Experimental Evidence Shows the Importance of Behavioural Plasticity and Body Size under Competition in Waterfowl

When differently sized species feed on the same resources, interference competition may occur, which may negatively affect their food intake rate. It is expected that competition between species also alters behaviour and feeding patch selection. To assess these changes in behaviour and patch selecti...

Celý popis

Uloženo v:

Podrobná bibliografie
Vydáno v:	PloS one Ročník 11; číslo 10; s. e0164606
Hlavní autoři:	Zhang, Yong, Prins, Herbert H. T., Versluijs, Martijn, Wessels, Rick, Cao, Lei, de Boer, Willem Frederik
Médium:	Journal Article
Jazyk:	angličtina
Vydáno:	United States Public Library of Science 11.10.2016 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Témata:	Alterra - Environmental risk assessment Anas penelope Anatidae Animal behavior Animals Anser cygnoides Anser fabalis Aquatic birds Biology and Life Sciences Birds Body Size Competition Competitive Behavior - physiology Ecology Ecology and Environmental Sciences Environmental Risk Assessment Experiments Feeding Feeding behavior Feeding Behavior - physiology Food Food intake Forage Forages Foraging behavior Geese - physiology Herbivores Herbivory Leerstoelgroep Resource Ecology Nitrogen Nitrogen - metabolism Ornithology Patches (structures) PE&RC Plastic properties Plasticity Proteins Resource Ecology Social Sciences Soil sciences Species Waterfowl Wildfowl Netherlands China Greenland
ISSN:	1932-6203, 1932-6203
On-line přístup:	Získat plný text
Tagy:	Přidat tag Žádné tagy, Buďte první, kdo vytvoří štítek k tomuto záznamu!

Popis
Shrnutí:	When differently sized species feed on the same resources, interference competition may occur, which may negatively affect their food intake rate. It is expected that competition between species also alters behaviour and feeding patch selection. To assess these changes in behaviour and patch selection, we applied an experimental approach using captive birds of three differently sized Anatidae species: wigeon (Anas penelope) (~600 g), swan goose (Anser cygnoides) (~2700 g) and bean goose (Anser fabalis) (~3200 g). We quantified the functional response for each species and then recorded their behaviour and patch selection with and without potential competitors, using different species combinations. Our results showed that all three species acquired the highest nitrogen intake at relatively tall swards (6, 9 cm) when foraging in single species flocks in the functional response experiment. Goose species were offered foraging patches differing in sward height with and without competitors, and we tested for the effect of competition on foraging behaviour. The mean percentage of time spent feeding and being vigilant did not change under competition for all species. However, all species utilized strategies that increased their peck rate on patches across different sward heights, resulting in the same instantaneous and nitrogen intake rate. Our results suggest that variation in peck rate over different swards height permits Anatidae herbivores to compensate for the loss of intake under competition, illustrating the importance of behavioural plasticity in heterogeneous environments when competing with other species for resources.
Bibliografie:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23 Conceptualization: WFdB HHTP LC YZ. Data curation: YZ MV RW WFdB LC. Formal analysis: YZ LC MV RW. Funding acquisition: LC WFdB HHTP. Investigation: YZ MV RW. Methodology: YZ MV RW. Project administration: LC WFdB HHTP YZ. Supervision: WFdB LC HHTP. Validation: WFdB LC YZ. Visualization: YZ MV RW. Writing – original draft: YZ MV RW. Writing – review & editing: WFdB HHTP LC YZ. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0164606