Color perception influences microhabitat selection of refugia and affects monitoring success for a cryptic anuran species.

Autor: Cohen BS; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E. Green St, Athens, GA 30602, United States. Electronic address: bsc3@uga.com., MacKenzie ML; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E. Green St, Athens, GA 30602, United States., Maerz JC; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E. Green St, Athens, GA 30602, United States., Farrell CB; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E. Green St, Athens, GA 30602, United States., Castleberry SB; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E. Green St, Athens, GA 30602, United States.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Physiology & behavior [Physiol Behav] 2016 Oct 01; Vol. 164 (Pt A), pp. 54-7. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 May 25.
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.05.042
Abstrakt: Perceptual-biases are important for understanding an animal's natural history, identifying potential ecological traps, and for developing effective means to monitor individuals and populations. Despite research demonstrating anurans having a positive phototactic response towards blue colors, we do not yet understand if color cues are used functionally beyond sexual selection. The aim of our study was to determine if color cues are used in selecting microhabitat, and if anuran's blue-positive phototactic response could increase selection of artificial PVC refugia used to monitor cryptic camouflaging anuran species. We captured 32 Cope's Gray Treefrogs and placed them in mesh enclosures with three PVC tubes painted blue, brown, and white. Concurrently, we placed blue, brown, or unpainted white PVC tubes in stratified arrays around a treefrog breeding pond, and counted the number of occasions treefrogs occupied different colored PVC tubes. In the confined choice experiment, treefrogs selected blue tubes (48.3%) significantly more often than brown (28.5%) or white (23.2%) tubes. Our field experiment mirrored these findings (52.0% of capture events in blue, 29.0% in brown, and 19.0% in unpainted white tubes). Our results suggest color influences Cope's Gray Treefrog microhabitat selection, and they utilize color vision when choosing refugia. We demonstrate simple, small changes based on perceptual-biases can induce behaviors that may in turn have large impacts on sampling techniques used in monitoring and inventorying. Incorporating non-traditional physiological measures into animal inventorying and monitoring programs can be used in the future to improve conservation efforts.
(Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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