The evolution of eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: Relevance, reliability, and personal information

Turner, Catherine; Spike, Matthew; Magrath, Robert D.

doi:10.1002/ece3.10272

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The value of information can depend on the degree of spatial or temporal context specificity, which influences how far or how long the information is relevant (Seppänen et al ., 2007; Fletcher & Sieving, 2010), and the availability of personal information or that derived from conspecifics (Carlson et al ., 2020 a ). In terms of the relationship between information source and receiver, information from species that share the same resources or predators will have greater relevance for the receiving species (Seppänen et al ., 2007; Elvidge & Brown, 2015; Magrath et al ., 2015 a ; Turner, Spike & Magrath, 2023). On the other hand, heterospecifics that differ in their traits and evolutionary history can produce signals or cues that complement an organism's own capacity to collect information, and be a source of information that a receiver cannot accrue by itself or from conspecifics (Sridhar & Guttal, 2018; Goodale et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Definition and Characteristics Of Interspecific Information ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in the study of alarm and mobbing calls, information parasitism occurs in some species, although not in as many as was expected, considering that making the calls may increase the callers' risk of predation (Goodale & Kotagama, 2008; Carlson et al ., 2020 b ; Dutour et al ., 2021). Second, information from heterospecifics may be of lower quality, such as less sensitive or accurate, less relevant, or less rapidly or widely received, compared to directly observed information or social information from conspecifics (Rieucau & Giraldeau, 2011; Carlson et al ., 2020 a ; Turner et al ., 2023). This could lead to a lower response by receivers or the receivers producing less information themselves.…”

Section: Increased and Better Information With Higher Species Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species diversity and interspecific information flow

Goodale,

Magrath

2024

Biological Reviews

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Interspecific information flow is known to affect individual fitness, population dynamics and community assembly, but there has been less study of how species diversity affects information flow and thereby ecosystem functioning and services. We address this question by first examining differences among species in the sensitivity, accuracy, transmissibility, detectability and value of the cues and signals they produce, and in how they receive, store and use information derived from heterospecifics. We then review how interspecific information flow occurs in communities, involving a diversity of species and sensory modes, and how this flow can affect ecosystem‐level functions, such as decomposition, seed dispersal or algae removal on coral reefs. We highlight evidence that some keystone species are particularly critical as a source of information used by eavesdroppers, and so have a disproportionate effect on information flow. Such keystone species include community informants producing signals, particularly about predation risk, that influence other species' landscapes of fear, and aggregation initiators creating cues or signals about resources. We suggest that the presence of keystone species means that there will likely be a positive relationship in many communities between species diversity and information through a ‘sampling effect’, in which larger pools of species are more likely to include the keystone species by chance. We then consider whether the number and relative abundance of species, irrespective of the presence of keystone species, matter to interspecific information flow; on this issue, the theory is less developed, and the evidence scant and indirect. Higher diversity could increase the quantity or quality of information that is used by eavesdroppers because redundancy increases the reliability of information or because the species provide complementary information. Alternatively, there could be a lack of a relationship between species diversity and information if there is widespread information parasitism where users are not sources, or if information sourced from heterospecifics is of lower value than that gained personally or sourced from conspecifics. Recent research suggests that species diversity does have information‐modulated community and ecosystem consequences, especially in birds, such as the diversity of species at feeders increasing resource exploitation, or the number of imitated species increasing responses to vocal mimics. A first step for future research includes comprehensive observations of information flow among different taxa and habitats. Then studies should investigate whether species diversity influences the cumulative quality or quantity of information at the community level, and consequently ecosystem‐level processes. An applied objective is to conserve species in part for their value as sources of information for other species, including for humans.

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Section: Definition and Characteristics Of Interspecific Information ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Increased and Better Information With Higher Species Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Species diversity and interspecific information flow

Goodale,

Magrath

2024

Biological Reviews

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“…However, researchers later discovered that females modified the social environment that they were reared in –an unaccounted for audience effect that altered their interpretation of their findings (King & West 1987). Indeed, recent theory has highlighted the need to investigate how variation in social information use and production can influence decision-making by incorporating theory and data about both audience effect and social eavesdropping simultaneously (Chimento et al, 2022; Turner et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eavesdropping and audience effect in fighting fruit flies reveal feedback between social information use and production

Hutchins,

Saltz

2023

Preprint

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Social information use and production occur simultaneously during social learning events; however, these two processes are often studied independently. We propose that social information use and production represent a feedback loop: eavesdroppers influence the behaviors of those being observed, which then alters the eavesdroppers' social decisions. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the relationship between social information use and production in an aggressive context. We quantified aggressive behavior between two males being observed by either a male, female, or no one. We then measured variation in social information use by allowing the eavesdroppers to interact directly with the observed males and compared their behavior to individuals who did not observe the aggressive encounter. Male eavesdroppers caused the observed males to decrease their aggressive behaviors, thus altering their social information production. Male eavesdroppers were then less likely to attack observed contest winners than males without social information. Female eavesdroppers did not elicit any change in the aggression of the two males, and female eavesdroppers did not use social information to inform their mating decisions. Overall, we found support for the feedback loop in males, but not females: information was exchanged bi-directionally during eavesdropping events, resulting in the modification of behavior by all parties.

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