Preference or desperation? Distinguishing between the natal habitat's effects on habitat choice (original) (raw)
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Animal Behaviour, 2006
We studied the effects of natal experience on preference for a postdispersal habitat (natal habitat preference induction, NHPI) in groups of newly eclosed female Drosophila melanogaster, using multilevel statistical models to take into account dependencies of responses from individuals making choices within the same hour. Groups consisting of flies with one of five genotypes (crosses of highly inbred female isolines) were allowed free access to a high-quality natal habitat after emergence from their pupae. The flies were then allowed to select one of two new habitats in a large 'seminatural' environment over the next 3 days. The flies showed strong positive effects of training habitat on their choice of a new habitat, after controlling for potential dependence in choices within hours and trials. The genotypes also varied with respect to the effects of conspecifics and humidity on individual choice. A second analysis using data aggregated at the trial level and a traditional statistical approach (a generalized linear model, GLM) also detected effects of training on habitat choice. However, the GLM produced other results that may have been artefacts resulting from the omission of within-trial factors with important effects on choice in this trial-level analysis. This study shows the advantages of using multilevel models rather than aggregating data to control for interactions among subjects when animals select items in groups.
Habitat selection by Drosophila melanogaster larvae
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 1992
Drosophila melanogaster larvae are used to examine habitat choice behavior and its effect on a component of preadult fitness (pupal survivorship). We established strains of flies by collecting pupae from two microhabitats from an orchard. Strain differences in pupation site choice (on versus off fruit) persisted in a field-like laboratory assay without artificial selection. To produce heterogeneous environments, air temperature and soil water content were varied in these assays. A habitat suitability difference measure was used to determine for each environment, which microhabitat (on or off fruit) resulted in greater pupal survivorship. We found 1) that habitat choice behavior had both plastic and heritable components, 2) that strain-by-environment interactions influenced habitat choice behavior and pupal survivorship and, 3) a significant positive correlation between habitat suitability and larval habitat choice behavior.
The effect of natal experience on habitat preferences
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2004
Several important problems in ecology, evolution and conservation biology are affected by habitat selection in dispersing animals. Experience in the natal habitat has long been considered a potential source of variation in the habitat preferences displayed when dispersers select a post-dispersal habitat. However, the taxonomic breadth of this phenomenon is underappreciated, in part because partially overlapping, taxon-specific definitions in the literature have discouraged communication. Here, we explore the phenomenon of natal habitat preference induction (NHPI) and demonstrate that NHPI has been observed in a broad range of animal taxa. We consider the potential adaptive significance of NHPI, identify implications of its occurrence for problems in evolution, ecology and conservation biology, and encourage further study of this phenomenon.
Habitat selection within species ofDrosophila: a review of experimental findings
Evolutionary Ecology, 1987
Habitat selection whereby individuals within a population have different microhabitat preferences is possibly important for genetic diversity and stability. It has received a good deal of attention, especially for Drosophila populations. The literature is summarized and an attempt is made to reconcile what appear to be contradictory findings. Some generalizations are drawn: (1) individual Drosophila choose habitats in consistent and characteristic ways; (2) some microhabitat differences are more important to flies than others; (3) genetic factors influence habitat preferences; (4) experiential factors influence habitat preferences; (5) differences in processing ability moderate the influence of experience on habitat choice. It is argued that the traditional analysis of variance models are frequently not very helpful for visualizing the process, and a computational model is suggested instead.
Adaptive effects of natal experience on habitat selection by dispersers
Animal behaviour, 2006
Despite considerable interest in the effects of natal experience on habitat selection, little attention has been paid to the adaptive significance of this behaviour. Here we suggest that experience in the natal habitat may provide dispersers with information that improves the decisions they make while searching for a new habitat. In animals with time-limited sequential search, or in laboratory experiments using onechoice protocols, experience in the natal habitat may affect an individual's estimate of its total search time, or of its chances of encountering a high-quality habitat after leaving its natal habitat. In turn, theory suggests that changes in estimates of search time or encounter rates with high-quality habitats will affect the chances that dispersers will be attracted to cues from any habitat that is perceived to be of low or medium quality. For any disperser, regardless of search tactics, salient experiences in the natal habitat may change disperser estimates of the quality of new habitats that are similar to their natal habitat. For example, a history of successful foraging in the natal habitat might increase the attractiveness of cues from natal-type habitats, whereas difficulty foraging prior to dispersal might decrease it. In turn, any process that links an individual's experience in its natal habitat with its level of preference for cues from comparable natal-type habitats would encourage a positive relationship between habitat performance and preference, without requiring genetic correlations between these two variables. Generally speaking, positive effects of natal experience on habitat preference (NHPI) are predicted to be more common than negative effects of experience on habitat preference (negative NHPI). Predictions about the effects of natal experience on disperser estimates of search time, encounter rates and habitat quality can be investigated using appropriate experimental protocols, especially those that include na€ ıve subjects raised in habitats that lack the cues that dispersers use to locate and identify habitats under natural conditions.
The induction of larval resource preference in heterogeneous habitats
Ecological Entomology, 2018
Animals often have to evaluate and choose between multiple food sources in their habitat, and these potentially complex decisions can have a large impact on their fitness. Among other factors, previous experience with an alternative resource can significantly increase subsequent preference for the resource ("induction of preference"). Such induction of resource preference is particularly relevant in spatially or temporally heterogeneous habitats. Although most mobile species-especially generalists-probably frequently encounter habitat heterogeneity, the impact of preference induction on individual behaviour and fitness in heterogeneous habitats is poorly understood. We analysed larval preference induction in wheat-adapted generalist red flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) under three types of habitat heterogeneity. We first analysed the induction of larval preference for novel resources (other cereal flours) under temporal heterogeneity, exposing larvae to new resources during development. We found that larvae preferred a new resource if they experienced it recently, but that the magnitude of induction varied across resources. Interestingly, we also observed specific induction for a homogenous mix of wheat and a novel resource, with larvae preferring the mix over either pure resource. To analyse induction under spatial heterogeneity, we placed beetle eggs in one of two alternative resource patches and tested the preference of emerged larvae. Unexpectedly, hatching into a novel resource did not always induce preference. Finally, we found that induction of preference for new resources could be maladaptive for larval development. Together, our work demonstrates that experience-based plasticity of larval resource choice may strongly impact larval preference and fitness in heterogeneous habitats.
Behavioral Ecology of an Invasive Species: Habitat and Mate Preference(s) in Drosophila Suzukii
2017
The invasive Spotted-Wing fruit fly, Drosophila suzukii, has inflicted substantial economic losses to the soft-fruit agriculture industry worldwide due to the ability of females in this species to use a large, serrated ovipositor to cut the fruit's skin and lay eggs directly into the mesocarp of ripening fruit. Once the eggs hatch, larvae consume the fruit flesh, ultimately leaving the fruit unmarketable. This species parasitizes numerous commercial fruit types (including blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and occasionally grapes) as well as fruits from a variety of wild plant species. Since fruit types vary in their nutritional composition, as well as their spatial and temporal availability, this suggests that D. suzukii experiences considerable environmental heterogeneity. The environment can have a large influence on the development and evolution of morphological, physiological, and behavioural phenotypes and, thus, can have significant implications for individual variation and population growth and change over time. Thus to better I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Jenn Baltzer and Dr. Scott Ramsay, for their advice and suggestions and for Dr. Ramsay providing me with the liberty to conduct some (rather messy) experiments in his laboratory. Additionally, I am very grateful to all of the members of the Long Lab, volunteers and students that spent countless hours preparing media, sorting fly eggs, counting flies and much more. As the 'muscle' in this body of work, they have made the success of this project possible. I am also highly appreciative of NSERC and the WLU Department of Biology for their funding. Finally, a big thank you goes out to my family for their somewhat biased appraisal and support of my scholarly accomplishments-big and small. My confidence thanks you dearly. V TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV TABLE OF CONTENTS V LIST OF FIGURES VII LIST OF TABLES IX CHAPTER 1 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PREFERENCES IN DROSOPHILA SUZUKII Background The importance of understanding habitat choice and its consequences in D. suzukii 3 The importance of understanding mate choice and its consequences in D. suzukii The relationship between mate choice and habitat choice Objectives and Significance References CHAPTER 2
The choice of egg laying site and progeny’s performance in a rearing site are important components of habitat selection. Despite the huge amount of genetic, morphological, behavioral and physiological data regarding Drosophila melanogaster Meigen and D. simulans Sturtevant, oviposition site preferences remain poorly known. We investigated resource preference (acceptance and choice) and performance (measured as larval viability, developmental time and wing size) in Vitis vinifera Linneo (grape) and Cydonia oblonga Miller (quince), two fruit plants that D. melanogaster and D. simulans use as breeding substrates in western Argentina. Females of both species preferred V. vinifera over C. oblonga when offered to lay eggs on grape and/or quince, with D. melanogaster showing a more biased preference for V. vinifera than its sibling. Concerning performance, flies reared in C. oblonga developed faster than in V. vinifera, regardless of the species and D. simulans had a shorter developmental time than D. melanogaster. We also observed inter and intraspecific (between flies reared in different resources) differences in wing size and shape. Our study provides novel data concerning ecological aspects scarcely addressed in these species, and suggest that the use of different resource may be a relevant factor in their recent evolutionary history.
Genotypic variation in refractory periods and habitat selection by natal dispersers
Animal Behaviour, 2007
Refractory periods at the onset of dispersal occur when individuals initially do not settle in response to cues from naturally occurring habitats. The current paper focuses on relationships between refractory periods and habitat selection behaviour when natal dispersers use sequential search tactics. We first show how individual differences in acceptance thresholds can produce predictable relationships across individuals between the duration of their refractory periods and the time when they become responsive to cues from less preferred habitats. We then test these predictions using recurrent F1 crosses (genotypes) of Drosophila melanogaster. We found consistent differences between genotypes with respect to the duration of their refractory periods, and strong correlations across the genotypes between the duration of refractory periods and the time when individuals accepted cues from less preferred habitats, the time when they accepted habitats with supernormal cues, and an estimate of the total time available for search. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that individual differences in acceptance thresholds can lead to correlations across individuals between the duration of the refractory period and the time during search when they accept less preferred habitats. We discuss the implications of these results for studies of habitat selection by natal dispersers, and for studies of individual differences in other behavioural contexts (i.e. mate choice) in which animals search for a single item with a large impact on fitness.