Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones
In studying the success of foraging animals, studies of interference competition have put emphasis on effects of competitor density, whereas studies of resource defense have focused on the effects of the spatial distribution of food within patches. Very few studies have looked at both factors simult...
Published in: | Behavioral Ecology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Oxford University Press
2005
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/16/5/834 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 |
id |
fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:beheco:16/5/834 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:beheco:16/5/834 2023-05-15T15:23:18+02:00 Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones Vahl, Wouter K. Lok, Tamar van der Meer, Jaap Piersma, Theunis Weissing, Franz J. 2005-09-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/16/5/834 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 en eng Oxford University Press http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/16/5/834 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 Copyright (C) 2005, International Society for Behavioral Ecology ARTICLES TEXT 2005 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 2016-11-16T17:07:38Z In studying the success of foraging animals, studies of interference competition have put emphasis on effects of competitor density, whereas studies of resource defense have focused on the effects of the spatial distribution of food within patches. Very few studies have looked at both factors simultaneously, that is, determined whether the effects of competitor density on foraging success depend on the spatial distribution of food. We studied the behavior and the foraging success of ruddy turnstones ( Arenaria interpres ) using an experiment in which we varied both the presence of a competitor and the food distribution. Because turnstones may differ strongly in their relative dominance status, we also experimentally varied the foragers' relative dominance status. We found that the presence of a competitor only reduced the foraging success of subordinate birds foraging at the clumped food distribution. At this condition, dominant and subordinate birds differed markedly in their foraging success. Contrary to our expectations, we did not observe more agonistic behavior at the clumped food distribution. This indicates that the amount of agonistic behavior observed may be a bad indicator of interference effects. These findings have specific implications for models of interference competition. Most notably they show that the effects of competitor density on agonistic behavior and foraging success may well depend on the spatial distribution of food and the foragers' relative dominance status. Additionally, our results suggest that social dominance will not be fully understood without considering long-term processes such as the formation and maintenance of social dominance hierarchies. Text Arenaria interpres HighWire Press (Stanford University) Behavioral Ecology 16 5 834 844 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
op_collection_id |
fthighwire |
language |
English |
topic |
ARTICLES |
spellingShingle |
ARTICLES Vahl, Wouter K. Lok, Tamar van der Meer, Jaap Piersma, Theunis Weissing, Franz J. Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
topic_facet |
ARTICLES |
description |
In studying the success of foraging animals, studies of interference competition have put emphasis on effects of competitor density, whereas studies of resource defense have focused on the effects of the spatial distribution of food within patches. Very few studies have looked at both factors simultaneously, that is, determined whether the effects of competitor density on foraging success depend on the spatial distribution of food. We studied the behavior and the foraging success of ruddy turnstones ( Arenaria interpres ) using an experiment in which we varied both the presence of a competitor and the food distribution. Because turnstones may differ strongly in their relative dominance status, we also experimentally varied the foragers' relative dominance status. We found that the presence of a competitor only reduced the foraging success of subordinate birds foraging at the clumped food distribution. At this condition, dominant and subordinate birds differed markedly in their foraging success. Contrary to our expectations, we did not observe more agonistic behavior at the clumped food distribution. This indicates that the amount of agonistic behavior observed may be a bad indicator of interference effects. These findings have specific implications for models of interference competition. Most notably they show that the effects of competitor density on agonistic behavior and foraging success may well depend on the spatial distribution of food and the foragers' relative dominance status. Additionally, our results suggest that social dominance will not be fully understood without considering long-term processes such as the formation and maintenance of social dominance hierarchies. |
format |
Text |
author |
Vahl, Wouter K. Lok, Tamar van der Meer, Jaap Piersma, Theunis Weissing, Franz J. |
author_facet |
Vahl, Wouter K. Lok, Tamar van der Meer, Jaap Piersma, Theunis Weissing, Franz J. |
author_sort |
Vahl, Wouter K. |
title |
Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
title_short |
Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
title_full |
Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
title_fullStr |
Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
title_sort |
spatial clumping of food and social dominance affect interference competition among ruddy turnstones |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/16/5/834 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 |
genre |
Arenaria interpres |
genre_facet |
Arenaria interpres |
op_relation |
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/16/5/834 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2005, International Society for Behavioral Ecology |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ari067 |
container_title |
Behavioral Ecology |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
834 |
op_container_end_page |
844 |
_version_ |
1766354015667355648 |