Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators
Abstract The nests of ground‐nesting birds rely heavily on camouflage for their survival, and predation risk, often linked to ecological changes from human activity, is a major source of mortality. Numerous ground‐nesting bird populations are in decline, so understanding the effects of camouflage on...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fa477d739cf145a397273513edfc2228 2023-10-29T02:40:45+01:00 Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators George R. A. Hancock Lizzie Grayshon Ryan Burrell Innes Cuthill Andrew Hoodless Jolyon Troscianko 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10471 https://doaj.org/article/fa477d739cf145a397273513edfc2228 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10471 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.10471 https://doaj.org/article/fa477d739cf145a397273513edfc2228 Ecology and Evolution, Vol 13, Iss 9, Pp n/a-n/a (2023) 3D scanning camouflage ground‐nesting birds lapwing occlusion Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10471 2023-10-01T00:35:31Z Abstract The nests of ground‐nesting birds rely heavily on camouflage for their survival, and predation risk, often linked to ecological changes from human activity, is a major source of mortality. Numerous ground‐nesting bird populations are in decline, so understanding the effects of camouflage on their nesting behavior is relevant to their conservation concerns. Habitat three‐dimensional (3D) geometry, together with predator visual abilities, viewing distance, and viewing angle, determine whether a nest is either visible, occluded, or too far away to detect. While this link is intuitive, few studies have investigated how fine‐scale geometry is likely to help defend nests from different predator guilds. We quantified nest visibility based on 3D occlusion, camouflage, and predator visual modeling in northern lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, on different land management regimes. Lapwings selected local backgrounds that had a higher 3D complexity at a spatial scale greater than their entire clutches compared to local control sites. Importantly, our findings show that habitat geometry—rather than predator visual acuity—restricts nest visibility for terrestrial predators and that their field habitats, perceived by humans as open, are functionally closed with respect to a terrestrial predator searching for nests on the ground. Taken together with lapwings' careful nest site selection, our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat geometry for understanding the evolutionary ecology and management of conservation sites for ground‐nesting birds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Vanellus vanellus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecology and Evolution 13 9 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
3D scanning camouflage ground‐nesting birds lapwing occlusion Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
3D scanning camouflage ground‐nesting birds lapwing occlusion Ecology QH540-549.5 George R. A. Hancock Lizzie Grayshon Ryan Burrell Innes Cuthill Andrew Hoodless Jolyon Troscianko Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
topic_facet |
3D scanning camouflage ground‐nesting birds lapwing occlusion Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract The nests of ground‐nesting birds rely heavily on camouflage for their survival, and predation risk, often linked to ecological changes from human activity, is a major source of mortality. Numerous ground‐nesting bird populations are in decline, so understanding the effects of camouflage on their nesting behavior is relevant to their conservation concerns. Habitat three‐dimensional (3D) geometry, together with predator visual abilities, viewing distance, and viewing angle, determine whether a nest is either visible, occluded, or too far away to detect. While this link is intuitive, few studies have investigated how fine‐scale geometry is likely to help defend nests from different predator guilds. We quantified nest visibility based on 3D occlusion, camouflage, and predator visual modeling in northern lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, on different land management regimes. Lapwings selected local backgrounds that had a higher 3D complexity at a spatial scale greater than their entire clutches compared to local control sites. Importantly, our findings show that habitat geometry—rather than predator visual acuity—restricts nest visibility for terrestrial predators and that their field habitats, perceived by humans as open, are functionally closed with respect to a terrestrial predator searching for nests on the ground. Taken together with lapwings' careful nest site selection, our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat geometry for understanding the evolutionary ecology and management of conservation sites for ground‐nesting birds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
George R. A. Hancock Lizzie Grayshon Ryan Burrell Innes Cuthill Andrew Hoodless Jolyon Troscianko |
author_facet |
George R. A. Hancock Lizzie Grayshon Ryan Burrell Innes Cuthill Andrew Hoodless Jolyon Troscianko |
author_sort |
George R. A. Hancock |
title |
Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
title_short |
Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
title_full |
Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
title_fullStr |
Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
title_sort |
habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground‐nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10471 https://doaj.org/article/fa477d739cf145a397273513edfc2228 |
genre |
Vanellus vanellus |
genre_facet |
Vanellus vanellus |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 13, Iss 9, Pp n/a-n/a (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10471 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.10471 https://doaj.org/article/fa477d739cf145a397273513edfc2228 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10471 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
9 |
_version_ |
1781069417323429888 |