Local dominance predicts foraging decisions in a changing environment
Data files
Sep 18, 2025 version files 73.03 KB
-
README.md
3.14 KB
-
SO_MO_COGN.csv
8.64 KB
-
SO_MO_DIST.csv
24.83 KB
-
SO_MO_EB.csv
36.43 KB
Abstract
Unpredictable environmental conditions due to climate change affect the availability and quality of food resources, a limiting factor for survival. Behavioral plasticity is one of the most important mechanisms that help individuals face rapid environmental changes. However, we still lack experimental information on how foraging decisions are modulated by other behavioral traits when facing changes in food resources. In this study, we aimed to explore how individual foraging decisions regarding food quality are related to exploratory behavior, cognitive flexibility, and local dominance in wild great tits (Parus major). We offered different food types varying in quality at supplementary feeders and subsequently changed the availability and location of these food types. We then assessed whether the proportion of high food-quality individuals consumed was influenced by their exploratory tendency, reversal learning performance, and local dominance. We found that local dominance (i.e., distance from territory to the feeder), but not exploratory tendency or reversal learning performance, affected the fraction of high-quality food in an individual's diet. Locally dominant individuals were constrained in their response to changes in the quality of available resources, leading them to stay at their preferred feeder even when this was providing low-quality food alone. In conclusion, we show the importance of the social context when studying the behavioral mechanisms of adaptation to changing environments in wild animals.
Authors:
Miriam Ibáñez-Herranz1, Krista van den Heuvel1,2, Nina Villing1,3, Corné de Groot1,4, Kees van Oers1,2, Eva Serrano-Davies1,5*
1Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW)
2Behavioural Ecology Group, Wageningen University & Research
3Animal Ecology group, Wageningen Environmental Research
4Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)
5Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC)
- Correspondence: E. Serrano-Davies, Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). E-mail address: E.Serrano@nioo.knaw.nl
Description:
The availability and quality of food resources, a limiting factor for survival, are becoming increasingly unpredictable. Therefore, animals must cope effectively with changes, and the responses to those can vary. We show that food quality choice was not related to behavioral traits, whereas we found support for distance to territory, age, and sex to be related to how individuals exploit resources depending on
changes in the location of high versus low-quality food.
Location and dates of data collection:
Westerheide estate near Arnhem, the Netherlands (5°50’28.1” E, 52°00’59.0” N)
Winter season 2019-2020 (November to March)
Files:
SO_MO_EB.csv: birds with a known exploratory score and their visits to the high-quality food feeders in both experimental phases
SO_MO_COGN.csv: birds with a known reversal learning value and their visits to the high-quality food feeders in both experimental phases
SO_MO_DIST.csv: birds with a known distance from the territory to the feeders and their visits to the high-quality food feeders in both experimental phases
Variables description:
Phase_is the experimental phase (SO = single offer; MO = multiple offer)
TagID_individual bird transponder code
RNR_individual metal ring number
Sexe_sex (M ≡ male; F ≡ female)
Age_age (Juvenile, Adult)
Site_Feeding site (B, I, H, G, F, C, or O)
Quality_ food quality in the feeder
Visits_visits to high-quality food feeders
Total visits_total number of visits from an individual to feeders
COR_LOC_Personality score based on novel environment test (number of movements in the first two minutes, corrected for the day of testing; see Dingemanse et al. 2002)
Hab_visits_Number of visits during habituation period
Criterion_Initial_Number of visits to reach criterion during initial learning
Log_Criterion_Initial_Log of the number of visits to reach the criterion during initial learning
Log_Criterion_Rev_Log of the number of visits to reach the criterion during the first reversal
NestNR_ nestbox code number
Lat_1_latitude of nestbox location
Lon_1_longitude of nestbox location
lat_2_latitude of feeding station location
lon_2_longitude of feeding station location
Distance_NB_Distance from nestbox to feeding location in metres
Distance_km_Distance from nestbox to feeding location in kilometres