Behavioral ecology is an integrative field that span many different topics from genes and physiology to ecology and evolutionary biology. In this dissertation, I studied territoriality, behavioral plasticity and syndromes, song learning, and natal dispersal in the Bachman’s sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis), an imperiled songbird that is understudied in many aspects of its behavior. In chapter one, I provide a background of behavioral ecology, the topics covered in this dissertation, and the Bachman’s sparrow. In chapter two, I determine if the ideal despotic distribution applies to Bachman’s sparrows. In chapter three, I examine whether two common personality traits, aggressiveness and boldness, are consistent over time and form a behavioral syndrome, or if they change in relation to environmental variables. My last chapter infers song learning and natal dispersal strategies in Bachman’s sparrows from examining patterns song-type sharing over geographic distance. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Behavior and disease interact bidirectionally and on multiple levels of host organization, and these interactions can have important consequences for population-level disease dynamics. I explored how behavior can both influence and respond to infectious disease in a banded mongoose population experiencing epidemics of tuberculosis (TB) caused by the bacterial pathogen Mycobacterium mungi in the M. tuberculosis complex (Alexander et al. 2010). Banded mongooses are highly social carnivores that live in troops of 5 to 65 individuals. Mycobacterium mungi appears to be primarily environmentally transmitted, but direct horizontal transmission cannot be ruled out. Approximately 10-20% of mongooses become diseased with TB each year in the study population in and around Chobe National Park, Botswana, and all mongooses with clinical signs of TB die within months. Characteristics of both banded mongooses and clinical TB provided a productive study system for exploring interactions between behavior and disease: first, free-living mongooses can be habituated and directly observed; second, the clinical signs of TB can be visually assessed non-invasively; and third, the mongooses' high sociality and egalitarianism provide a unique and ecologically relevant host social system for examining bidirectional interactions between behavior and infectious disease. I found that banded mongooses influenced and responded to disease through their behavior at both the individual and troop level, with possible implications for banded mongoose population and disease dynamics. Due to the environmental transmission of M. mungi, which appears to invade mongooses through breaks in the skin and nasal planum (Alexander et al. 2010), I focused on aggressive interactions as a potential risk factor for acquiring TB in this system. Troops with higher levels of aggression had more injuries, and at the individual level, injuries were a strong predictor of TB, suggesting that aggression may increase risk of disease by creating potential invasion sites for the pathogen. Troops were more aggressive when they foraged in garbage than when they foraged in other habitats, presumably due to the concentration of resources at this highly modified habitat. Overall, my results on how behavior can influence disease in this system suggest that anthropogenic supplementation of food, albeit inadvertent in this system, augments aggression levels in banded mongooses and may in turn lead to a higher incidence of TB. Second, I examined how behavior responds to disease in banded mongooses. Diseased individuals showed significantly lower activity and alertness, but intriguingly, did not show a reduction in overall social behaviors. Diseased individuals were less likely to disperse than healthy individuals, and healthy individuals with diseased troopmates may have been more likely to disperse than individuals without diseased troopmates. Despite this latter possible increase in dispersal in the presence of diseased conspecifics, diseased individuals were not avoided by their troopmates in daily social interactions. For example, diseased individuals were allogroomed at a higher than expected rate even though their reciprocation during allogrooming was approximately half that of healthy individuals. These interactions between behavior and disease have implications for banded mongoose troop and population dynamics, via changes in dispersal behavior and mortality, and can also affect disease dynamics, such as transmission rate. For example, changes to dispersal may affect the amount of inbreeding and outbreeding that occurs in this normally inbred species, and disease might be amplified in areas where aggression is increased by resource augmentation from humans. Additionally, the role that garbage plays in mongoose aggression suggests that humans may be inadvertently increasing disease incidence in this system, as well as in other taxa for which anthropogenic food augmentation may alter disease dynamics via changes in intraspecific aggression. This research sheds light on ways that behavior can influence and respond to disease that are often overlooked in disease ecology. / Ph. D.

<p>Sexual conflict occurs when female and male fitness interests diverge. In a social system characterized by aggressive sexual coercion and the risk of infanticide, female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) respond to this conflict by exhibiting an exaggerated sexual swelling that advertises sexual receptivity while concealing the exact timing of ovulation. Sexual swellings impose significant costs, yet can persist into pregnancy. Records from long-term studies of eastern chimpanzees (P. t. schweinfurthii) in Gombe National Park, TZ, and Kibale National Park, UG, provide data on postconception swellings, while data on group composition and behaviors such as mating, grooming, and aggression are drawn from the Gombe database only. Throughout, I use linear mixed models to simultaneously test multiple effects while controlling for repeated measures of individuals. In Chapter 1, I tested whether variation in females’ vulnerability to infanticide and aggression predicted the amount of swelling during pregnancy. In Chapter 2, I examined female-male relationships across reproductive states to ask whether females can better gain benefits and avoid costs by affiliating promiscuously with all males, or by investing in relationships with preferred males. Finally, I analyzed metabolites of reproductive hormones using urine samples from pregnant females in both populations to build a hormonal profile of postconception swellings. Swellings during pregnancy increase female-male association, and are caused by the same basic hormonal mechanism as preconception swellings, though they occur in a very different hormonal milieu. Females at greater risk of infanticide and intrasexual aggression swell more during pregnancy. Females mate promiscuously before conception, but during pregnancy and lactation, preferentially groom with males that are likely to protect them from aggression and infanticide. Based on these and other findings, I conclude that postconception swellings in chimpanzees are an adaptive response to sexual conflict.</p> / Dissertation

I developed a spatially explicit individual-based model (IBM) to capture the dynamic behavioral interaction between a fierce predator (killer whale, Orcinus orca) and a clever prey (dusky dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obscurus), and to answer the ultimate question of costs vs. benefits for dusky dolphins when making anti-predator decisions. Specifically, I was interested in calculating time/distance budgets for dusky dolphins in the presence/absence of killer whales and the presence/absence of movement and behavioral rules, which presumably evolved in response to spatial and temporal variations in predation risk. Results reveal that dusky dolphins rest less, travel more and have reduced foraging time when killer whales are present. These effects are more pronounced with increased presence of killer whales. The model suggests that a strong reason favoring the adoption of short and long-term anti-predator mechanisms is increased survival resulting from decreased encounters with killer whales. Further, a mother with calf rests less and travels more when killer whales are present relative to a dolphin without calf. However, a mother with calf on average, flee shorter distances and have fewer encounters with killer whales than a dolphin without calf. Thus, despite ecological costs, it makes evolutionary sense for dusky dolphins to adopt anti-predator rules. Bioenergetic consequences for dusky dolphins with and without calf were estimated as total energetic costs and foraging calories lost due to low/high presence of killer whales. I calculated total energy costs as: Foraging costs (FC) Locomotor costs (LC) (Travel) or LC (Travel) LC (Flee) based on the absence, as well as low/high presence of killer whales. Foraging costs contributed significantly to total energetic costs estimated. Travel costs are minimal owing to proximity to deep waters. The total energy costs were not significantly higher from low or high presence of killer whales for mother with calf, but increases by about 90 kcal/day for a dusky without calf. However, I estimate foraging calories lost due to increased killer whale presence is almost 5 times more for mother with calf. Therefore, it might be important to consider indirect predation risk effects by social type in future studies on animal bioenergetics.

Les pressions de sélection exercées par les parasites ont permis l’évolution de mécanismes complexes de défense chez les espèces hôtes qui limitent la transmission parasitaire. En complément de leur système immunitaire physiologique, les animaux ont développé un « système immunitaire comportemental » comprenant un ensemble sophistiqué de stratégies d’évitement parasitaire représentant une première ligne de défense pour diminuer la probabilité de rencontre avec différents parasites. Cependant, ces stratégies comportementales n’ont été que peu étudiées chez les espèces de mammifères vivant en milieu naturel. Au cours de ma thèse, j’ai donc étudié les stratégies d’évitement parasitaire dans une population sauvage de mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), un primate de l’Ancien Monde vivant dans les forêts denses équatoriales d’Afrique et soumis à de forces pressions parasitaires. Je me suis en particulier intéressée aux différentes stratégies comportementales qui ont évolué en réponse au risque de contamination par deux types distincts de parasites gastro-intestinaux présentant des traits d’histoire de vie et des modes de transmission contrastés : les nématodes, transmis par l’environnement, et les protozoaires, transmis par contacts sociaux. A partir d’observations récoltées sur le long-terme, de test expérimentaux et d’analyses chimiques, mes études ont mis en évidence deux stratégies comportementales différentes, soulignant le lien étroit entre l’écologie des parasites et la réponse comportementale des hôtes. D’une part, les mandrills évitent les matières fécales lorsqu’ils fourragent et évitent également les habitats précédemment contaminés par des nématodes fécaux émis lors de la dernière visite de ces habitats. D’autre part, les mandrills évitent de toiletter leurs partenaires sociaux parasités par des protozoaires fécaux, particulièrement autour de la zone anale. Cette stratégie comportementale s’avère être efficace puisque les individus parasités présentent des kystes infectieux de protozoaires sur leurs corps, concentrés au niveau de la zone anale, et la richesse en protozoaire des individus augmente lorsqu’ils toilettent des congénères très parasités. De plus, nous avons montré que cet évitement des individus parasités était guidé par un mécanisme olfactif : les protozoaires influencent l’odeur des matières fécales et les individus discriminent et évitent l’odeur des matières fécales provenant d’individus parasités. Cette plasticité comportementale face au risque parasitaire pourrait constituer un des mécanismes majeurs permettant aux espèces sociales de diminuer le risque accru de contamination associé à la vie en groupe. L’ensemble de nos résultats permettent de mieux appréhender les conséquences évolutives des pressions de sélection exercées par les parasites sur différentes caractéristiques socio-écologiques des animaux, tels que l’utilisation de l’espace et les comportements sociaux. / Parasite-mediated selection has driven the emergence of complex hosts’ defense mechanisms to limit the spread of parasites. In addition to their physiological immune system, animals have developed a “behavioral immune system” comprising a sophisticated set of parasite avoidance strategies that represents a first line of defense to decrease parasite encounter rates. However, behavioral adaptations to the threat of parasites have been poorly investigated in wild populations of mammals. In an attempt to fill this gap, during my PhD, I studied parasite avoidance strategies in a wild group of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), an Old World primate inhabiting dense equatorial rainforests of Africa and facing intensive parasite pressures in its natural habitat. In particular, I investigated the different behavioral strategies of defense that evolved to decrease contamination risk by two different classes of gastro-intestinal parasites exhibiting contrasted life-history traits and modes of transmission: environmentally transmitted nematodes and socially transmitted protozoa. Based on long-term observations, controlled experiments and chemical analyses, my studies document two distinct behavioral strategies emphasizing the close relationship between parasites’ ecology and hosts’ behavioral responses. On the one hand, mandrills exhibit fecal avoidance behavior when foraging and also avoid ranging in habitats previously contaminated with fecal nematodes released during the previous visit. On the other hand, mandrills avoid grooming social partners highly parasitized with fecal protozoa, particularly around the peri-anal area. This behavioral strategy appears to be operational because parasitized individuals harbor infectious protozoan cysts on their body, concentrated on the peri-anal region, and individual’s protozoan richness increases when grooming highly parasitized conspecifics. We further found that avoidance of parasitized individuals is guided by an olfactory mechanism, as protozoa influence the host’s fecal odor and mandrills discriminate and selectively avoid olfactory cues from individuals parasitized with protozoa. Such parasite-induced behavioral plasticity could be one of the major mechanisms allowing social species to cope with the increased risk of parasitism associated with group-living. Altogether, these findings shed light on the evolutionary consequences of parasite-mediated selection on several socioecological characteristics of animals, including space use and social behavior.

abstract: Sexual and social signals have long been thought to play an important role in speciation and diversity; hence, investigations of intraspecific communication may lead to important insights regarding key processes of evolution. Though we have learned much about the control, function, and evolution of animal communication by studying several very common signal types, investigating rare classes of signals may provide new information about how and why animals communicate. My dissertation research focused on rapid physiological color change, a rare signal-type used by relatively few taxa. To answer longstanding questions about this rare class of signals, I employed novel methods to measure rapid color change signals of male veiled chameleons Chamaeleo calyptratus in real-time as seen by the intended conspecific receivers, as well as the associated behaviors of signalers and receivers. In the context of agonistic male-male interactions, I found that the brightness achieved by individual males and the speed of color change were the best predictors of aggression and fighting ability. Conversely, I found that rapid skin darkening serves as a signal of submission for male chameleons, reducing aggression from winners when displayed by losers. Additionally, my research revealed that the timing of maximum skin brightness and speed of brightening were the best predictors of maximum bite force and circulating testosterone levels, respectively. Together, these results indicated that different aspects of color change can communicate information about contest strategy, physiology, and performance ability. Lastly, when I experimentally manipulated the external appearance of chameleons, I found that "dishonestly" signaling individuals (i.e. those whose behavior did not match their manipulated color) received higher aggression from unpainted opponents. The increased aggression received by dishonest signalers suggests that social costs play an important role in maintaining the honesty of rapid color change signals in veiled chameleons. Though the color change abilities of chameleons have interested humans since the time of Aristotle, little was previously known about the signal content of such changes. Documenting the behavioral contexts and information content of these signals has provided an important first step in understanding the current function, underlying control mechanisms, and evolutionary origins of this rare signal type. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2015

In 2012, a new monkey species, Cercopithecus lomamiensis (lesula), was discovered in the Central Congo basin. Lesula is a semi-terrestrial rainforest guenon endemic to the area. Using a systematic grid approach, three terrestrial camera trap surveys (two inside the Lomami National Park; one in the buffer zone) were conducted over three years to capture the cryptic species. The objectives of my study were to expand knowledge on the behavioral ecology of lesula and evaluate lesula’s sensitivity to hunting threats. The main findings from my study included: confirmation of terrestriality and diurnality, births clustering during the wet season, social group living of one male and multiple females, and high impact of hunting on group size. By studying the latest added species to the Cercopithecini tribe, my thesis helps to better understand the ecological diversity occurring within this radiation of African primates and contributes to the species’ long-term conservation efforts. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

This thesis aims to integrate the study of population change with the expectations of foraging models, and to test whether expectations resulting from integrating these two bodies of theory have greater predictive power than foraging models alone. To compare these models, I monitored prey age, butchery practice, and prey desirability in five prehistoric occupations of the Birch Creek rockshelters of Idaho. I modeled hunting pressure with a human population density estimate based on radiocarbon dates from Idaho archaeological sites, and modeled prey abundance with a model of historic effective moisture. Both models predicted younger prey, lower average prey desirability, and more intensive extraction of nutrients from prey when human hunting pressure is high and when prey are scarce. However, unlike the prey model, the Forager-resource Population Ecology (FPE) model predicts that similarly desirable prey with different reproductive rates should show different degrees of resilience to hunting pressure. Contrary to FPE model predictions, statistical analyses of the Birch Creek faunal materials did not indicate that human hunting pressure disproportionately stressed populations of slowly reproducing prey compared to quicker-reproducing prey. While the faunal specimens from Birch Creek provided a limited and flawed dataset, my results did not support the use of the FPE model.

Circadian rhythms are a roughly 24-hour endogenous process that allows organisms to anticipate regular changes in their environment. These rhythms are present in almost all living eukaryotes and regulate important physiological process such as sleep-wake cycles, metabolic changes, hormone release, and activity patterns. In nature, organisms reset their internal clocks to synchronize daily with Earth’s solar day. The inability to synchronize with the environment has shown to result in fitness costs. Spider species within the superfamily Araneoidea have been found to exhibit extreme circadian periods up to five hours different than the 24-hour day, with little evidence of such extremes occurring outside of this superfamily. Studies have also shown that araneoid spiders can undergo large phase shifts without exhibiting any evidence of fitness costs such as reduced survivorship. Araenoid species can re-synchronize their internal clocks to large phase shifts, up to 10 hours daily. The rate of re-synchronization also appears to be accelerated in araneoid species. This indicates a functional difference between the circadian clocks of araneoid species and non-araneoid species. To further investigate differences between the circadian systems of araneoid and non-araneoid spiders, we are conducting a series of phase-shift experiments. Rates of re-entrainment to a six-hour phase shift were compared between an araneoid species (Metazygia wittfeldae) and a non-araneoid species (Pholcus manueli). We hypothesized that the non-araneoid spiders would require a longer amount of time to re-entrain. Results to date are ambiguous. M. wittfeldae, as expected can re-entrain to a six-hour shift within two days. For comparison, such re-entrainment would take a mammal about six days. An interruption in the experimental protocol prevents us from drawing robust conclusions in P. manueli. However, the data suggest that this species may have two circadian oscillators, one which re-entrains to a phase shift rapidly, and one which is highly resistant to re-entrainment.