Signalling adjustments to direct and indirect environmental effects on signal perception in meerkats.

Autor: Toni P; Kalahari Meerkat Project, Kuruman River Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa., Gall GEC; Kalahari Meerkat Project, Kuruman River Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa.; Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland., Clutton-Brock TH; Kalahari Meerkat Project, Kuruman River Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa.; LARG, Department of Zoology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.; Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa., Manser MB; Kalahari Meerkat Project, Kuruman River Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa.; Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.; Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2020 Aug 27; Vol. 15 (8), pp. e0238313. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Aug 27 (Print Publication: 2020).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238313
Abstrakt: The efficiency of communication between animals is determined by the perception range of signals. With changes in the environment, signal transmission between a sender and a receiver can be influenced both directly, where the signal's propagation quality itself is affected, and indirectly where the senders or receivers' behaviour is impaired, impacting for example the distance between them. Here we investigated how meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in the Kalahari Desert adjust to these challenges in the context of maintaining group cohesion through contact calls. We found that meerkats changed their calling rate when signal transmission was affected indirectly due to increased dispersion of group members as during a drought, but not under typical wet conditions, when signal transmission was directly affected due to higher vegetation density. Instead under these wetter conditions, meerkats remained within proximity to each other. Overall, both direct and indirect environmental effects on signal perception resulted in an increased probability of groups splitting. In conclusion, we provide evidence that social animals can flexibly adjust their vocal coordination behaviour to cope with direct and indirect effects of the environment on signal perception, but these adjustments have limitations.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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