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Boycott TJ, Sherrard MG, Gall MD, Ronald KL. Deer management influences perception of avian plumage in temperate deciduous forests. Vision Res 2023; 213:108312. [PMID: 37703599 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2023.108312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
Many animals use visual signals to communicate; birds use colorful plumage to attract mates and repel intruders. Visual signal conspicuousness is influenced by the lighting environment, which can be altered by human-induced changes. For example, deer-management efforts can affect vegetation structure and light availability. Whether these changes alter animal communication is still unknown. We investigated the effect of deer management on forest light and the contrast of understory birds against the forest background. We modeled visual perception using: (1) an ultraviolet-sensitive (UVS) avian model and plumage parameters representative of red, yellow, and blue birds (2) species-specific turkey visual and plumage parameters, and (3) individual-specific brown-headed cowbird visual and plumage parameters. Deer management led to greater light irradiance and lowered forest background reflectance. Management increased chromatic contrasts in the UVS model, primarily in deciduous forests and low understory, and across all habitat types in turkey and cowbird models. Deer management did not affect achromatic contrasts in the UVS model, but was associated with lower contrast in mixed forests for turkeys and across habitats for cowbirds. Together, this suggests that management of deer browsing is likely to impact visual signaling for a wide range of avian species. However, we also suspect that species- and individual-specific parameters increased the resolution of models, warranting consideration in future studies. Further work should determine if differences in visual perception translate to biologically relevant consequences. Our results suggest that, at least for some species, deer browsing and anthropogenic change may impose an evolutionary driver on visual communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Boycott
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA; New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University, 226 Mann Drive, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Morgan G Sherrard
- Department of Biology, Hope College, 35 East 12th Street, Holland, MI 49423, USA; University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Detroit, MI 48208-2576, USA
| | - Megan D Gall
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA; Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA
| | - Kelly L Ronald
- Department of Biology, Hope College, 35 East 12th Street, Holland, MI 49423, USA.
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Ålund M, Cenzer M, Bierne N, Boughman JW, Cerca J, Comerford MS, Culicchi A, Langerhans B, McFarlane SE, Möst MH, North H, Qvarnström A, Ravinet M, Svanbäck R, Taylor SA. Anthropogenic Change and the Process of Speciation. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2023; 15:a041455. [PMID: 37788888 PMCID: PMC10691492 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic impacts on the environment alter speciation processes by affecting both geographical contexts and selection patterns on a worldwide scale. Here we review evidence of these effects. We find that human activities often generate spatial isolation between populations and thereby promote genetic divergence but also frequently cause sudden secondary contact and hybridization between diverging lineages. Human-caused environmental changes produce new ecological niches, altering selection in diverse ways that can drive diversification; but changes also often remove niches and cause extirpations. Human impacts that alter selection regimes are widespread and strong in magnitude, ranging from local changes in biotic and abiotic conditions to direct harvesting to global climate change. Altered selection, and evolutionary responses to it, impacts early-stage divergence of lineages, but does not necessarily lead toward speciation and persistence of separate species. Altogether, humans both promote and hinder speciation, although new species would form very slowly relative to anthropogenic hybridization, which can be nearly instantaneous. Speculating about the future of speciation, we highlight two key conclusions: (1) Humans will have a large influence on extinction and "despeciation" dynamics in the short term and on early-stage lineage divergence, and thus potentially speciation in the longer term, and (2) long-term monitoring combined with easily dated anthropogenic changes will improve our understanding of the processes of speciation. We can use this knowledge to preserve and restore ecosystems in ways that promote (re-)diversification, increasing future opportunities of speciation and enhancing biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murielle Ålund
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala 75236, Sweden
| | - Meredith Cenzer
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - Nicolas Bierne
- ISEM, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier 34095, France
| | - Janette W Boughman
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - José Cerca
- CEES - Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway
| | | | - Alessandro Culicchi
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala 75236, Sweden
| | - Brian Langerhans
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - S Eryn McFarlane
- Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Markus H Möst
- Research Department for Limnology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020, Austria
| | - Henry North
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Qvarnström
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala 75236, Sweden
| | - Mark Ravinet
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Svanbäck
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala 75236, Sweden
| | - Scott A Taylor
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
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Bäckroos S, Ala-Ilomäki L, Candolin U. Habitat change alters the expression and efficiency of a female ornament. Behav Ecol 2022; 33:1133-1140. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arac080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Anthropogenic habitat changes are disrupting the mate choice process in a range of organisms, with consequences for populations and communities. Research has so far focused on male sexually selected traits and female mate choice, given their conspicuousness, whereas effects on female ornaments and male mate choice have been largely overlooked. Yet, females of many species develop ornaments that males use in mate choice. These ornaments can be costly and reduce female fecundity and viability and, hence, influence population growth rate. Thus, attention should be paid to changes in female ornaments and the consequences the changes have for populations. Here, we show that declining visibility in aquatic ecosystems reduces the investment of female three-spined stickleback in a melanin-based ornament in favor of increased mate search activity. The adjustment appears adaptive as males pay less attention to the ornament under poor visibility, and as melanin-based ornaments are generally physiologically costly. It is likely that past fluctuations in visibility have promoted the evolution of environment-dependent plasticity in female ornamentation. More attention should be paid to changes in female ornaments and their adaptive value, across taxa, given the impact that female investment in ornaments can have on fecundity and population growth rate. Environments are changing at an accelerating rate because of human activities and knowledge of the responses of both males and females is needed to evaluate and predict the ultimate impact on populations and biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sini Bäckroos
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland
| | - Lea Ala-Ilomäki
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland
| | - Ulrika Candolin
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland
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