Stoddard Mary Caswell, Miller Audrey E, Eyster Harold N, Akkaynak Derya
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4.
Interface Focus. 2019 Feb 6;9(1):20180053. doi: 10.1098/rsfs.2018.0053. Epub 2018 Dec 14.
The use of artificially coloured stimuli, especially to test hypotheses about sexual selection and anti-predator defence, has been common in behavioural ecology since the pioneering work of Tinbergen. To investigate the effects of colour on animal behaviour, many researchers use paints, markers and dyes to modify existing colours or to add colour to synthetic models. Because colour perception varies widely across species, it is critical to account for the signal receiver's vision when performing colour manipulations. To explore this, we applied 26 typical coloration products to different types of avian feathers. Next, we measured the artificially coloured feathers using two complementary techniques-spectrophotometry and digital ultraviolet--visible photography-and modelled their appearance to mammalian dichromats (ferret, dog), trichromats (honeybee, human) and avian tetrachromats (hummingbird, blue tit). Overall, artificial colours can have dramatic and sometimes unexpected effects on the reflectance properties of feathers, often differing based on feather type. The degree to which an artificial colour differs from the original colour greatly depends on an animal's visual system. 'White' paint to a human is not 'white' to a honeybee or blue tit. Based on our analysis, we offer practical guidelines for reducing the risk of introducing unintended effects when using artificial colours in behavioural experiments.
自廷贝亨的开创性工作以来，在行为生态学中，使用人工染色刺激物，尤其是用于检验性选择和反捕食防御假设，已很常见。为了研究颜色对动物行为的影响，许多研究人员使用颜料、记号笔和染料来改变现有的颜色或给合成模型添加颜色。由于不同物种的颜色感知差异很大，在进行颜色处理时考虑信号接收者的视觉至关重要。为了探究这一点，我们将26种典型的着色产品应用于不同类型的鸟类羽毛。接下来，我们使用两种互补技术——分光光度法和数字紫外-可见光摄影——测量人工染色的羽毛，并对它们在哺乳动物二色视觉者（雪貂、狗）、三色视觉者（蜜蜂、人类）和鸟类四色视觉者（蜂鸟、蓝山雀）眼中的外观进行建模。总体而言，人工颜色可能会对羽毛的反射特性产生显著且有时意想不到的影响，通常因羽毛类型而异。人工颜色与原始颜色的差异程度很大程度上取决于动物的视觉系统。对人类来说是“白色”的颜料，对蜜蜂或蓝山雀来说并非“白色”。基于我们的分析，我们提供了实用指南，以降低在行为实验中使用人工颜色时引入意外影响的风险。
