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Understanding the functional significance of bird sounds can provide valuable insight into the behavior and how birds use habitat. We show that the Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) wing-boom display is a territorial signal associated with the nest location that can be used to identify territorial habitat use. In other words, the Common Nighthawk wing-boom display can be considered analogous to song due to its potential function in territoriality. We captured, tagged, and tracked 21 male Common Nighthawks in northeastern Alberta to confirm the functional significance of the wing-boom display and describe Common Nighthawk territoriality. Mean wing-boom use density (hereafter “area”) size was 10.2 ha (SD = 11.7 ha). We found minimal overlap in the wing-boom area (5 of 15 neighboring male pairs, 0.2–4.5% overlap), suggesting the wing-boom display represents an exclusive territory. Comparison of wing-boom locations and random points within the wing-boom area confirmed that male Common Nighthawks select areas near the nest to perform wing-boom displays. There was high wing-boom area overlap for the same individual between years. Differences between years reflected shifts in nest location, suggesting that the wing-boom display is a good indicator of the nest location and territory. Future Common Nighthawk surveys should record the type of acoustic signal observed to differentiate territorial habitat use from other functions. Many taxa that produce non-vocal sounds as part of breeding displays could similarly benefit from a functional understanding to provide insight into habitat use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on nesting of a pair of Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos in the Valais Alps in Switzerland. Topics discussed include assessment of the size of the territories of each couple, which shows their territorial behavior; domination of the place by depositing larch branches and blueberry roots; and information on how the couple abandon the highs and concentrate on the lower parts in winter, where Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra, Ibex Capra ibex and avalanche victims are found.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is often depicted as either a wildlife refuge or an apocalyptic wasteland, which is representative of the ongoing scientific controversy regarding the effects of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe on nature in the Zone. In this article, the filthy/flourishing binary is disrupted by attending to the everyday human‐dog relations that have emerged in the Zone between dogs ‐ some of which are likely descendants of pets originally abandoned during the evacuation in 1986 ‐ and checkpoint guards. Participatory photography is deployed as method. Themes of companionship, care and commensality emerge alongside a discussion of the nature of Chernobyl dogs, which is invoked in discourses surrounding their apparent wildness, territoriality and adaptation to radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social aggression and avoidance are defensive behaviors expressed by territorial animals in a manner appropriate to spatial context and experience. The ventromedial hypothalamus controls both social aggression and avoidance, suggesting that it may encode a general internal state of threat modulated by space and experience. Here, we show that neurons in the mouse ventromedial hypothalamus are activated both by the presence of a social threat as well as by a chamber where social defeat previously occurred. Moreover, under conditions where the animal could move freely between a home and defeat chamber, firing activity emerged that predicted the animal's position, demonstrating the dynamic encoding of spatial context in the hypothalamus. Finally, we found that social defeat induced a functional reorganization of neural activity as optogenetic activation could elicit avoidance after, but not before social defeat. These findings reveal how the hypothalamus dynamically encodes spatial and sensory cues to drive social behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prior residence effect consists of a higher probability of territory owners to win a fight against intruders, as observed in several territorial species across animal kingdom. However, in investigations on territorial behavior, intruder traits have been assumed as fixed. Thus, we used a territorial species as experimental model to evaluate the effect of intruder traits on aggressive behavior of territory owners. During fights staged between territory owners and intruders, intruder traits, linked with visual signals of social status (dominant-subordinate position), modulate fighting behavior of territory owners, but prior residence effect still occurred. Intruder traits must be addressed more effectively for improving the theoretical understanding of territoriality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although movement ecology has leveraged models of home range formation to explore the effects of spatial heterogeneity and social cues on movement behavior, disease ecology has yet to integrate these potential drivers and mechanisms of contact behavior into a generalizable disease modeling framework. Here we ask how dynamic territory formation and maintenance might contribute to disease dynamics in a territorial, solitary predator for an indirectly transmitted pathogen. We developed a mechanistic individual-based model where stigmergy—the deposition of signals into the environment (e.g., scent marking, scraping)—dictates local movement choices and long-term territory formation, but also the risk of pathogen transmission. Based on a variable importance analysis, the length of the infectious period was the single most important variable in predicting outbreak success, maximum prevalence, and outbreak duration. Host density and rate of pathogen decay were also key predictors. We found that territoriality best reduced maximum prevalence in conditions where we would otherwise expect outbreaks to be most successful: slower recovery rates (i.e., longer infectious periods) and higher conspecific densities. However, for slower pathogen decay rates, stigmergy-driven movement increased outbreak durations relative to random movement simulations. Our findings therefore support a limited version of the "territoriality benefits" hypothesis—where reduced home range overlap leads to reduced opportunities for pathogen transmission, but with the caveat that reduction in outbreak severity may increase the likelihood of pathogen persistence. For longer infectious periods and higher host densities, key trade-offs emerged between the strength of pathogen load, the strength of the stigmergy cue, and the rate at which those two quantities decayed; this finding raises interesting questions about the evolutionary nature of these competing processes and the role of possible feedbacks between parasitism and territoriality. This work also highlights the importance of considering social cues as part of the movement landscape in order to better understand the consequences of individual behaviors on population level outcomes. Author summary: Making decisions about conservation and disease management relies on our understanding of what allows animal populations to be successful, which often depends on when and where animals encounter each other. However, disease ecology often focuses on the social behavior of animals without accounting for their individual movement patterns. We developed a simulation model that bridges the fields of disease and movement ecology by allowing hosts to inform their movement based on the past movements of other hosts. As hosts navigate their environment, they leave behind a scent trail while avoiding the scent trails of other individuals. We wanted to know if this means of territory formation could heighten or dampen disease spread when infectious hosts leave pathogens in their wake. We found that territoriality can inhibit disease spread under conditions that we would normally expect pathogens to be most successful: when there are many hosts on the landscape and hosts stay infectious for longer. This work points to how incorporating movement behavior into disease models can provide improved understanding of how diseases spread in wildlife populations; such understanding is particularly important in the face of combatting ongoing and emerging infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolutionary origins of how modern humans share and use space are often modelled on the territorial-based violence of chimpanzees, with limited comparison to other apes. Gorillas are widely assumed to be non-territorial due to their large home ranges, extensive range overlap, and limited inter-group aggression. Using large-scale camera trapping, we monitored western gorillas in Republic of Congo across 60 km2. Avoidance patterns between groups were consistent with an understanding of the "ownership" of specific regions, with greater avoidance of their neighbours the closer they were to their neighbours' home range centres. Groups also avoided larger groups' home ranges to a greater extent, consistent with stronger defensive responses from more dominant groups. Our results suggest that groups may show territoriality, defending core regions of their home ranges against neighbours, and mirror patterns common across human evolution, with core areas of resident dominance and larger zones of mutual tolerance. This implies western gorillas may be a key system for understanding how humans have evolved the capacity for extreme territorial-based violence and warfare, whilst also engaging in the strong affiliative inter-group relationships necessary for large-scale cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se presenta una introducción en la que los editores discuten artículos sobre la cuestión sobre temas como el conocimiento territorial, la gestión de los recursos forestales y las políticas públicas para la gestión del territorio.

This paper discusses how, in the context of creating a protected natural area, new territorializations are generated that overlap existing territories and territorializations. Each of these territorializations is embedded in particular territorial knowledge, which responds to sometimes conflicting interests and valuations of nature. We analyzed how the creation of a protected natural area, based on expert territorial knowledge, impacted the modalities and possibilities of access to forest resources that were essential for the family economy of several populations. We show that around the harvest of a non-timber forest resource existing in the mountain, the peasants created their territorial knowledge. The change from the resource's extraction to its cultivation disrupted this territorial knowledge. The results presented here are the product of a long-field work that combined action-research and ethnographic work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conceptualizes variant mesoscale structures (e.g., core–periphery, community, flat-world, or hybrid) in world city networks (WCNs) that enable us to understand the grouping features of cities with similar roles and positions, which are defined by distinctive relational patterns between cities as well as groups. A new analytical framework relying on a Bayesian-inference weighted stochastic block model (WSBM) is proposed to infer and compare latent mesoscale structures. This framework is superior to existing city-clustering approaches, which either ex ante postulate a mesoscale structure before clustering (e.g., the community detection method) or ex post explain the roles and positions of cities after clustering based on their similarities in attributes and thus avoid the traps of methodological determinism and territorialism. For substantiating mesoscale structures, we study a WCN of 126 cities, between which the relational strength is measured by the pairwise coreference frequency of cities on massive Internet Web pages collected by a webometrics approach. Modeling results show that the WCN reflected on Web pages has a distinctive multicore–periphery structure mixed with communities. We also develop a likelihood-based estimation to compare alternative mesoscale structures and find that the WCN configuration differs from many geographical imaginaries of globalization, such as a homogenous world, a ranking hierarchy, or a territorialist regional geography. This study asks for more comparative analyses of mesoscale structures in the future research agenda of macroregional or WCN studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread occurrence of alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) highlights the diverse ways in which sexual selection can operate within a population. We studied ARTs in Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus), evaluating paternity, lifetime reproductive success, and life histories. Reproductively mature male Columbian ground squirrels displayed either a territorial or satellite (nonterritorial) tactic. Territorial males secured a higher proportion of copulations, were more likely to mate at earlier positions in females' mating sequences, and sired more offspring than satellite males. The tactic males adopted were largely a function of weight, age, and experience, with larger, older, and more experienced males displaying the territorial tactic. At 2 years of age, males adopted the satellite tactic or deferred breeding for the season. Two-year-old satellite males were heavier than males that deferred breeding, but by age 3, there was no difference between their weights. Males that deferred breeding either adopted the satellite or territorial tactic in the following year, with the lighter males displaying the satellite tactic. The ARTs that males adopted at 2 and 3 years of age led to alternative life history pathways. Males that deferred breeding and only adopted the territorial tactic during their lifetime had twice the number of lifetime offspring compared with males that adopted the satellite tactic and then switched to territorial behavior in following years, although this difference was not statistically significant. Our findings show that the satellite tactic results in lower reproductive output both within a single year, except at age 2, and over their lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a model aimed at shedding light on the emergence of territorial behaviors in predators and on the formation of packs. We consider the situation of predators competing for the same prey (or spatially distributed resource). We observe that strong competition between groups of predators leads to the formation of territories. At the edges of territories, prey concentrate and prosper, leading to a feedback loop in the population distribution of predators. We focus our attention on the effects of the segregation of the population of predators into competing, hostile packs on the overall size of the population of predators. We present some numerical simulations that allow us to describe our counterintuitive and most important conclusion: lethal aggressiveness among hostile groups of predators may actually lead to an increase in their total population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nesting phenology and productivity of hole‐nesting woodland passerines, such as tit species (Paridae), has been the subject of many studies and played a central role in advancing our understanding of the causes and consequences of trophic mismatch. However, as most studies have been conducted in mature, oak‐rich (Quercus sp.) woodlands, it is unknown whether insights from such studies generalise to other habitats used by woodland generalist species. Here we applied spatial mixed models to data collected over three years (2014–2016) from 238 nestboxes across 40 sites – that vary in woodland habitat and elevation – along a 220 km transect in Scotland. We evaluate the importance of habitat, biogeography and food availability as predictors of mesoscale among‐site variation in blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus nestbox occupancy and two components of productivity (clutch size and fledging success). We found that habitat was not a significant predictor of occupancy or clutch size but that occupancy exhibited pronounced biogeographic trends, declining with increasing latitude and elevation. However, fledging success, defined as the proportion of a clutch that fledged, was positively correlated with site level availability of birch, oak and sycamore, and tree diversity. The lack of correspondence between the effects of habitat on fledging success versus occupancy and clutch size may indicate that blue tits do not accurately predict the future quality of their breeding sites when selecting territories and laying clutches. We found little evidence of spatial autocorrelation in occupancy or clutch size, whereas spatial autocorrelation in fledging success extends over multiple sites, albeit non‐significantly. Taken together, our findings suggest that the relationship between breeding decisions and breeding outcomes varies among habitats, and we urge caution when extrapolating inferences from one habitat to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Territoriality refers to the consistent defense of an area within the home range (HR) against intrusions of conspecifics. It implies exclusive space use with low degree of overlap among neighboring groups, high site fidelity, specific ranging behavior such as high mobility relative to HR size and frequent visits of territory borders, and monitoring behavior. We examined ranging behavior and use of space to evaluate territoriality in Pithecia aequatorialis in Ecuador. Materials and methods: Between 2005 and 2015, we monitored one main study group continuously and five additional groups for shorter periods (5 months to 2.5 years) at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station, in eastern Ecuador. We scored the location of the study groups at 20 min intervals during, on average, 5 days per month. We estimated saki HRs and core areas (CAs) using the fixed kernel density method (95 and 50%, respectively). Results: The average HR size was 57 ha and the average CA 14 ha. The degree of overlap between HRs of neighboring groups was low (2–9%). For the main study group, the average overlap between annual HRs was 82%. Mean daily path length across groups was 1,151 m; the defensibility index varied between 1.1 and 2.3 (values >1 are suggestive of territoriality), and the fractional monitoring rate varied between 0.06 and 0.15 (values >0.08 are suggestive of territoriality). Groups did not visit their HR borders (100 m inner buffer) more often than would be expected by chance. Travel speed and directness were comparable between the borders and the centers of groups' HRs. Discussion: Our multiyear study suggests that equatorial sakis show low degree of range overlap and high site fidelity and have the potential to be territorial, given their high mobility relative to HR size that allows for frequent border monitoring. Nevertheless, their movement patterns in border areas did not reveal evidence for monitoring behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Territoriality arises when the benefits of resources exceed the costs of defending them. The dear enemy phenomenon, where familiar territorial neighbours refrain from intruding on one another and mutually reduce their defensive efforts, allows for reduction of these costs but requires discrimination between conspecifics. We hypothesized that territorial vocalizations in red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) are used for this discrimination. We performed a speaker replacement experiment where red squirrels (N = 41) were temporarily removed from their territories and replaced with a speaker broadcasting their own call, an unfamiliar call, or silence. Contrary to our prediction, there were no differences in overall intrusion risk among our three playbacks, but the identity of intruders did vary. Existing variation in familiarity within territorial neighbourhoods should be considered, rather than the binary classification of familiar or stranger, when studying dear enemy effects. We also discuss the variable importance of silence in acoustic territorial populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on guanacos have reported that only territorial males create and maintain dung-piles. The aim of this analysis was to compare dung-pile use by territorial males with the use by females and young in family groups, and by bachelor males. Although territorial males showed the highest dung-pile use, all individuals dropped feces on piles frequently, in contrast to what was previously observed within other guanaco populations. Besides stressing the behavioral plasticity of guanacos, these results suggest an additional adaptive function of localized-defecation other than demarcating territory ownership by the territorial male. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The bearded seal occurs in virtually all Arctic seas. During the spring (pupping and mating season), this species is characterized by high underwater acoustic activity; studies performed in the foreign countries in the 1960s showed that sexually mature males produced the signals. The present article discusses a comprehensive analysis of bearded seal acoustic signals recorded in 1984-2017 in different parts of the White Sea. The main types of signals were identified, the physical characteristics of the signals were described, and territorial and temporal variability of the signals was assessed. High overall stability was demonstrated for bearded seals' underwater acoustic signaling system. Acoustic census methods to account for individuals present in the studied water area have been proposed based on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dispersal is a key ecological process that influences the dynamics of spatially and socially structured populations and consists of three stages—emigration, transience, and settlement—and each stage is influenced by different social, individual, and environmental factors. Despite our appreciation of the complexity of the process, we lack a firm empirical understanding of the mechanisms underlying the different stages. Here, using data from 65 GPS‐collared dispersing female coalitions of the cooperatively breeding meerkat (Suricata suricatta), we present a comprehensive analysis of the effects of population density, mate availability, dispersing coalition size, and individual factors on each of the three stages of dispersal in a wild population. We expected a positive effect of density on dispersal due to increased kin competition at high densities. We further anticipated positive effects of mate availability, coalition size, and body condition on dispersal success. We observed increasing daily emigration and settlement probabilities at high population densities. In addition, we found that emigration and settlement probabilities also increased at low densities and were lowest at medium densities. Daily emigration and settlement probabilities increased with increasing female coalition size and in the presence of unrelated males. Furthermore, the time individuals spent in the transient stage increased with population density, whereas coalition size and presence of unrelated males decreased dispersal distance. The observed nonlinear relationship between dispersal and population density is likely due to limited benefits of cooperation at low population densities and increased kin competition at high densities. Our study provides empirical validation for the theoretical predictions that population density is an important factor driving the evolution of delayed dispersal and philopatry in cooperative breeders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociality beyond mated pairs, whether in the form of nesting colonies, clustered territories or leks, presents an evolutionary puzzle because densely packed individuals typically incur high fitness costs. One hypothesis to explain clustered distributions is that they overlie clumped distributions of resources. However, numerous studies have shown that resource distributions are often insufficient to explain individuals' settlement decisions, suggesting that clustered breeding distributions are driven by other types of benefits, possibly related to ecological, social and genetic factors. One can ask more specifically whether animals cluster because of some underlying ecological factor, or whether aspects of their reproductive behaviour and mating systems are more influential. Accordingly, evaluating the influence of sexual selection upon the evolution of mating systems can be crucial for understanding the underlying causes of animal aggregations. In this article, we review the behavioural ecology of three types of mating systems where breeding occurs in clusters: colonial, lekking and socially monogamous clustered territorial systems. We highlight sexual selection as a potential explanation for the emergence of aggregations in all three cases. In particular, we discuss the hidden lek hypothesis, which postulates that aggregations in colonial and territorial species can be driven by increased opportunities for extrapair copulations. Finally, we feature our work with the blue-black grassquit, Volatinia jacarina , which illustrates the complexity of selective mechanisms that may favour territorial aggregations. Highlights • Many species breed in clusters that do not reflect underlying resource distributions. • Colonial, lekking and socially monogamous territorial species form aggregations. • The hidden lek hypothesis attempts to explain these clusters through sexual selection. • We illustrate clustering behaviour and possible mechanisms using a Neotropical bird. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonbreeding season territoriality is found in many mammal species irrespective of diet, being found in carnivores, granivores, and herbivores. However, we know the hormonal basis for this behavior in virtually none. American martens (Martes americana) show strong intrasexual, year-round territoriality. We collected serum samples from both territorial and transient males and documented size metrics and movement patterns with live-capture and radiotelemetry from September to June in 3 years in Southeast Alaska. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA—a prohormone that can be converted in the brain to active gonadal hormones) levels were high (comparable to humans and rodents showing nonbreeding season spacing behavior) and did not change over the nonbreeding season in territorial males. In contrast, testosterone levels were low in autumn and increased as the summer breeding season approached. Territorial males were larger than transients in some measures and had higher testosterone levels, but similar DHEA and cortisol levels (total and free). DHEA levels declined with age. Our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that DHEA, not testosterone, is the basis for territoriality outside the breeding season in martens, but collection of serum from females and experimental manipulations are required to provide conclusive evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Territorial scent‐marking provides chemical records of male competitive interactions that are available to females, who gain valuable information to assess and identify best quality partners. In this context, the solitary subterranean rodent tuco‐tuco (Ctenomys talarum) offers excellent possibilities to evaluate the effects of male exclusive scent‐marking of territories on female assessment. For evaluation, we used wild caught individuals of C. talarum, manipulated their scent marks within the territories in captive conditions and staged preference tests where females were able to choose between exclusive and invaded territories. The evaluation was performed in two scenarios considering the identity of the intruder scent mark: territories invaded by a strange male and territories invaded by a neighbour male. Females investigated the chemical cues deposited on the substrate of the exclusively marked territory more frequently. Next, females displayed equal interest to scent samples of both males presented in a Y‐maze. Finally, when females could gain access to both individually isolated males and their scent‐marked territories, they spent more time within invaded territories despite they visited them with the same frequency. Moreover, females tried to get in contact by scratching the mesh of the owner of the invaded territory more frequently. We found that females of C. talarum evaluate the homogeneity (exclusiveness) of scent marks within a male territory and then show preferences in relation to the identity of the intruder's scent –whether strange or neighbour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population of the Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) has been increasing in Europe including Hungary. The species occupy new habitats beside its ancient territories including quarries and buildings. This may result in conflicting conservation and economic interests in active quarries. Because eagle owls are strictly protected in Hungary, human activities around known nest sites require environmental permits. We aimed to obtain information on Eagle Owl behaviour in an operating quarry by tracking an adult female to base a future species-specific guideline to issue environmental permits for mining in quarries. We used a combined GPS-GSM and VHF telemetry. We found that the tracked female did not breed in the study year but remained in her home range during the study period. By studying her seasonal and daily patterns of movements, we found that she was not disturbed by regular human activities under the nesting cliff, but she was more sensitive to unexpected non-regular disturbance. Based on the satellite-tracking data, this specimen used an approximately 18 km2 home range during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vicuña is a high Andean wild camelid that lives year-long in groups. We analyzed the social organization of 98 marked vicuñas after capture and live shearing, focusing on group composition, spatial patterns, territoriality and habitat use. The social units analyzed were families, bachelor groups and solo animals. Location fixes of 54 males and 36 females were registered over a 2-year period, and home range was estimated. All females belonged to family groups, and 8-12 month yearlings changed their home ranges prior to first reproduction at 2 years. Female yearlings dispersed to a new family group, while male yearlings dispersed to a bachelor group. Solitary males appeared during the interval between leaving bachelor or family groups, and vice versa. Our study showed that vicuña polygyny was based on female grazing area requirements. Females that stayed with the same males were defined as loyal, and had a mean 18.9 ha home range. Females that changed both to a different family and male; and grazed over the same home range size, were considered disloyal. Family groups selected the habitat that had a low stratum and the highest coverage of palatable plants, while bachelors used their habitat randomly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies suggest that territorial defense can act as a regulating agent of herbivore density, buffering crowding effects and preventing vegetation depletion. The occurrence of territorial families and non-territorial male groups, both major social units in the social organization of guanacos, offers the unusual opportunity to test predictions about the role of territorial defense in buffering grazing impact. Under the hypothesis that forage use by guanacos in family groups would be less intense than that of male groups which lack territorial defense, we predicted that plant cover will be higher in areas used exclusively by family groups compared to that in areas used by male groups. The vegetation and the guanaco population at San Pablo reserve were being monitored for eight years showing that grass foliar and basal cover were reduced when non-territorial groups started using the monitored area, which was previously used exclusively by family groups. On a broader scale comparison, grass and basal cover were higher in areas used by territorial animals than in those used by non-territorial ones. The approximate area used intensively by the non-territorial groups represents less than 18% of the surveyed area, whereas most of the reserve is exposed to less intense use by the territorial family groups. Thus, temporal and spatial comparisons support the idea that the resource-defense system lowers the disturbance rate over vegetation resources by guanaco populations when compared with other ungulates lacking territorial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Territoriality evolves when the benefits gained from exclusive access to limited resources exceed the costs of defence. Sometimes animals evolve distinct morphs, that may reflect different capability, and in some territorial species of lizards the polymorphism is associated to alternative strategies, both for reproductive efficiency and territorial dominance. It is known that normally larger males are more aggressive and are able to defend a larger area and for longer than small males; in fact this dynamic is widespread in many animal species including the genus Podarcis. The aim of our study was to test which factors determine the outcome of fighting in the strongly territorial Italian ruin lizard, Podarcis siculus, using two types of contests: (1) resident versus intruder and (2) in a neutral arena. Furthermore, because these lizards are characterized by strong ventral colour variability, usually restricted to jaws and throat, we wanted to investigate if coloured lizards have higher chances at winning than white lizards. The results showed that the fight's result was significantly influenced by the state of residence, while the colour had no effect; instead, the snout to vent length difference between opponents had significant influence on the outcome in the neutral arena. Our results suggest that, in this lizard, both the size and the state of residency, no matter of colour, play an important role to determine the outcome of a fight, however, highly depending on the contest. We think that P. siculus should be object of future studies, focusing on behavioural and ecological aspects, even considering the occurrence of different colours within and among populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space use patterns determine access to resources necessary for survival and reproduction. Although it is recognized that the interplay between social and ecological variables shapes spacing patterns, few studies in group‐living animals have simultaneously assessed their importance in a comprehensive approach using different spatiotemporal space use measures. In territorial species, such patterns are strongly determined by between‐group competition, but its impact in non‐territorial species is poorly understood. To better understand the role of social and ecological variables in non‐territorial mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), we simultaneously evaluated the impact of between‐group competition (local gorilla population density and frequency of intergroup encounters) and within‐group competition (group size) on space use patterns in 13 gorilla groups in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, while also examining variation in food availability (herbaceous food availability and level of frugivory). We found evidence of between‐group competition, indicated by a decline of both monthly home range size and frequency of revisits to each part of the home range as the local gorilla population density increased and by an increase in daily travel distance on days when intergroup encounters occurred. Within‐group feeding competition was inferred by a decrease in the frequency of revisits as group size increased. Lastly, food availability influenced the gorillas' spacing patterns, as indicated by a decline in monthly home range size as herbaceous food availability increased and by an increase in daily travel distance as the degree of frugivory increased. In sum, our results suggest that Bwindi gorillas adapted their space use according to the constraints of intraspecific competition and the availability of food resources. We provide some of the first evidence of between‐group competition influencing spacing patterns in a non‐territorial species. This study suggests a gradient between territoriality and non‐territoriality, along which the level of between‐group competition varies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Patterns of aggression between ants from different nests influence colony and population structure. Several species of invasive ants lack colony boundaries over large expanses, forming ‘supercolonies’ with many nests among which workers can move without encountering aggression. 2. Bioassays of aggression were used to determine the colony structure of the invasive ant Myrmica rubra (L.) at eight sites in Massachusetts, the state where the species was first discovered in North America. To improve the ability to distinguish systematic patterns from background variability in aggressiveness, a repeated‐measures design was used and replicate assays for each pair of nests were conducted. 3. Aggressive responses showed that populations at all sites consisted of multiple distinct colonies. Patterns of aggression were repeatable and transitive, with few exceptions. Colonies were identified as clusters of nests whose workers showed little to no aggression towards one another but were aggressive towards conspecifics from more distant nests. 4. The degree of aggression varied considerably among different colony pairs but did not depend in any consistent way on the distance of separation or on whether colonies were neighbours. 5. Territories of neighbouring colonies abutted, indicating that they were restricted by intraspecific competition. Mapped territories ranged in size from 0.03 to 1.2 ha, but colonies at the study sites have not undergone the enormous expansions seen in introduced populations of some other species of invasive ants, and neighbouring colonies compete locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mating behavior of a large Aquarius paludum paludum (Fabricius 1794) (Hemiptera: Gerridae: Gerrini) population was investigated on several field surveys during the mating season. Both types of mating behavior known for semi-aquatic true bugs were observed in the studied population: aggressive Type I mating for non-territorial males and unaggressive Type II mating for the territorial males. Some males establish individual territories at the lake shores that they defend for around one hour and switch to aggressive mating if they fail to attract a female to mate, while most males remain non-territorial. Radial 1-1.5 meter territories were aggressively defended from other males, conflicts being always won by the male already occupying the territory. The presence of Type II males is conditioned by the absence of sufficient space for all males to establish territories. Contact guarding was much longer than documented before for A. paludum paludum, lasting for at least 12-13 hours in some cases. Based on the observations and on the existing information on the group, a more comprehensive classification of mating behavior of true bugs is proposed: Type I - non-territorial, unsignaled grasping, with contact guarding; Type II - territorial, signaled mounting with noncontact guarding; Type III - non-territorial, signaled mounting with contact guarding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advertisement call is the most common signal used by anurans for intraspecific communication. However, some species have lost the ability to emit these vocalizations and are denoted as mute. Alternatively, these species may communicate by visual, tactile and chemical signals. The lack of advertisement call could be explained by the high background noise of breeding microhabitats. A model group to study alternative communication tactics is the genus Megaelosia, which is composed by seven mute species that inhabit noisy streams, and for which no information on intraspecific communication is available. We monitored a population of M. apuana and described its visual signalling during aggressive interactions between males. This interaction included visual signalling, physical combat, and the retreat of the smaller individual. No audible sound was detected during the whole aggressive interaction, reinforcing the genus muteness. This is the first report of any communication behaviour for the genus Megaelosia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leks are aggregations of sexually displaying males visited by receptive females and characterized by intense male–male competition to attract mates. Success in lekking species is often contingent upon male display output and/or lek attendance, with energetically costly displays functioning as an honest indicator of male quality. Furthermore, display spaces are vigorously defended by territorial males, and territory characteristics are often linked to male phenotype. Here we describe the courtship and territorial behaviour of lekking lesser short-tailed bats, Mystacina tuberculata , and both behaviours appear to be conditional on body size. During the breeding season, lekking males occupy and defend small tree hollows and sing for long periods of the night to attract females. Although some males sing alone, others form ‘timeshare’ singing roosts, where multiple males visit sequentially to sing each night. In our study, solitary males were significantly smaller than timeshare males and individually had both higher song outputs and higher roost occupancy rates, although timeshare roosts had higher overall occupancy rates. There appeared to be no fitness difference between the two male groups, and while one timeshare roost contained relatively closely related individuals (which roost settlement simulations indicate was not a chance event), four did not. We discuss factors that may promote timeshare formation, including competition for access to desired roosts and potential by-product mutualisms. Courtship and sexual selection in bats is largely undescribed, and thus our study provides a useful description of behaviour in a little-studied taxon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Resource histories determine how particular parts of the environment come to be defined as valuable. As elsewhere, protected areas in Latin America link the governance of people, territory, and resources by reinterpreting and reclassifying practices and environments. Set in highland Peru, the article focuses on how such revisions imply contestation of both history and future. It explores particular modes of claiming space through an archeology of the claims to knowledge and legitimacy put forward by a national park and a campesino community, respectively. Claims to space entwine with social struggles about local development where territorial claims are based on different notions of history and interpretations of the esthetic and productive values of the landscape. While the park officials navigate interests of conservation, tourism, and extraction, the campesino community mobilizes a different set of values and interests based on their historical occupation of the territories. These processes of contestation over authority and legitimacy highlight different views on the role of landscapes in the history and progress of local communities. Conservation may not only dispossess people of their land and natural resources, but also of labor and territorial sovereignty. This case shows how an Andean campesino community counters such movements by a wide repertoire of legal and social actions that works simultaneously in legal and extra-legal domains. Paper works mediate claims to territorial sovereignty, people, and resources. These claims involve contestations over interpretations of history which, besides their oral forms, materialize in paperwork such as official communications, community records, and cadastral maps, as well as in visual representations, internal statutes, and deliberate history writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-random occupation of habitats is termed habitat selection. Some species of whip spiders select trees with burrows at their base, while others use substrates such as rocks. Here, we investigated the habitat use by Charinus asturius Pinto-da-Rocha, Machado & Weygoldt, 2002, an endemic species of Ilhabela Island in Brazil. We found that C. asturius is more likely to be found under rocks that cover larger areas of substrate. Our results also suggest the existence of territorialism in C. asturius and show that C. asturius adults may be found again on the same rock a week later. Additionally, our data show that C. asturius is present in a greater area of Ilhabela than previously documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duets are a jointly produced signal where two or more individuals coordinate their vocalizations by overlapping or alternating their songs. Duets are used in a wide array of contexts within partnerships, ranging from territory defence to pair bond maintenance. It has been proposed that pairs that coordinate their songs might also better coordinate other activities, including nest building, parental care and defending shared resources. Here, we tested in the riverside wren ( Cantorchilus semibadius), a neotropical duetting species that produces highly coordinated duet songs, whether males and females show similar responses to playback. During territorial disputes in songbird species, individuals tend to direct their attention towards same-sex territorial intruders, but this bias might be less pronounced in duetting species. We performed a dual-speaker playback experiment to examine how mated individuals respond to speakers broadcasting female-versus-male duet contributions. We found that riverside wrens have high levels of converging behaviour by duetting and remaining in close proximity to one another when responding to simulated paired intruders. Males and females spent more than 80% of their time less than 1 m apart while defending their territory. Both individuals in a pair aggressively engaged with both male and female simulated trespassers by approaching equally close and spending equal time near the two speakers. These results suggest that both sexes perceive a paired territorial intrusion as a similar threat and that both partners are highly invested in defending the shared resources. This study is one of the few to demonstrate equal attention and aggression from mated pairs towards simulated same-sex and opposite-sex intruders. We suggest that pairs responding together, in close proximity to one another, might be favourable in duetting species when defending the territory because maintaining a close distance between partners facilitates the extreme coordination of their joint territorial signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is considered a special case of territorial ungulate. This study aimed to contribute to the knowledge of male roe deer territoriality by exploring its spatial use and activity patterns. We divided the territorial period (March- August) into three two-month sampling periods and found that the home range (HR) size of 13 radio-collared males averaged from 47.9 ± 14.5 ha to 109.7 ± 31.9 ha. We classified the spatial behaviour of eight out of the 13 males into three groups and concluded that HR size variation alone did not explain the potential territorial status. Nevertheless, it was indicative of their territorial status when considered along with the bucks' age, spatial movements and activity levels. The activity levels of July-August were significantly lower than the activity levels of March-April. HR size variation of the males monitored significantly contributed to explain the variations in their activity levels. Old bucks were significantly less active than other males, especially during July-August. To sum up, we found an indication of an influence of spatial profiles on activity levels, though a larger sample will be needed in order to better understand differences in age and territorial status, and inter-individual differences in activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideal despotic distribution theory and resource dispersion theory predict that individuals in populations of territorial species arrange themselves in space according to dominance and resource dispersion. When available territories are saturated, this can result in competition for preferred territories. Recently, transience in coyote populations was suggested as an advantageous life history strategy, even though transients may incur higher mortality and do not typically contribute reproductively to the population at that time. Here we assess potential types of biding, or awaiting better territory opportunities, in a highly-exploited coyote population in Virginia, USA. We used relocation data from coyotes collared from July 2011 - March 2014 to classify residents and transients based on a 95% home range area over a three-month moving window. We estimated home range stability as the distance between successive activity centers and compared it between subadults and adults. We used home range stability relative to home range area to identify extra-territorial excursions and territory turnover, or resident shifts into adjacent territories. Some coyotes adhered to the traditional form of transience, occupying very large home ranges or biding areas overlapping several resident territories, until a territory became vacant. Conversely, other individuals displayed evidence of resident territory turnover, suggesting individuals may use low quality territories as biding areas, waiting for better quality territories to become vacant. We suggest this biding population provides the capacity for rapid compensatory immigration. In response to high levels of mortality in exploited coyote populations, removal of individuals from territories may result in immediate colonization by another individual, confounding efforts to reduce overall coyote density. Thus, transience and biding may regulate population density and be a potentially advantageous life history strategy and may have implications for management of saturated populations of social predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group living animals often engage in corporate territorial defence. Territorial group vocalizations can provide information about group identity, size and composition. Neighbouring groups may use this information to avoid unfavourable direct conflicts. Giant otters are highly social and territorial animals with an elaborate vocal repertoire. They produce long-range screams when they are alert or excited, i.e. in an alarm, isolation or begging context. Long-range screams are not only produced by one individual at a time (‘single screams’) but also by multiple group members simultaneously, resulting in a highly conspicuous ‘group chorus’. Wild giant otters regularly produce group choruses during interactions with predators, when they detect intruders in their territory or before group reunions after separation. Since single screams and especially group choruses probably contribute to the groups’ corporate territorial defence, we hypothesized that group identity is encoded in single screams and group choruses. We analysed vocalizations from five wild and three captive giant otter groups and found statistical evidence for a group signature in group choruses. Results for single screams were less conclusive, which might have been caused by the comparatively lower sample size. We suggest that giant otters may gain information on group identity by listening to group choruses. Group identity likely constitutes important social information for giant otters since territory boundaries of neighbouring groups can overlap and direct inter-group conflicts are severe. Therefore, group chorusing may contribute to the mutual avoidance of members from different groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How the local density of territorial animals responds to changes in food abundance will depend on the flexibility of territory size. Quantitative estimates of territory size over a broad range of food abundance are relatively rare because of the difficulty of measuring food abundance in the wild., Stream salmonids are an ideal model system for investigating flexibility in territory size, because food abundance can be quantified in the field and manipulated in the laboratory. We conducted a meta-analysis to test whether territory size decreases with increasing food abundance, and a mixed model analysis to test among three competing predictions: with increasing food abundance, territory size will be (1) fixed-the slope of a regression of log territory size vs. log food abundance = 0; (2) flexible and decreasing, as if individuals are defending a fixed amount of food-a slope = −1; and (3) initially compressible, but with an asymptotic minimum size-a slope between 0 and −1., We collected data from 16 studies that manipulated or measured food abundance while monitoring changes in territory size of young-of-the-year salmonids; 10 were experimental laboratory studies, whereas six were observational field studies., Overall, territory size decreased significantly with increasing food abundance; the weighted average correlation coefficient was −0.31. However, the estimated slope of the relationship between log territory size and log food abundance was only −0.23, significantly different from 0, and also significantly shallower than −1., Our estimated slope suggests that attempts to increase the density of territorial salmonids by increasing food abundance and reducing territory size will be inefficient; a 20-fold increase in food abundance would be required to double population density. Our analysis may also have implications for other species with a territorial mosaic social system-i.e. contiguous territories. In these social systems, social inertia will dampen any effects of changes in food abundance on the local density of settlers, compared to non-territorial species or those with non-contiguous territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannibalism can have important demographic and ecological effects on populations. Typically, cannibalism is size-structured, where larger individuals eat smaller conspecifics. Initial cursory observations of the whip spider, Phrynus longipes, however, suggested that cannibalism might not be size-structured in this species, perhaps because cannibalism is often a by-product of territory contests. We staged paired interactions and recorded latency to escalate to physical aggression or cannibalize to understand the dynamics of cannibalism and resource contests. We employed a multimodel comparative approach to tease apart the contest characteristics that best predicted cannibalism during behavioral trials between P. longipes opponents. We found that, while armament size symmetry predicted escalation of contests, cannibalism was best predicted by body mass asymmetry. Further, cannibalism was most likely to occur among individuals similar in armament, but dissimilar in body mass. This suggests a discrepancy between phenotypes that may have evolved to communicate resource holding potential (e.g., armaments which benefit individuals if dishonest), and body mass as a cue of resource holding potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining a territory and being able to hunt are imperative for the success of African lion Panthera leo prides. We aimed to determine whether captive-origin prides display similar territorial and hunting behaviour to wild lions. Behaviours and locations of two captive-origin prides and one wild pride were collected through direct observation. All prides established territories, and core areas corresponded to resource requirements. There was no evidence that pride origin affected territorial or hunting behaviour. Captive-origin prides exhibited behaviours that lead us to be optimistic about each pride's ability to establish and defend a territory successfully, and to hunt, following reintroduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideal despotic distribution theory and resource dispersion theory predict that individuals in populations of territorial species arrange themselves in space according to dominance and resource dispersion. When available territories are saturated, this can result in competition for preferred territories. Recently, transience in coyote populations was suggested as an advantageous life history strategy, even though transients may incur higher mortality and do not typically contribute reproductively to the population at that time. Here we assess potential types of biding, or awaiting better territory opportunities, in a highly-exploited coyote population in Virginia, USA. We used relocation data from coyotes collared from July 2011 - March 2014 to classify residents and transients based on a 95% home range area over a three-month moving window. We estimated home range stability as the distance between successive activity centers and compared it between subadults and adults. We used home range stability relative to home range area to identify extra-territorial excursions and territory turnover, or resident shifts into adjacent territories. Some coyotes adhered to the traditional form of transience, occupying very large home ranges or biding areas overlapping several resident territories, until a territory became vacant. Conversely, other individuals displayed evidence of resident territory turnover, suggesting individuals may use low quality territories as biding areas, waiting for better quality territories to become vacant. We suggest this biding population provides the capacity for rapid compensatory immigration. In response to high levels of mortality in exploited coyote populations, removal of individuals from territories may result in immediate colonization by another individual, confounding efforts to reduce overall coyote density. Thus, transience and biding may regulate population density and be a potentially advantageous life history strategy and may have implications for management of saturated populations of social predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of food resources can affect the size and shape of territories, as well as the behaviors used to defend territories, in a variety of animal taxa. However, individuals within a population may respond differently to variation in food availability if the benefits of territoriality vary among those individuals. For example, benefits to territoriality may differ for animals of differing sizes, because larger individuals may require greater territory size to acquire required resources, or territorial behavior may differ between the sexes if males and females defend different resources in their territories. In this study, we tested whether arthropod abundance and biomass were associated with natural variation in territory size and defense in insectivorous green anole lizards, Anolis carolinensis . Our results showed that both male and female lizards had smaller territories in a habitat with greater prey biomass than lizards in habitats with less available prey, but the rates of aggressive behaviors used to defend territories did not differ among these habitats. Further, we did not find a relationship between body size and territory size, and the sexes did not differ in their relationships between food availability and territory size or behavioral defense. Together, these results suggest that differences in food availability influenced male and female territorial strategies similarly, and that territory size may be more strongly associated with variation in food resources than social display behavior. Thus, anole investment in the behavioral defense of a territory may not vary with territory quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to a territory intrusion, neighboring males of the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni engage in aggressive joint territory defense in a manner that depends on their social role. Here, we examine the possible function of several neuroendocrine and neuromodulator pathways previously implicated in the regulation of complex social behavior. We find that the neuromolecular regulation of aggression during joint territory defense is very much dependent on an individual's role in this context. In neighbors but not in residents, aggression is correlated to gene expression in the medial part of the dorsal telencephalon (area Dm), the putative homolog to the mammalian basolateral amygdala. This correlation is strikingly high for expression of the serotonin receptor 5-HT2c, suggesting the serotonin system is impor- tant in regulating context-dependent behavior. Furthermore, by examining candidate gene expression co-variance patterns in area Dm and in the lateral part of the dorsal telencephalon (area Dl), the putative homolog to the mammalian hippocampus, we identify two main patterns: gene expression is co-regulated within, but not across, brain regions, and co-regulation is synergistic rather than antagonistic. Our results highlight the critical effect of social context on both behavior and its neuromolecular basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspicuous, colorful displays are often used by animals to communicate within and between species. Previously, researchers have manipulated specific components of color signals (i.e., hue, total reflectance, and/or chroma) using paints, photographs, videos, or filters. However, these manipulations may not adequately mimic the spectrum of color signals outside the range of human perception. Thus, these methods are inappropriate for organisms with unconventional visual systems, such as stomatopods (mantis shrimp). Here, we describe a novel application of a femtosecond laser to increase total reflectance of the stomatopod meral spot, a distinct area on the raptorial appendage used in territorial contests. Ultrafast lasers provide a programmable way to precisely manipulate patch total reflectance of live stomatopods without causing collateral damage. We tested how experimentally increasing meral spot reflectance impacted receiver behavior during territorial contests. Contests in which receiver stomatopods faced an opponent with a lightened meral spot were shorter and receivers showed increased rates of agonistic behaviors. This result suggests that lighter meral spots indicate lower fighting ability; thus, receivers are more willing to engage in a contest. This research provides the first demonstration that stomatopods can detect and assess achromatic variation in contests. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ultrafast lasers provide a powerful tool to investigate achromatic signaling, particularly for organisms whose size, aquatic habitat, or visual system otherwise prevent realistic alterations to color signals (e.g., butterflies, jumping spiders, or decapod crustaceans). This study advances our knowledge about stomatopod visual communication and offers a valuable tool for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fighting to defend a territory can be costly due to the risk of injury associated with physical combat. Therefore, many species rely on displays that allow individuals to assess one another, avoid escalation, and mitigate the costs of physical conflict. Most studies of territorial aggression have been conducted in the context of male-male competition, and although females of many species are also aggressive, direct comparisons of male-male and female-female aggression are rare. Consequently, the relative extent to which males and females of territorial species use behavioral displays and physical aggression to mediate intrasexual competition is generally unknown. To address this question, we experimentally introduced same-sex intruders onto the territories of male and female brown anole lizards (Anolis sagrei). We found that, although males were slightly more likely to attack an intruder than were females, males also allowed a greater amount of time to elapse before escalating to an attack, relative to females. Males also exhibited more aggressive display behaviors (dewlap extensions, push-ups, and head-bobs) before engaging in a physical attack. These results are consistent with the idea that, due to a potentially greater risk of injury, males may attempt to avoid escalating to physical conflict. The high rates of attack and low latency to attack that we observed for interactions between females also run counter to the general assumption that males are categorically more aggressive in territorial, polygynous species characterized by extreme male-biased sexual size dimorphism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As recent studies have shown a left-eye preference during exploration in Podarcis muralis, which could be strictly related to its territoriality, we tested the same behaviour in a similar species, but one living in different habitats and showing a different ecology. In particular, we assessed the preferential turning direction in adults of a non-territorial lizard, Zootoca vivipara, during the exploration of an unknown maze. At the population level, no significant preference emerged, possibly for the lack of the territorial habit and the characteristics of the natural environment. Nevertheless, females turned to the left more frequently than males did. We hypothesize this as a motor bias, possibly due to a necessity for females to be coordinated and fast in moving in the environment, because of their viviparous condition and the resultant reduction of physical performance during pregnant periods, which are likely to increase vulnerability to predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upon hearing a conspecific signal, animals must assess their relationship with the signaller and respond appropriately. Territorial animals usually respond more aggressively to strangers than neighbors in a phenomenon known as the “dear enemy effect”. This phenomenon likely evolved because strangers represent a threat to an animal's territory tenure and parentage, whereas neighbors only represent a threat to an animal's parentage because they already possess a territory (providing territory boundaries are established and stable). Although the dear enemy effect has been widely documented using behavioral response variables, little research has been conducted on the physiological responses of animals to neighbors versus strangers. We sought to investigate whether the dear enemy effect is observed physiologically by exposing territorial male song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ) to playback simulating a neighbor or a stranger, and then collecting blood samples to measure plasma testosterone levels. We predicted that song sparrows would exhibit increased testosterone levels after exposure to stranger playback compared to neighbor playback, due to the role testosterone plays in regulating aggression. Contrary to our prediction, we found that song sparrows had higher testosterone levels after exposure to neighbor playback compared to stranger playback. We discuss several explanations for our result, notably that corticosterone may regulate the dear enemy effect in male song sparrows and this may inhibit plasma testosterone. Future studies will benefit from examining corticosterone in addition to testosterone, to better understand the hormonal underpinnings of the dear enemy effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]