The Ecological Significance of Behavioral Dominance

GauthreauxJr., Sidney A.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-2901-5_2

Cited by 228 publications

(166 citation statements)

References 222 publications

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“…The first hypothesis proposes that males and females each specialize in a particular habitat type (Morton 1990), and that consequences of habitat occupancy will be within a sex and within each habitat type and are the result of intrasexual competition. The second hypothesis proposes that more dominant individuals (mostly males) exclude subordinate birds (mainly females) from preferred habitats (Gauthreaux 1978, Lynch et al 1985, Marra et al 1993, and implies that males and females compete with one another for limiting resources. Evidence from removal experiments, from observations of habitat choice by young, naive birds, and from measurements of aggression in American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) in Jamaica supports the second hypothesis, that is, that behavioral dominance structures patterns of sexual habitat segregation (Marra et al 1993, Marra 2000.…”

Section: Consequences Of Habitat Segregationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, Price (1981), Faaborg et al (1984), and Baillie and Peach (1992) have all found relationships between declining precipitation and declines in habitat condition and bird abundance in India, the Caribbean, and Africa, respectively. Thus, end of winter may represent a period of severe food limitation in many tropical locations (Brown 1969, Gauthreaux 1978) during a critical time when individuals must prepare for spring migration, in some species molt, and to arrive at breeding areas in optimal condition as early as possible.…”

Section: Femalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consequences of Dominance-Mediated Habitat Segregation in American Redstarts during the Nonbreeding Season

Marra¹,

Holmes²

2001

The Auk

148

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ABSTRACT.-Several species of migratory songbirds exhibit a distinct form of habitat segregation while on their Neotropical wintering grounds in which males and females occupy different habitat types. In the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), that sexual habitat segregation is a result of behavioral dominance of older males. In that study, we examined whether such dominance behavior and the resulting differential habitat segregation has consequences for the condition or survival of excluded individuals. We quantified the physical condition and survival of redstarts (both males and females) occupying two habitat types that differed in the proportion of males and females present in Jamaica. Both sexes of redstarts occupying female-biased habitat lost significantly more mass over-winter and had lower annual survival and longevity compared to individuals in male-biased habitat. These results suggest that nonbreeding habitats differed in suitability, with the least suitable habitat being occupied predominately by females. Because most female redstarts are forced to over-winter in these kinds of habitats, they may often be in poor physiological condition prior to departing on spring migration for the breeding grounds. This in turn may influence dynamics of the breeding period by determining their condition and perhaps reproductive success. Furthermore, because winter habitat segregation appears to lower female survivorship, it may also limit the number and availability of breeding females. These results implicate events that occur during the nonbreeding period as playing a critical role in the annual dynamics of this migratory species. Received 30 September 1999, accepted 8 August 2000 IDENTIFYING THE FACTORS that limit abundance of organisms is essential to understanding their population dynamics. Unfortunately, this is difficult because of the complex life cycles of most organisms and problems in assessing relative importance of factors such as weather, food, habitat, and intra-and interspecific interactions. The complexities associated with determining limiting processes becomes especially apparent for long-distance migratory birds that range over large geographical areas.Progress toward identifying factors that control population dynamics of migratory birds has been further hindered because most studies have focused on describing patterns (e.g. distribution and habitat associations: see papers in Keast and Morton 1980, Hagan and Johnston 1992, Martin and Finch 1995 rather than understanding population processes. This emphasis is especially true for research on migrant songbirds in their Neotropical wintering

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Section: Consequences Of Habitat Segregationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Femalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of Dominance-Mediated Habitat Segregation in American Redstarts during the Nonbreeding Season

Marra¹,

Holmes²

2001

The Auk

148

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“…A migrant faces increased risks of exposure, predation and disease; lack of familiarity with an area may reduce foraging efficiency; and resident conspecifics may attack strangers more severely than familiar individuals. Among small mammals, at least, it is likely that these risks are too much for most dispersers, and mortality rates among emigrants are usually high (reviewed by Gauthreaux 1978;Gaines & McClenaghan 1980). The demonstration of potential costs and benefits to both inbreeding and outbreeding has led to the concept of optimal outbreeding (or optimal inbreeding), reviewed by Bateson (1983) and Shields (1982b); the latter has even suggested that philopatry may have evolved to promote optimal inbreeding.…”

Section: Inbreeding Depression Inbreeding Costs and Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presenc~ or absence of behavioural inbreeding avoidance can thus be viewed as a test of optimality reasoning analogous to that presented by Rothstein (1982), or, if we assume optimality, as evidence for or against the inbreeding-avoidance hypothesis of dispersal. Dispersal is costly (see Gauthreaux 1978;Harcourt 1978;Gaines & McClenaghan 1980), whereas kin recognition and behavioural incest avoidance presumably are not. If inbreeding is costly and behaviour is optimized by natural selection, we would therefore expect to find behavioural avoidance rather than demographic dispersal as a mechanism for avoiding inbreeding.…”

Section: Kin Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are dispersal and inbreeding avoidance related?

1984

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Abstract. Sex differences in dispersal and inter-group transfer by birds and mammals are often considered to be evolved responses to the phenomenon of inbreeding depression. This belief is derived from 'natural selection logic', which holds that (1) because inbreeding depression is demonstrably costly, selection must have acted to minimize its occurrence, and (2) as sex differences in dispersal often appear to be the only thing preventing inbreeding, these sex differences must be the expected adaptations for avoiding inbreeding depression. However, although the sex differences in median dispersal distance observed among many small mammals and birds may reduce average levels of inbreeding within a population, they nevertheless leave the majority of individuals 'at risk' for inbreeding; such differences can be responses to inbreeding depression only in a group selection model. Furthermore, natal dispersal by both sexes occurs in many group-living species. In these species, emigration by individuals of one sex cannot easily be attributed to avoiding inbreeding because opposite-sex relatives also emigrate. Though most authors acknowledge that sexual dispersal patterns may be epiphenomenal consequences of other factors (e.g. intrasexual aggression), this point is rarely considered further. In this paper we critically review several frequently cited examples of differential dispersal, and conclude that 'other factors', such as intrasexual competition and territory choice, explain these observations more completely and consistently than does the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis. Observed dispersal patterns simply reflect sex differences in the balance between the advantages of philopatry and the costs of intrasexual competition.

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On the (in)stability of dominance hierarchies in the cichlid fishOreochromis mossambicus

Oliveira

Almada

1996

Aggr. Behav.

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Dominance hierarchies were studied during 8 weeks in eight heterosexual captive groups of Oreochromis mossambicus at the onset of sexual maturity. Linearity was assessed for each group on a weekly basis based on the Landau's index (h) and on the procedure described by Appleby [Appleby MC (1983): Animal Behaviour 31:600–608]. Week‐to‐week stability of the hierarchical structures was measured using the Burk's stability index (b) and Spearman rank correlation coefficients for the ranks of fishes in consecutive weeks. The two measures of stability showed a high level of concordance but the Spearman rank correlations were more conservative in detecting cases of stability. Although most dominance structures were linear they were unstable from week to week. Dominant individuals were less likely to experience rank reversals than subordinates. Rank reversals were especially likely among hierarchical neighbors. Dominance hierarchies did not stabilize in the time span of this study. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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The Ecological Significance of Behavioral Dominance

Cited by 228 publications

References 222 publications

Consequences of Dominance-Mediated Habitat Segregation in American Redstarts during the Nonbreeding Season

Consequences of Dominance-Mediated Habitat Segregation in American Redstarts during the Nonbreeding Season

Are dispersal and inbreeding avoidance related?

On the (in)stability of dominance hierarchies in the cichlid fishOreochromis mossambicus

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