Breeding season length predicts duet coordination and consistency in Neotropical wrens (Troglodytidae).
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Keenan EL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7779517 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Although song development in songbirds has been much studied as an analogue of language development in humans, the development of vocal interaction rules has been relatively neglected in both groups. Duetting avian species provide an ideal model to address the acquisition of interaction rules as duet structure involves time and pattern-specific relationships among the vocalizations from different individuals. In this study, we address the development of the most striking properties of duets: the specific answering rules that individuals use to link their own phrase types to those of their partners (duet codes) and precise temporal coordination. By performing two removal experiments in canebrake wrens (Cantorchilus zeledoni), we show that individuals use a fixed phrase repertoire to create new phrase pairings when they acquire a new partner. Furthermore, immediately after pairing, individuals perform duets with poor coordination and poor duet code adherence, but both aspects improve with time. These results indicate that individuals need a learning period to be able to perform well-coordinated duets that follow a consistent duet code. We conclude that both duet coordination and duet code adherence are honest indicators of pair-bond duration.
| S-EPMC5136587 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Coordination of behavior for cooperative performances often relies on linkages mediated by sensory cues exchanged between participants. How neurophysiological responses to sensory information affect motor programs to coordinate behavior between individuals is not known. We investigated how plain-tailed wrens (Pheugopedius euophrys) use acoustic feedback to coordinate extraordinary duet performances in which females and males rapidly take turns singing. We made simultaneous neurophysiological recordings in a song control area "HVC" in pairs of singing wrens at a field site in Ecuador. HVC is a premotor area that integrates auditory feedback and is necessary for song production. We found that spiking activity of HVC neurons in each sex increased for production of its own syllables. In contrast, hearing sensory feedback produced by the bird's partner decreased HVC activity during duet singing, potentially coordinating HVC premotor activity in each bird through inhibition. When birds sang alone, HVC neurons in females but not males were inhibited by hearing the partner bird. When birds were anesthetized with urethane, which antagonizes GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid) transmission, HVC neurons were excited rather than inhibited, suggesting a role for GABA in the coordination of duet singing. These data suggest that HVC integrates information across partners during duets and that rapid turn taking may be mediated, in part, by inhibition.
| S-EPMC8201800 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIdentifying the factors that affect ranging behavior of animals is a central issue to ecology and an essential tool for designing effective conservation policies. This knowledge provides the information needed to predict the consequences of land-use change on species habitat use, especially in areas subject to major habitat transformations, such as agricultural landscapes. We evaluate inter-individual variation relative to environmental predictors and spatial constraints in limiting ranging behavior of female little bustards (Tetrax tetrax) in the non-breeding season. Our analyses were based on 11 females tracked with GPS during 5 years in northeastern Spain. We conducted deviance partitioning analyses based on different sets of generalized linear mixed models constructed with environmental variables and spatial filters obtained by eigenvector mapping, while controlling for temporal and inter-individual variation.ResultsThe occurrence probability of female little bustards in response to environmental variables and spatial filters within the non-breeding range exhibited inter-individual consistency. Pure spatial factors and joint spatial-habitat factors explained most of the variance in the models. Spatial predictors representing aggregation patterns at?~?18 km and 3-5 km respectively had a high importance in female occurrence. However, pure habitat effects were also identified. Terrain slope, alfalfa, corn stubble and irrigated cereal stubble availability were the variables that most contributed to environmental models. Overall, models revealed a non-linear negative effect of slope and positive effects of intermediate values of alfalfa and corn stubble availability. High levels of cereal stubble in irrigated land and roads had also a positive effect on occurrence at the population level.ConclusionsOur results provide evidence that female little bustard ranging behavior was spatially constrained beyond environmental variables during the non-breeding season. This pattern may result from different not mutually exclusive processes, such as cost-benefit balances of animal movement, configurational heterogeneity of environment or from high site fidelity and conspecific attraction. Measures aimed at keeping alfalfa availability and habitat heterogeneity in open landscapes and flat terrains, in safe places close to breeding grounds, could contribute to protect little bustard populations during the non-breeding season.
| S-EPMC6280389 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neotropical migratory songbirds typically breed in temperate regions and then travel long distances to spend the majority of the annual cycle in tropical wintering areas. Using stable-isotope methodology, we provide quantitative evidence of dual breeding ranges for 5 species of Neotropical migrants. Each is well known to have a Neotropical winter range and a breeding range in the United States and Canada. However, after their first bout of breeding in the north, many individuals migrate hundreds to thousands of kilometers south in midsummer to breed a second time during the same summer in coastal west Mexico or Baja California Sur. They then migrate further south to their final wintering areas in the Neotropics. Our discovery of dual breeding ranges in Neotropical migrants reveals a hitherto unrealized flexibility in life-history strategies for these species and underscores that demographic models and conservation plans must consider dual breeding for these migrants.
| S-EPMC2776443 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Seasonality causes fluctuations in resource availability, affecting the presence and abundance of animal species. The impacts of these oscillations on wildlife populations can be exacerbated by habitat fragmentation. We assessed differences in bat species abundance between the wet and dry season in a fragmented landscape in the Central Amazon characterized by primary forest fragments embedded in a secondary forest matrix. We also evaluated whether the relative importance of local vegetation structure versus landscape characteristics (composition and configuration) in shaping bat abundance patterns varied between seasons. Our working hypotheses were that abundance responses are species as well as season specific, and that in the wet season, local vegetation structure is a stronger determinant of bat abundance than landscape-scale attributes. Generalized linear mixed-effects models in combination with hierarchical partitioning revealed that relationships between species abundances and local vegetation structure and landscape characteristics were both season specific and scale dependent. Overall, landscape characteristics were more important than local vegetation characteristics, suggesting that landscape structure is likely to play an even more important role in landscapes with higher fragment-matrix contrast. Responses varied between frugivores and animalivores. In the dry season, frugivores responded more to compositional metrics, whereas during the wet season, local and configurational metrics were more important. Animalivores showed similar patterns in both seasons, responding to the same group of metrics in both seasons. Differences in responses likely reflect seasonal differences in the phenology of flowering and fruiting between primary and secondary forests, which affected the foraging behavior and habitat use of bats. Management actions should encompass multiscale approaches to account for the idiosyncratic responses of species to seasonal variation in resource abundance and consequently to local and landscape scale attributes.
| S-EPMC5468172 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Birds that reside in urban settings face numerous human-related threats to survival, including mortality from bird-window collisions (BWCs). Our current understanding of this issue has largely been driven by data collected during spring and fall migration, and patterns of collision mortality during the summer breeding season remain relatively unexplored. We assessed BWCs during four breeding seasons (2009-2012) at a site in northwestern Illinois, USA, by comparing the abundance, richness, migratory class, and age of the species living around buildings to species mortally wounded by window collisions. We also systematically assessed the daily timing of BWCs throughout the breeding season. We documented BWCs in 4 of 25 (16%) species and 7 of 21 (33%) species in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The relationship between BWCs and abundance depended on age. For adults, BWCs were highest in the least abundant species, e.g., Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), and lowest in species with high abundance values, e.g., Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). For juveniles, mortality was greatest for the most abundant species, and the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) accounted for 62% of all juvenile carcasses. Early in the breeding season, collision mortality was restricted to adults of Long-distance Migrants, whereas juveniles of all three migratory guilds (Long-distance and Short-distance Migrants and Permanent Residents) died at windows from late June through early August. Daily mortality for all species was highest between sunrise-1600 h and lowest from 1600 h-sunrise the next day. Generally, the species observed as carcasses matched birds considered a 'high risk' for BWCs, e.g., Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), and those considered 'low risk' were not observed as carcasses, e.g., Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea). Our results suggest that the number of BWCs during the breeding season does not necessarily increase with abundance, but rather appears related to variation among species and age classes, which may have important implications on the population health of affected species. The mechanisms driving these differences are unknown, but may be related reproductive behavior, flight speed, distance movements, and dispersal patterns.
| S-EPMC4081275 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Most important food and feed crops in the world belong to the C3 grass family. The future of food security is highly reliant on achieving genetic gains of those grasses. Conventional breeding methods have already reached a plateau for improving major crops. Genomics tools and resources have opened an avenue to explore genome-wide variability and make use of the variation for enhancing genetic gains in breeding programs. Major C3 annual cereal breeding programs are well equipped with genomic tools; however, genomic research of C3 cool-season perennial grasses is lagging behind. In this review, we discuss the currently available genomics tools and approaches useful for C3 cool-season perennial grass breeding. Along with a general review, we emphasize the discussion focusing on forage grasses that were considered orphan and have little or no genetic information available. Transcriptome sequencing and genotype-by-sequencing technology for genome-wide marker detection using next-generation sequencing (NGS) are very promising as genomics tools. Most C3 cool-season perennial grass members have no prior genetic information; thus NGS technology will enhance collinear study with other C3 model grasses like Brachypodium and rice. Transcriptomics data can be used for identification of functional genes and molecular markers, i.e., polymorphism markers and simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Genome-wide association study with NGS-based markers will facilitate marker identification for marker-assisted selection. With limited genetic information, genomic selection holds great promise to breeders for attaining maximum genetic gain of the cool-season C3 perennial grasses. Application of all these tools can ensure better genetic gains, reduce length of selection cycles, and facilitate cultivar development to meet the future demand for food and fodder.
| S-EPMC5526908 | biostudies-other
Project description:Considering the entire life history of a species is fundamental to developing effective conservation strategies. Decreasing populations of five-needle white pines may be leading to the decline of Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana). These birds are important seed dispersers for at least ten conifer species in the western U.S., including whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), an obligate mutualist of Clark's nutcrackers. For effective conservation of both Clark's nutcrackers and whitebark pine, it is essential to ensure stability of Clark's nutcracker populations. My objectives were to examine Clark's nutcracker breeding season home range size, territoriality, habitat selection, and foraging behavior in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a region where whitebark pine is declining. I radio-tracked Clark's nutcrackers in 2011, a population-wide nonbreeding year following a low whitebark pine cone crop, and 2012, a breeding year following a high cone crop. Results suggest Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) communities are important habitat for Clark's nutcrackers because they selected it for home ranges. In contrast, they did not select whitebark pine habitat. However, Clark's nutcrackers did adjust their use of whitebark pine habitat between years, suggesting that, in some springs, whitebark pine habitat may be used more than previously expected. Newly extracted Douglas-fir seeds were an important food source both years. On the other hand, cached seeds made up a relatively lower proportion of the diet in 2011, suggesting cached seeds are not a reliable spring food source. Land managers focus on restoring whitebark pine habitat with the assumption that Clark's nutcrackers will be available to continue seed dispersal. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Clark's nutcracker populations may be more likely to be retained year-round when whitebark pine restoration efforts are located adjacent to Douglas-fir habitat. By extrapolation, whitebark pine restoration efforts in other regions may consider prioritizing restoration of whitebark pine stands near alternative seed sources.
| S-EPMC4755556 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Territoriality is a common pattern of space use in animals that has fundamental consequences for ecological processes. In the tropics, all-year resident songbirds usually hold territories throughout the year, whereas most all-year resident temperate species are territorial only during the breeding season. In long-distance migrants, however, the situation is mostly unexplored. Here, we report findings from a Palaearctic-African migrant, the thrush nightingale Luscinia luscina. We found that only a fraction of the males was territorial in their East African winter quarters and that this was related to the stage of their song development. Individuals with full song were territorial towards other full songsters, but not towards birds that sang plastic song (i.e. an earlier stage of song development). Plastic singers were not territorial towards full songsters and often settled closely to territorial males. We suggest that territoriality of thrush nightingales in the winter quarters may be a by-product of rising testosterone levels that trigger song crystallization. Collectively, our study indicates that changes in territoriality can occur rapidly, giving rise to shifting proportions of territorial and non-territorial individuals in a population, which may lead to complex dynamics in settlement patterns and resulting ecological interactions.
| S-EPMC10465977 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We explore the potential factors that affect clutch initiation in four Neotropical large raptors (Harpy eagle-HE, Crested eagle-CE, Ornate hawk-eagle-OHE, and Black hawk-eagle-BHE) by analyzing 414 clutch events mostly obtained from captive individuals. Differences in how clutch initiation is associated with changes in photoperiod were found between HE and both hawk-eagles, and between CE and BHE. Changes in temperature at the time of clutch initiation only differed between HE and OHE, whereas changes in precipitation varied between BHE and all other species. Principal Component Analysis of these environmental cues showed that ellipses in the dataset of each species overlap, but only ellipses from CE and OHE had the same variation trends. This means that although these species live under similar ecological conditions, they exhibit three different patterns of response to environmental cues. Apparently, these patterns are not associated with phylogenetic relatedness because species belonging to the same clade do not show the same response pattern. Diet diversity analysis revealed that HE has the least varied diet, and CE and OHE the most varied diet. The fact that species who fit the same reproductive timing response to environmental cues show similar diets leads us to hypothesize that breeding in these eagles was most likely shaped by food availability.
| S-EPMC10020578 | biostudies-literature