Modeling herbivorous consumer consumption in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire
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Epiphyte
Consumption
Primary producers
Foraging in group living animals such as social insects, is collectively performed by individuals. However, our understanding on foraging behavior of subterranean termites is extremely limited, as the process of foraging in the field is mostly concealed. Because of this limitation, foraging behaviors of subterranean termites were indirectly investigated in the laboratory through tunnel geometry analysis and observations on tunneling behaviors. In this study, we tracked subsets of foraging workers from juvenile colonies of Coptotermes formosanus (2-yr-old) to describe general foraging behavioral sequences and to find how foraging workers allocate time between the foraging site (food acquisition or processing) and non-foraging site (food transportation).Once workers entered into the foraging site, they spent, on average, a significantly longer time at the foraging site than the non-foraging site. Our clustering analysis revealed two different types of foraging workers in the subterranean termite based on the duration of time they spent at the foraging site and their foraging frequency. After entering the foraging site, some workers (cluster 1) immediately initiated masticating wood fragments, which they transferred as food boluses to recipient workers at the foraging site. Conversely, the recipient workers (cluster 2) moved around after entering the foraging site and received food from donating workers.This study provides evidence of task specialization within foraging cohorts in subterranean termites.
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Summary Central to an animal's fitness is its foraging strategy and understanding the choices made by foraging animals is a fundamental aim in animal ecology. For diving animals, quantifying foraging effort within dives provides a measure of foraging that can be integrated with location information to reveal how animals use their environment as well as the trade‐offs associated with contrasting foraging strategies. We investigated the diving behaviour of 12 free‐ranging Antarctic fur seals ( Arctocephalus gazella ) during their post‐breeding winter migrations, quantifying within‐dive foraging effort using a novel approach to identify divergent foraging strategies and determine the costs and benefits associated with foraging decisions. Significant differences identified in both diving behaviour and foraging effort of female Antarctic fur seals could be attributed to two main, contrasting foraging strategies. Habitat was a major determinant of diving and foraging behaviour, with clear differences occurring either side of the Polar Front, a prominent oceanographic feature in the Southern Ocean. Longer night duration and improved access to vertically migrating prey lead to increased foraging opportunities and a reduced foraging effort south of the Polar Front. Dives in this region were short and shallow. Conversely, seals remaining closer to the breeding colony north of the Polar Front had deep, long dives and an elevated foraging effort. The distinct foraging strategies of fur seals have associated trade‐offs related to habitat availability, travel costs, prey accessibility and prey quality, which are likely driving their foraging decisions. This study highlights the trade‐offs between contrasting foraging strategies that currently coexist within a population of a wide‐ranging predator and raises questions about the viability of strategies with future change to population size or environmental conditions. Finally, understanding the trade‐offs associated with foraging strategies is important for assessing the foraging decisions of animals across a variety of environments.
Polar front
Fur seal
Optimal foraging theory
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Optimal foraging theory
Energetics
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Abstract Animals prefer to aggregate in patches with high abundance and availability of food resources. Group foragers typically receive information about food resources by monitoring external events and the behavior of neighbors. The Information Centre Hypothesis proposes that aggregations increase foraging activity levels as a result of social information provided by conspecifics. Increasing the foraging rate has as a result decreasing time devoted to anti‐predator vigilance and may intensify competition among group members. Studies have shown that foraging activities are influenced by factors other than flock size, such as the number and foraging intensity of neighbors. To test these hypotheses, we examined the effect of number and foraging intensity of neighbors on the foraging activity levels (foraging rate, foraging effort, and foraging success rate) of the wintering Oriental Storks ( Ciconia boyciana ). In this study, we collected focal sampling data on the foraging behavior of storks at Shengjin Lake during winter from 2017 to 2019, controlling the effects of other variables (group identity, wintering years, and wintering periods). We found that foraging activity levels were higher in the presence of foraging neighbors than in their absence. Moreover, individuals adjusted their foraging activity levels according to social information gathered from the behavior of neighboring conspecifics. Focal individuals’ foraging rate and foraging effort were positively correlated with the average foraging rate of neighbors. Their foraging success rate was not influenced by the average foraging rate and foraging success rate of neighbors; however, it was positively correlated with the average foraging effort of neighbors. In conclusion, foraging activity levels of individuals are primarily driven by the intensity of the foraging activity of neighbors. This result differs from the results of previous studies that suggested that flock size was the most important factor determining individual foraging activity levels.
Flock
Vigilance (psychology)
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Xishuangbanna is located at the northern margin of tropics. Its climate is different from that of typical tropics, but the rainforest there is not very different from that of the typical tropics in Southeast Asia. The main problems in Xishuangbanna are seasonal drought and low temperature. Fog may contribute to the development of rainforest here, but related studies are few. This study is aimed to know whether the leaves of epiphytes and non - epiphytes in Xishuangbanna can directly absorb fog water and contribute to their water status recovery, and whether epiphytes are more competent than non - epiphytes in their leaf fog water absorption. The study was conducted in dry season, and four species of epiphytes and six species of non - epiphytes were investigated. The effect of fog was imitated by spraying leaves with distilled water. For epiphytes and non - epiphytes, their leaf water potential (phi), relative water content (RWC), and amount of absorbed water increased gradually with the time of spraying, but the phi of epiphytes increased more quickly than that of non - epiphytes. The leaves of epiphytes Bolbitis scandens and Rhaphidophora decursiva could absorb fog water more quickly, and increase their RWC more greatly than those of non - epiphytes, indicating that these epiphytes were more competent than non - epiphytes in their leaf fog water absorption. The fog water absorption capacity of the leaves in epiphytic orchid Coelogyne occultata and Staurochilus dawsonianus was lower than that in Amischotolype hispida and Mananthus patentflora, but higher than that in other four non - epiphytes. The phi of epiphytes at early evening when no fog was formed was significantly lower than that at early morning, suggesting that fog water was absorbed by epiphytes at night to improve their leaf water status. Non - epiphytes did not need to absorb fog water directly through leaves, and they could recover their leaf water status through absorbing soil water by root system. Epiphytes except C. occultata had a much more leaf biomass than non - epiphytes, which was also beneficial to their leaf fog water absorption. Because there was abundant fog in dry season in Xishuangbanna, the phi of test ten species was higher than -0.8 MPa, indicating that water stress was not serious in dry season.
Epiphyte
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Detritus
Omnivore
Primary producers
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We investigated the distribution of epiphytic macroalgae on the thalli of their hosts at eight localities along the southeastern coast of Cuba between June 2010 and March 2011. We divided he epiphytes in two groups according to their distribution on the host: those at the base of the thallus and those on its surface. We determining the dissimilarity between the zones and the species involved. We identified 102 taxa of epiphytic macroalgae. There were significant differences between the two zones. In 31 hosts, the number of epiphytes was higher on the surface of the thallus, whereas the number of epiphytes was higher at the thallus base in 25 hosts, and the epiphytes were equally distributed between the two zones in five hosts (R=−0.001, p=0.398). The mean dissimilarity between the two zones, in terms of the species composition of the epiphytic macroalgae, was 96.64%. Hydrolithon farinosum and Polysiphonia atlantica accounted for 43.76% of the dissimilarity. Among macroalgae, the structure of the thallus seems to be a determinant of their viability as hosts for epiphytes.
Epiphyte
Thallus
Sargassum
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Animal ecology
Seasonality
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The paper describes the foraging ecology of the Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti, a thermophilic, diurnal scavenger with ground-nesting colonies. Overlapping foraging ranges, low foraging success rates, and intercolony aggression suggest intense competition for food between colonies. Daily foraging starts when soil surface temperatures approach 50°C. Workers search individually and collect predominantly dead insects. Occasionally, they consume plant secretions. Foraging activity peaks on mid-summer days. On cloudy days the onset of foraging is delayed, and the foraging activity is low. Ants do not forage on rainy days. Typically, workers start their above-ground activities with a few short exploration runs. On average, they perform one foraging run on the first day of their outdoor lives. With age they gradually increase foraging site fidelity and daily foraging effort. Individual foraging efficiency is low at the beginning but grows with experience. However, due to a high mortality rate and, hence, high forager turnover, average rates of foraging success for a colony remain rather low. The outdoor activity gradually decreases towards the end of summer and appears to stop completely during the winter months.
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