Skip to main content
Dryad

Data for: Beyond simple habituation: Anthropogenic habitats influence the escape behavior of spur-winged lapwings in response to both human and non-human threats

Data files

Dec 05, 2022 version files 38.68 KB

Abstract

Habitat development may affect wildlife behavior, favoring individuals or behaviors that cope better with perceived threats (predators). Bolder behaviors in human-dominated habitats (HDH; e.g., urban and rural settlements) may represent habituation specifically to humans, or a general reduction in predator-avoidance response. However, such carry-over effects across threat types (i.e., beyond humans) and phases of the escape sequence have not been well studied to date. Here we investigated escape behaviors of a locally common wader species, the spur-winged lapwing (Vanellus spinosus). We assayed their flight initiation distance (FID) and subsequent escape behaviors in agricultural areas and in HDH. We found that lapwings in HDH were bolder, and that the difference was manifested in several phases of the predator-avoidance sequence (shorter FIDs, shorter distances fled, and a higher probability of escape by running vs. flying). When re-approached (by an observer) after landing, lapwings in HDH were also more repetitive in their FID than those in other habitats. To determine whether this apparent bolder behavior in HDH areas is merely a consequence of habituation to humans or represents a broader behavioral change, we introduced an additional threat type – a remotely-operated taxidermic jackal (“Jack-Truck”). Finding bolder responses in the HDH to the human threat alone (and not to the Jack-Truck) could have supported the habituation hypothesis. In contrast, however, we found a bolder response in the HDH to both threat types, as well as a correlation between their FIDs across different sites. These bolder behaviors suggest that HDH impose a broader behavioral change on lapwings, rather than just simple habituation. Overall, our findings demonstrate how FID trials can reveal strong behavioral carry-over effects of HDH following human and non-human threats, including effects on the subsequent phases of escaping the predator. Further, FID assays may reveal consistent behavioral types when assessed under field conditions, and offer a direct way to differentiate among the various poorly understood and non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that lead to behavioral differences among organisms in HDH. The mechanistic perspective is essential for understanding how rapid urbanization impacts wildlife behavior, populations, and the range of behaviors within them, even in species apparently resilient to such environmental changes.