Falk Jay J, ter Hofstede Hannah M, Jones Patricia L, Dixon Marjorie M, Faure Paul A, Kalko Elisabeth K V, Page Rachel A
Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón, Panama
Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2015 Jun 7;282(1808):20150520. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0520.
Many predators and parasites eavesdrop on the communication signals of their prey. Eavesdropping is typically studied as dyadic predator-prey species interactions; yet in nature, most predators target multiple prey species and most prey must evade multiple predator species. The impact of predator communities on prey signal evolution is not well understood. Predators could converge in their preferences for conspicuous signal properties, generating competition among predators and natural selection on particular prey signal features. Alternatively, predator species could vary in their preferences for prey signal properties, resulting in sensory-based niche partitioning of prey resources. In the Neotropics, many substrate-gleaning bats use the mate-attraction songs of male katydids to locate them as prey. We studied mechanisms of niche partitioning in four substrate-gleaning bat species and found they are similar in morphology, echolocation signal design and prey-handling ability, but each species preferred different acoustic features of male song in 12 sympatric katydid species. This divergence in predator preference probably contributes to the coexistence of many substrate-gleaning bat species in the Neotropics, and the substantial diversity in the mate-attraction signals of katydids. Our results provide insight into how multiple eavesdropping predator species might influence prey signal evolution through sensory-based niche partitioning.
许多捕食者和寄生虫会窃听猎物的通讯信号。窃听行为通常被作为二元捕食者 - 猎物物种间的相互作用来研究；然而在自然界中，大多数捕食者会针对多种猎物物种，并且大多数猎物必须躲避多种捕食者物种。捕食者群落对猎物信号进化的影响尚未得到充分理解。捕食者可能会在对显著信号特征的偏好上趋同，从而在捕食者之间产生竞争，并对特定的猎物信号特征进行自然选择。或者，捕食者物种对猎物信号特征的偏好可能会有所不同，从而导致基于感官的猎物资源生态位划分。在新热带地区，许多在地面觅食的蝙蝠利用雄性螽斯的求偶歌声来定位它们作为猎物。我们研究了四种在地面觅食的蝙蝠物种的生态位划分机制，发现它们在形态、回声定位信号设计和猎物处理能力方面相似，但每个物种在12种同域分布的螽斯物种中偏好雄性歌声的不同声学特征。捕食者偏好的这种差异可能有助于新热带地区许多在地面觅食的蝙蝠物种的共存，以及螽斯求偶信号的大量多样性。我们的研究结果为多种窃听捕食者物种如何通过基于感官的生态位划分影响猎物信号进化提供了见解。
