoz & Blumstein ; King ), and anthropogenic noises (Francis & Barber ); and camera traps provide the means to remotely observe virtually any animal in the wild (Hamel et al . ; Burton et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), dogs (e.g., raccoons, Suraci et al . ), anthropogenic noise (Francis & Barber ), predators (180 experiments on everything from toads to elephants, reviewed in Hettena, Munoz & Blumstein ), competitors (e.g., black bears and cougars, Suraci et al . ; hyenas and African wild dogs, Webster, McNutt & McComb ), potential mates (e.g., lions, McComb et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new Automated Behavioural Response system to integrate playback experiments into camera trap studies

et al. 2017

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Summary How animals respond to anthropogenic disturbances is a core component of conservation biology and how they respond to predators and competitors is equally of central importance to wildlife ecology. Camera traps have rapidly become a critical tool in wildlife research by providing a fully automated means of observing animals without needing an observer present, permitting data to be collected on rare or elusive species and infrequent events. Snapshots from camera traps revealing a species’ presence have been the principal data used to date to gauge behaviour; but, lacking experimental controls, such data permit only correlational analyses potentially open to confounding effects. Playback experiments provide a powerful means to directly test the behavioural responses of animals, enabling strong inferences and rigorous conclusions not subject to the potential confounds affecting the interpretation of snapshot data; the principal factor to date limiting the use of playback experiments being the need to have an observer present. We developed an Automated Behavioural Response system (ABR) comprising a custom‐built motion‐sensitive speaker system that can be paired with any commercially available camera trap, providing the means to conduct playback experiments directly testing the behavioural responses of any species that can be ‘caught’ on a camera trap. We describe field tests in Uganda, Canada and the USA, experimentally testing the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and interactions among large carnivores, in species as diverse as elephants, black bears, chimpanzees and cougars; experiments that would be completely infeasible without the ABR. We evaluate factors affecting the rate of successful data collection in the experiments in Uganda and Canada, and detail how we maximized the system's performance in the USA experiment. By integrating the power playback experiments provide to directly and rigorously test behavioural responses with the capacity camera trapping affords to study virtually any animal anywhere, the ABR can both greatly expand the range of research questions addressed by conservation biologists and wildlife ecologists and qualitatively improve the rigour of the resulting conclusions. We discuss various ways to optimize the ABR's performance in any circumstance, and the many novel research opportunities made available by this new methodology.

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“…Animals should use any available information to assess the risk of predation, and many species have evolved the ability to respond to sounds that are associated with risk. Such information may come directly from the sounds that predators produce (e.g., Hettena, Munoz, & Blumstein, 2014), indirectly from alarm calls produced by conspecifics (e.g., Klump & Shalter, 1984), or indirectly from alarm calls produced by similarly vulnerable members of other species (Magrath, Haff, Fallow, & Radford, 2015). Taken together this literature has shown that many species capitalize on available acoustic information to improve their assessments of risk, and that even species that do not produce sounds are able to respond to acoustic cues of risk (Huang, Lubarsky, Teng, & Blumstein, 2011;Vitousek, Adelman, Gregory, & St. Clair, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shift down, look up: A test of the non‐linearity and fear hypothesis in a non‐vocal skink

et al. 2019

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The non‐linearity and fear hypothesis predicts that certain non‐linear sounds are one way to evoke antipredator responses in both birds and mammals. This hypothesis, however, has not been studied in non‐vocal species or in reptiles. Such a study would be important because if non‐linear sounds are evocative even in a species that does not produce sounds, then there may be generally salient cues of risk in these sounds. We asked whether non‐vocal lizards, white‐bellied copper‐striped skinks (Emoia cyanura), respond to experimentally broadcast non‐linearities. This species is ideal to ask the question in because prior research has shown that they respond to predator sounds and alarm calls of other species even though they are not vocal. We conducted playback experiments with three computer‐generated simulated non‐linearities to assess whether or not skinks increased antipredator behavior after hearing them. We controlled for novelty by broadcasting a 3‐kHz, 500‐ms pure tone and tropical kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) song. Our treatments consisted of a 3‐kHz, 400‐ms pure tone followed by a frequency shift up to 5‐kHz for 100‐ms, a 3‐kHz, 400‐ms pure tone to frequency shift down to 1‐kHz for 100‐ms, and a pure tone followed by 100‐ms of white noise. Following a total of 222 playbacks, we categorized responses into looking, locomotion, and high locomotion, focusing on how skinks changed their rates of time allocation from baseline. We examined 95% confidence intervals to identify whether skinks responded to playbacks and fitted general linear models followed by pairwise comparisons to ask whether skinks discriminated between broadcast stimuli. We found that skinks were especially responsive to frequency downshifts: They significantly increased looking and locomotion, consistent with our predictions based on the non‐linearity and fear hypothesis. Surprisingly, they decreased rates of looking behavior after hearing frequency upshifts, possibly suggesting an increase in relaxed behavior. While skinks responded to noise by increasing their rate of locomotion, this response was not significantly different from controls. We conclude that skinks increase antipredator behavior after hearing downshifts more than any other type of non‐linearity. This provides some support for the non‐linearity and fear hypothesis; even non‐vocal species may respond fearfully to specific types of non‐linear sounds.

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Prey Responses to Predator's Sounds: A Review and Empirical Study

Cited by 84 publications

References 75 publications

Sex‐specific variation in the onset of reproduction and reproductive trade‐offs in a boreal small mammal

Sex‐specific variation in the onset of reproduction and reproductive trade‐offs in a boreal small mammal

A new Automated Behavioural Response system to integrate playback experiments into camera trap studies

Shift down, look up: A test of the non‐linearity and fear hypothesis in a non‐vocal skink

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