The exploitation of sexual signals by predators: a meta-analysis

Courtship and spawning behaviour of medaka in a semi-outdoor environment initiating at midnight

Reproductive timing is a critical ecological trait that directly influences fitness. Medaka (Oryzias latipes), a small freshwater fish, is widely used as a model organism in various scientific fields. However, ecological studies conducted under (semi-) natural conditions remain limited. Although, spawning has been reported to occur within 1 h before and after sunrise, direct observations remain scarce. We investigated the timing of spawning initiation and associated courtship in medaka through 24-h observations using infrared cameras under semi-natural conditions. During the experiments, sunrise occurred at approximately 4:45. Observations of the 31 pairs revealed that spawning occurred between 1:05-9:48, with a peak at 2:00-4:00. Unlike previous reports but like the most recent fieldwork, only 26% of the total spawning events (8/31) were observed within 1 h before and after sunrise. Male courtship behaviours, including following females and quick circle displays, increased from midnight, peaking between 2:00-5:00. This study provides new insights into the natural reproductive timing of medaka, suggesting a possible adaptation to nocturnal spawning, likely as a strategy to reduce predation on both parents and eggs. It also underscores the importance of investigating the ecology of model organisms under (semi-)natural conditions to gain a more comprehensive understanding of biological phenomena observed in laboratory settings.

Reliability of meta-analyses in ecology and evolution: (mostly) good news from a case study on sexual signals

Meta-analyses are powerful synthesis tools that are popular in ecology and evolution owing to the rapidly growing literature of this field. Although the usefulness of meta-analyses depends on their reliability, such as the precision of individual and mean effect sizes, attempts to reproduce meta-analyses' results remain rare in ecology and evolution. Here, we assess the reliability of 41 meta-analyses on sexual signals by evaluating the reproducibility and replicability of their results. We attempted to: (i) reproduce meta-analyses' mean effect sizes using the datasets they provided; (ii) reproduce meta-analyses' effect sizes by re-extracting 5703 effect sizes from 246 primary studies they used as sources; (iii) assess the extent of relevant data missed by original meta-analyses; and (iv) replicate meta-analyses' mean effect sizes after incorporating re-extracted and relevant missing data. We found many discrepancies between meta-analyses' reported results and those generated by our analyses for all reproducibility and replicability attempts. Nonetheless, we argue that the meta-analyses we evaluated are largely reproducible and replicable because the differences we found were small in magnitude, leaving the original interpretation of these meta-analyses' results unchanged. Still, we highlight issues we observed in these meta-analyses that affected their reliability, providing recommendations to ameliorate them.

The ontogeny of decision-making in an eavesdropping predator

Predators use prey-emitted cues to assess and localize potential food sources. Sexual advertisement calls offer conspicuous cues for eavesdropping predators. While the ontogeny of predatory behaviour is key for survival and can determine adult responses, our understanding of the development of the responses to prey-emitted cues is limited. Here, we measured the responses of juvenile and adult fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus) to the acoustic advertisement calls of co-occurring anurans. We confirmed that adult bats modulate their foraging behaviour based on their prey's acoustic cues associated with prey palatability. The responses of juvenile bats revealed that ontogeny plays an important role in bat predatory responses. In contrast to adults, prey palatability did not predict predatory behaviour in juveniles, which responded strongly to poisonous toads and little to some palatable frog species, suggesting that avoidance of poisonous species is learned through experience. Despite these differences, both juveniles and adults appeared to attend to acoustic cues related to body size. Our results support the hypothesis that, over development, acoustic preferences of eavesdropping predators become more closely aligned with advantageous foraging outcomes. Overall, these results offer the first evidence of developmental changes refining decision-making in an eavesdropping predator in the wild.

Embedding information flows within ecological networks

Natural communities form networks of species linked by interactions. Understanding the structure and dynamics of these ecological networks is pivotal to predicting species extinction risks, community stability and ecosystem functioning under global change. Traditionally, ecological network research has focused on interactions involving the flow of matter and energy, such as feeding or pollination. In nature, however, species also interact by intentionally or unintentionally exchanging information signals and cues that influence their behaviour and movement. Here we argue that this exchange of information between species constitutes an information network of nature-a crucial but largely neglected aspect of community organization. We propose to integrate information with matter flow interactions in multilayer networks. This integration reveals a novel classification of information links based on how the senders and receivers of information are embedded in food web motifs. We show that synthesizing information and matter flow interactions in multilayer networks can lead to shorter pathways connecting species and a denser aggregation of species in fewer modules. Ultimately, this tighter interconnectedness of species increases the risk of perturbation spread in natural communities, which undermines their stability. Understanding the information network of nature is thus crucial for predicting community dynamics in the era of global change.

Synthesis of sexual selection: a systematic map of meta-analyses with bibliometric analysis

Sexual selection has been a popular subject within evolutionary biology because of its central role in explaining odd and counterintuitive traits observed in nature. Consequently, the literature associated with this field of study became vast. Meta-analytical studies attempting to draw inferences from this literature have now accumulated, varying in scope and quality, thus calling for a synthesis of these syntheses. We conducted a systematic literature search to create a systematic map with a report appraisal of meta-analyses on topics associated with sexual selection, aiming to identify the conceptual and methodological gaps in this secondary literature. We also conducted bibliometric analyses to explore whether these gaps are associated with the gender and origin of the authors of these meta-analyses. We included 152 meta-analytical studies in our systematic map. We found that most meta-analyses focused on males and on certain animal groups (e.g. birds), indicating severe sex and taxonomic biases. The topics in these studies varied greatly, from proximate (e.g. relationship of ornaments with other traits) to ultimate questions (e.g. formal estimates of sexual selection strength), although the former were more common. We also observed several common methodological issues in these studies, such as lack of detailed information regarding searches, screening, and analyses, which ultimately impairs the reliability of many of these meta-analyses. In addition, most of the meta-analyses' authors were men affiliated to institutions from developed countries, pointing to both gender and geographical authorship biases. Most importantly, we found that certain authorship aspects were associated with conceptual and methodological issues in meta-analytical studies. Many of our findings might simply reflect patterns in the current state of the primary literature and academia, suggesting that our study can serve as an indicator of issues within the field of sexual selection at large. Based on our findings, we provide both conceptual and analytical recommendations to improve future studies in the field of sexual selection.

Managing the tradeoff between reproduction and survival requires flexibility in behaviour and gene regulation in three-spined stickleback

Predators exert a powerful selective force, however, predator avoidance can conflict with other important activities such as attracting mates. Decisions over whether to court mates versus avoiding predators are vital to fitness, yet the mechanistic underpinnings of how animals manage such tradeoffs are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the flexibility of behaviour and gene regulation in response to a tradeoff between avoiding predators (survival) and courting potential mates (reproduction) in three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We compared behavioural and transcriptomic responses of male sticklebacks faced with a courtship opportunity and cues of a predator simultaneously with the responses of males faced with a courtship opportunity or cues of a predator alone, and found that males behaviourally compromised courtship in favour of predator avoidance when faced with a tradeoff between them. The need to manage this tradeoff elicited dynamic changes in brain gene expression, and sets of functionally connected genes were organized into discrete modules based on co-expression. Additionally, we found that behavioural flexibility in response to tradeoffs corresponded to flexibility in gene regulatory network structure. Combined, these results uncover the coordinated response by the brain to a fundamental ecological tradeoff, providing insight into the structure and function of genetic networks underpinning how animals make fitness-influencing decisions.

Do risk-prone behaviours compromise reproduction and increase vulnerability of fish aggregations exposed to fishing?

Human disturbances can prompt natural anti-predator behaviours in animals, affecting how energy is traded off between immediate survival and reproduction. In our study of male squaretail groupers (Plectropomus areolatus) in India's Lakshadweep archipelago, we investigated the impact of fishing pressure on anti-predatory responses and reproductive behaviours by comparing a fished and unfished spawning aggregation site and tracking responses over time at the fished site. Using observational sampling and predator exposure experiments, we analysed fear responses (flight initiation distance, return time), as well as time spent in vigilance, courtship and territorial defence. Unpaired males at fished sites were twice as likely to flee from simulated predators and took longer to return to mating territories. In contrast, paired males at both sites took greater risks during courtship, fleeing later than unpaired males, but returned earlier at the unfished site compared with the fished site. Our findings suggest that high fishing pressure reduces reproductive opportunities by increasing vigilance and compromising territorial defence, potentially affecting mate selection cues. Altered behavioural trade-offs may mitigate short-term capture risk but endanger long-term population survival through altered reproductive investment. Human extractive practices targeting animal reproductive aggregations can have disruptive effects beyond direct removal, influencing animal behaviours crucial for population survival.

Deceptive pollinator lures benefit from physical and perceptual proximity to flowers

Predators often use deception to exploit sensory and cognitive biases in prey. In pollinating insects, these include preferences for conspicuous colours associated with flowers, which predators such as orb-web spiders display as prey lures. Theory predicts that deceptive signal efficacy should covary with both their perceptual similarity and physical proximity to the resources-here, flowers-whose cues they are imitating. Here I used the colour-polymorphic jewelled spider Gasteracantha fornicata to test this prediction. I first examined spiders' capture success in the field, and found their visual resemblance and physical proximity to flowers interacted to mediate capture rates, with colour-similarity becoming increasingly important as the distance between spiders and flowers decreased. I then replicated this interaction experimentally. Spiders adjacent to colour-matched flowers enjoyed heightened capture success relative to those with nearby but colour-mismatched flowers. While spiders with flowers placed at a distance (irrespective of colour) recorded the fewest captures. These results support 'neighbourhood' effects in aggressive deception as receivers' vulnerability to exploitation is mediated by the local signalling community. More generally, they emphasise the importance of the broader information landscape in the ecology of communication, and suggest misinformation is most effective when physically and perceptually proximate to the truth.

The evolution of prey-attraction strategies in spiders: the interplay between foraging and predator avoidance

Lures and other adaptations for prey attraction are particularly interesting from an evolutionary viewpoint because they are characterized by correlational selection, involve multicomponent signals, and likely reflect a compromise between maximizing conspicuousness to prey while avoiding drawing attention of enemies and predators. Therefore, investigating the evolution of lure and prey-attraction adaptations can help us understand a larger set of traits governing interactions among organisms. We review the literature focusing on spiders (Araneae), which is the most diverse animal group using prey attraction and show that the evolution of prey-attraction strategies must be driven by a trade-off between foraging and predator avoidance. This is because increasing detectability by potential prey often also results in increased detectability by predators higher in the food chain. Thus increasing prey attraction must come at a cost of increased risk of predation. Given this trade-off, we should expect lures and other prey-attraction traits to remain suboptimal despite a potential to reach an optimal level of attractiveness. We argue that the presence of this trade-off and the multivariate nature of prey-attraction traits are two important mechanisms that might maintain the diversity of prey-attraction strategies within and between species. Overall, we aim to stimulate research on this topic and progress in our general understanding of the diversity of predator and prey interactions.

Parasite effects on receivers in animal communication: Hidden impacts on behavior, ecology, and evolution

Parasites exert a profound effect on biological processes. In animal communication, parasite effects on signalers are well-known drivers of the evolution of communication systems. Receiver behavior is also likely to be altered when they are parasitized or at risk of parasitism, but these effects have received much less attention. Here, we present a broad framework for understanding the consequences of parasitism on receivers for behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary processes. First, we outline the different kinds of effects parasites can have on receivers, including effects on signal processing from the many parasites that inhabit, occlude, or damage the sensory periphery and the central nervous system or that affect physiological processes that support these organs, and effects on receiver response strategies. We then demonstrate how understanding parasite effects on receivers could answer important questions about the mechanistic causes and functional consequences of variation in animal communication systems. Variation in parasitism levels is a likely source of among-individual differences in response to signals, which can affect receiver fitness and, through effects on signaler fitness, impact population levels of signal variability. The prevalence of parasitic effects on specific sensory organs may be an important selective force for the evolution of elaborate and multimodal signals. Finally, host-parasite coevolution across heterogeneous landscapes will generate geographic variation in communication systems, which could ultimately lead to evolutionary divergence. We discuss applications of experimental techniques to manipulate parasitism levels and point the way forward by calling for integrative research collaborations between parasitologists, neurobiologists, and behavioral and evolutionary ecologists.

Tactics of evasion: strategies used by signallers to deter eavesdropping enemies from exploiting communication systems

Eavesdropping predators, parasites and parasitoids exploit signals emitted by their prey and hosts for detection, assessment, localization and attack, and in the process impose strong selective pressures on the communication systems of the organisms they exploit. Signallers have evolved numerous anti-eavesdropper strategies to mitigate the trade-off between the costs imposed from signal exploitation and the need for conspecific communication. Eavesdropper strategies fall along a continuum from opportunistic to highly specialized, and the tightness of the eavesdropper-signaller relationship results in differential pressures on communication systems. A wide variety of anti-eavesdropper strategies mitigate the trade-off between eavesdropper exploitation and conspecific communication. Antagonistic selection from eavesdroppers can result in diverse outcomes including modulation of signalling displays, signal structure, and evolutionary loss or gain of a signal from a population. These strategies often result in reduced signal conspicuousness and in decreased signal ornamentation. Eavesdropping enemies, however, can also promote signal ornamentation. While less common, this alternative outcome offers a unique opportunity to dissect the factors that may lead to different evolutionary pathways. In addition, contrary to traditional assumptions, no sensory modality is completely 'safe' as eavesdroppers are ubiquitous and have a broad array of sensory filters that allow opportunity for signal exploitation. We discuss how anthropogenic change affects interactions between eavesdropping enemies and their victims as it rapidly modifies signalling environments and community composition. Drawing on diverse research from a range of taxa and sensory modalities, we synthesize current knowledge on anti-eavesdropper strategies, discuss challenges in this field and highlight fruitful new directions for future research. Ultimately, this review offers a conceptual framework to understand the diverse strategies used by signallers to communicate under the pressure imposed by their eavesdropping enemies.

Sensory biases in response to novel complex acoustic signals in male and female grey treefrogs, Hyla chrysoscelis

The sensory bias hypothesis proposes that female preferences for male sexual signalling traits evolved in contexts other than mating. Individuals of both sexes may experience similar selection pressures in these contexts; thus males may have similar biases to females for variation in signal traits. We tested this prediction in the grey treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis, in which males produce simple advertisement calls, but females are more attracted to certain novel complex stimuli. We recorded males' responses to playbacks of both simple advertisement calls and complex calls consisting of the advertisement call with an acoustic appendage (filtered noise, or heterospecific call pulses) either leading or following the call. We tested females' preferences for the same stimuli in phonotaxis tests. We found evidence for a sensory bias in both sexes: males gave more aggressive calls in response to complex stimuli and females sometimes preferred complex over simple calls. These biases were not universal and depended on both temporal order and appendage characteristics, but how these effects manifested differed between the sexes. Ultimately, our approach of studying biases of both sexes in response to novel mating signals will shed light on the origin of mating preferences, and the mechanisms by which sensory biases operate.