Nest architecture is linked with ecological success in songbirds.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Medina I
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9311449 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:In birds, little is known about how individuals choose nest sites based on their personality traits. Here, we investigate whether a female's personality (activity and breathing rate) can affect patterns of nest site selection at different spatial scales in a wild population of chestnut thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) and determine whether nest site characteristics and female personality traits affect clutch size and nest success during incubation. We found that neither activity nor breathing rate were associated with large-scale nesting habitat variables. At the fine-scale level, more active females chose nest sites with greater nest lateral concealment. Females with higher breathing rates laid smaller clutch sizes than individuals with lower breathing rates. Nests of females with lower breathing rate had higher nest success during incubation. This work highlights the relationships between personality and nest site selection in birds, and the important role of female personality traits in reproductive success.
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Project description:BackgroundInterspecific interactions within ecological networks can influence animal fitness and behaviour, including nest-site selection of birds and ants. Previous studies revealed that nesting birds and ants may benefit from cohabitation, with interspecific attraction through their nest-site choice, but mutual interactions have not yet been tested. We explored a previously undescribed ecological link between ground-nesting birds and ants raising their own broods (larvae and pupae) within the birds' nests in a temperate primeval forest of lowland Europe. We tested whether the occurrence of ant broods within bird nests resulted from a mutual or one-sided interspecific attraction that operated through nest-site choice and was modified by weather conditions.ResultsWe found a non-random occupation of bird nests by ants raising their own broods within them, which indicated interspecific attraction driven solely by the ants. The birds' preference to nest near tussocks of vegetation showed little overlap with the most frequent placement of ant colonies among fallen deciduous tree-leaves, dead wood and moss. Additionally, birds did not appear to select forest localities with high densities of ant colonies. The occurrence of ant broods within bird nests was also unrelated to bird nest placement near to specific habitat features. The attractiveness of bird nests to ants appeared to increase with the thermal activity of the birds warming their nests, and also during cool and wet weather when the occurrence of ant broods within bird nests was most frequent. Ants often remained in the nests after the birds had vacated them, with only a slight reduction in the probability of ant brood occurrence over time.ConclusionsThe natural patterns of bird nest colonisation by ants support the hypothesis of ants' attraction to warm nests of birds to raise their broods under advantageous thermal conditions. Similar relationships may occur between other warm-blooded, nest-building vertebrates and nest-dwelling invertebrates, which depend on ambient temperatures. The findings advance our understanding of these poorly recognised interspecific interactions, and can inform future studies of ecological networks.
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Project description:Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) is a species of concern for which little demographic information exists. To help fill this information gap, we investigated factors affecting nest success in two populations of Gunnison Sage-Grouse. We assessed the relative effects of (1) vegetation characteristics (e.g., shrub height, shrub cover, grass cover, and grass height), (2) temporal factors (e.g., year, timing of incubation initiation, and nest age), (3) precipitation, and (4) age of the nesting female (yearling or adult) on nest success rates. We found 177 nests in the Gunnison Basin population (that contains 85-90% of the species) from 2005-2010 and 20 nests in the San Miguel population (that contains < 10% of the species) from 2007-2010. Temporal factors had the greatest impact on nest success compared to vegetation characteristics, precipitation, and female age. Nest success varied considerably among years ranging from 4.0%-60.2% in Gunnison Basin and from 12.9%- 51.9% in San Miguel. Nests that were initiated earlier in the breeding season had higher nest success (at least one egg hatches). Daily nest survival rates decreased during the course of incubation. None of the vegetation characteristics we examined were strongly related to nest success.
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Project description:MAIN CONCLUSION:Desiccation leads to structural changes of the inner pectic cell wall layers in Ulva compressa. This contributes to protection against mechanical damage due to desiccation-rehydration cycles. Ulva compressa, characterized by rbcL phylogeny, is a common species in the Mediterranean Sea. Ulva as an intertidal species tolerates repeated desiccation-rehydration cycles in nature; the physiological and structural basis were investigated under experimental conditions here. Desiccation to 73% relative water content (RWC) led to a significant decrease of the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (F v/F m) to about half of the initial value. A reduction to 48 or 27% RWC caused a more drastic effect and thalli were only able to recover fully from desiccation to 73% RWC. Relative electron transport rates were stimulated at 73% RWC, but decreased significantly at 48 and 27% RWC, respectively. Imaging-PAM analysis demonstrated a homogenous desiccation process within individual thallus discs. The different cell wall layers of U. compressa were characterized by standard staining procedures, i.e. calcofluor white and aniline blue for structural components (cellulose, callose), ruthenium red for pectins and toluidine blue for acidic polysaccharides. Already a reduction to 73% RWC caused severe changes of the cell walls. The inner pectin-rich layers followed the shrinkage process of the cytoplasm, while the outer denser fibrillar layers maintained their shape. In this way, the thalli were not plasmolyzed during water loss, and upon recovery not negatively influenced by any mechanical damage. Transmission electron microscopy corroborated the arrangement of the different layers clearly distinguishable by their texture and electron density. We suggest the flexibility of the pectin-rich cell wall layers as a major contribution to desiccation tolerance in Ulva.
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Project description:Habitat selection by animals is influenced by and mitigates the effects of predation and environmental extremes. For birds, nest site selection is crucial to offspring production because nests are exposed to extreme weather and predation pressure. Predators that forage using olfaction often dominate nest predator communities; therefore, factors that influence olfactory detection (e.g., airflow and weather variables, including turbulence and moisture) should influence nest site selection and survival. However, few studies have assessed the importance of olfactory cover for habitat selection and survival. We assessed whether ground-nesting birds select nest sites based on visual and/or olfactory cover. Additionally, we assessed the importance of visual cover and airflow and weather variables associated with olfactory cover in influencing nest survival. In managed grasslands in Oklahoma, USA, we monitored nests of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna), and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) during 2015 and 2016. To assess nest site selection, we compared cover variables between nests and random points. To assess factors influencing nest survival, we used visual cover and olfactory-related measurements (i.e., airflow and weather variables) to model daily nest survival. For nest site selection, nest sites had greater overhead visual cover than random points, but no other significant differences were found. Weather variables hypothesized to influence olfactory detection, specifically precipitation and relative humidity, were the best predictors of and were positively related to daily nest survival. Selection for overhead cover likely contributed to mitigation of thermal extremes and possibly reduced detectability of nests. For daily nest survival, we hypothesize that major nest predators focused on prey other than the monitored species' nests during high moisture conditions, thus increasing nest survival on these days. Our study highlights how mechanistic approaches to studying cover informs which dimensions are perceived and selected by animals and which dimensions confer fitness-related benefits.
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Project description:Mud nests built by swallows (Hirundinidae) and phoebes (Sayornis) are stable granular piles attached to cliffs, walls, or ceilings. Although these birds have been observed to mix saliva with incohesive mud granules, how such biopolymer solutions provide the nest with sufficient strength to support the weight of the residents as well as its own remains elusive. Here, we elucidate the mechanism of strong granular cohesion by the viscoelastic paste of bird saliva through a combination of theoretical analysis and experimental measurements in both natural and artificial nests. Our mathematical model considering the mechanics of mud nest construction allows us to explain the biological observation that all mud-nesting bird species should be lightweight.
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Project description:The nests of social insects are not only impressive because of their sheer complexity but also because they are built from individuals whose work is not centrally coordinated. A key question is how groups of insects coordinate their building actions. Here, we use a combination of experimental and modeling approaches to investigate nest construction in the ant Lasius niger. We quantify the construction dynamics and the 3D structures built by ants. Then, we characterize individual behaviors and the interactions of ants with the structures they build. We show that two main interactions are involved in the coordination of building actions: (i) a stigmergic-based interaction that controls the amplification of depositions at some locations and is attributable to a pheromone added by ants to the building material; and (ii) a template-based interaction in which ants use their body size as a cue to control the height at which they start to build a roof from existing pillars. We then develop a 3D stochastic model based on these individual behaviors to analyze the effect of pheromone presence and strength on construction dynamics. We show that the model can quantitatively reproduce key features of construction dynamics, including a large-scale pattern of regularly spaced pillars, the formation and merging of caps over the pillars, and the remodeling of built structures. Finally, our model suggests that the lifetime of the pheromone is a highly influential parameter that controls the growth and form of nest architecture.
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Project description:A central and perhaps insurmountable challenge of invasion ecology is to predict which combinations of species and habitats most effectively promote and prevent biological invasions. Here, we integrate models of network structure and nonlinear population dynamics to search for potential generalities among trophic factors that may drive invasion success and failure. We simulate invasions where 100 different species attempt to invade 150 different food webs with 15-26 species and a wide range (0.06-0.32) of connectance. These simulations yield 11 438 invasion attempts by non-basal species, 47 per cent of which are successful. At the time of introduction, whether or not the invader is a generalist best predicts final invasion success; however, once the invader establishes itself, it is best distinguished from unsuccessful invaders by occupying a lower trophic position and being relatively invulnerable to predation. In general, variables that reflect the interaction between an invading species and its new community, such as generality and trophic position, best predict invasion success; however, for some trophic categories of invaders, fundamental species traits, such as having the centre of the feeding range low on the theoretical niche axis (for non-omnivorous and omnivorous herbivores), or the topology of the food web (for tertiary carnivores), best predict invasion success. Across all invasion scenarios, a discriminant analysis model predicted successful and failed invasions with 76.5 per cent accuracy for properties at the time of introduction or 100 per cent accuracy for properties at the time of establishment. More generally, our results suggest that tackling the challenge of predicting the properties of species and habitats that promote or inhibit invasions from food web perspective may aid ecologists in identifying rules that govern invasions in natural ecosystems.
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