Master proposal
Topic
Do predator recognition and alarm call properties vary with latitude in lapwings (Vanellus spp.) ?
Supervising team
Guillaume Dillenseger, MSc
Miguel Monteiro, PhD
Malavika Madhavan, MSc
Department of Zoology and Centre for Polar Ecology, Faculty of Science
Location
University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic
Period
January/February – May/June 2025
Deadline for application
5th of October 2024
Interested applicants should send their CV with picture and a cover letter (max 2 pages) in English at guillaume.dillenseger@orange.fr
Rationale
Mobbing is a common anti-predatory behaviour among prey species, during which one or more individuals will harass a predator, and often call (Carlson & Griesser, 2022). This behaviour is costly, with both risks for the harasser and the harassed. It is expected that the intensity of mobbing will differ both at a local scale; regarding both individual (e.g., species, personality, individual experience) and environmental factors (e.g., predator guild, conspecific presence) (Vrublevska et al., 2015; Brynychová et al., 2022). But at a more global scale, predation rates are known to decrease towards higher latitudes (McKinnon et al., 2010; Kubelka et al., 2018). This could lead to various level of mobbing intensity between populations facing different predation pressure levels. While some suggested that aggressiveness should follow predation gradient (Larsen et al., 1996), others expected individuals to invest more in antipredatory defences when predation was reduced (Zhang et al., 2020). An important part of mobbing is the emission of alarm or mobbing calls, that could serve to deter predators or to inform other prey species. For instance, it is known that alarm calls varied based on the faced predator, and influenced conspecifics’ behaviour (Zuberbühler et al., 1997; Igic & Magrath, 2014). However, it remains unknown if populations suffering from different predation risk vary in their call properties and identities when encountering a predator.
Here, we want to investigate how conspecific populations at various latitudes adjust their antipredatory response, with a particular emphasis on vocal behaviour during mobbing interactions. We are looking to see if aggressiveness evolves with increasing latitude across several European populations and local predation risk. Additionally, we want to know if mobbing calls may vary between different predator guilds and latitudes.
Question
Do individuals at lower latitudes call more when exposed to predators?
Do alarm calls vary when facing different predator guilds?
Do individuals produce more distinct calls when facing different predators at locations with higher predation rate?
Tasks
The student will collect behavioral and acoustic data on Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) from the field at different locations across Europe: Italy (Emilia-Romagna region), Estonia and Finland (Northern Ostrobothnia region). The travel and stay costs for the field will be entirely covered. The student will take part in an already established project and will participate in dummy experiments, from which he/she will extract data for the thesis and a publication is expected at the end of the internship. Part of the data was already collected in 2024 and can be used for the analysis. Additional data on Southern Lapwing (V. chilensis) has also been collected and could be used in the analysis if desired. The data analyses will incorporate analysis of the sound properties of vocalizations (use RavenPro, Audacity, etc.) and statistics (R). The selected student will be highly involved in fieldwork activities, and will work with several people of different nationalities: a proficiency in English is expected.
Profile
We are looking for a highly-motivated Master 1/2 student in ecology, zoology or ethology program with:
-strong willingness to participate in the field, and good physical conditions
-high proficiency in English
-proficiency in other languages is not expected but can be useful when interacting with fieldworkers/farmers (Italian, Estonian, Portuguese, Finnish, French are spoken by some field leaders)
-basis statistical knowledge and use of R software
-basis knowledge in bio-acoustic is a plus
-good ornithological knowledge is a plus
-previous experience in bird manipulation is a plus
-willingness to publish a paper or at least participate in the publication process
References
Brynychová, K., Sládeček, M., Pešková, L., Chajma, P., Firlová, V., Elhassan, E., Vozabulová, E., Janatová, V., Almuhery, A., & Šálek, M. (2022). Aggressiveness in a subtropical shorebird’s nest defense is adjusted to the predator species and shared by conspecifics. Aggressive Behavior, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.22032
Carlson, N. V., & Griesser, M. (2022). Mobbing in animals: A thorough review and proposed future directions. In S. Healy & J. Podos (Eds.), Advances in the Study of Behavior (Vol. 54, pp. 1–41). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.asb.2022.01.003
Igic, B., & Magrath, R. D. (2014). A songbird mimics different heterospecific alarm calls in response to different types of threat. Behavioral Ecology, 25(3), 538–548. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru018
Kubelka, V., Šálek, M., Tomkovich, P., Végvári, Z., Freckleton, R. P., & Székely, T. (2018). Global pattern of nest predation is disrupted by climate change in shorebirds. Science, 362(6415), 680–683. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat8695
Larsen, T., Sordahl, T. A., & Byrkjedal, I. (1996). Factors related to aggressive nest protection behaviour: a comparative study of Holarctic waders. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 58(4), 409–439. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1996.tb01444.x
McKinnon, L., Smith, P. A., Nol, E., Martin, J. L., Doyle, F. I., Abraham, K. F., Gilchrist, H. G., Morrison, R. I. G., & Bêty, J. (2010). Lower predation risk for migratory birds at high latitudes. Science, 327, 326–327. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1183010
Vrublevska, J., Krama, T., Rantala, M. J., Mierauskas, P., Freeberg, T. M., & Krams, I. A. (2015). Personality and density affect nest defence and nest survival in the great tit. Acta Ethologica, 18(2), 111–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-014-0191-7
Zhang, L., Liu, J., Zhang, H., Wan, D., Liang, W., & Møller, A. P. (2020). Fight or flight: geographic variation in antipredator defenses by cinereous tits. Global Ecology and Conservation, 24, e01207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01207
Zuberbühler, K., Noë, R., & Seyfarth, R. M. (1997). Diana monkey long-distance calls: messages for conspecifics and predators. Animal Behaviour, 53(3), 589–604. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0334