Wrensford Kwasi, Gutierrez Jahaziel, Cooper William E, Blumstein Daniel T
Department of Integrative Biology, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA.
Curr Zool. 2021 Jul 29;68(3):305-313. doi: 10.1093/cz/zoab062. eCollection 2022 Jun.
Escape theory has been exceptionally successful in conceptualizing and accurately predicting effects of numerous factors that affect predation risk and explaining variation in flight initiation distance (FID; predator-prey distance when escape begins). Less explored is the relative orientation of an approaching predator, prey, and its eventual refuge. The relationship between an approaching threat and its refuge can be expressed as an angle we call the "interpath angle" or "Φ," which describes the angle between the paths of predator and prey to the prey's refuge and thus expresses the degree to which prey must run toward an approaching predator. In general, we might expect that prey would escape at greater distances if they must flee toward a predator to reach its burrow. The "race for life" model makes formal predictions about how Φ should affect FID. We evaluated the model by studying escape decisions in yellow-bellied marmots , a species which flees to burrows. We found support for some of the model's predictions, yet the relationship between Φ and FID was less clear. Marmots may not assess Φ in a continuous fashion; but we found that binning angle into 4 45° bins explained a similar amount of variation as models that analyzed angle continuously. Future studies of Φ, especially those that focus on how different species perceive relative orientation, will likely enhance our understanding of its importance in flight decisions.
逃逸理论在概念化和准确预测众多影响捕食风险的因素的作用以及解释飞行起始距离（FID；逃逸开始时捕食者与猎物之间的距离）的变化方面极为成功。而对于接近的捕食者、猎物及其最终避难所的相对方位的研究则较少。接近的威胁与其避难所之间的关系可以用一个我们称为“路径间夹角”或“Φ”的角度来表示，它描述了捕食者与猎物通往猎物避难所的路径之间的夹角，从而体现了猎物必须朝着接近的捕食者奔跑的程度。一般来说，我们可能会预期，如果猎物必须朝着捕食者奔跑才能到达其洞穴，那么它们会在更远的距离处逃逸。“生命竞赛 ”模型对Φ应如何影响FID做出了正式预测。我们通过研究黄腹土拨鼠（一种会逃向洞穴 的物种）的逃逸决策来评估该模型。我们发现该模型的一些预测得到了支持，然而Φ与FID之间的关系却不太明确。土拨鼠可能不会持续评估Φ；但我们发现，将角度划分为4个45°的区间所解释的变异量与连续分析角度的模型相近。未来对Φ的研究，尤其是那些关注不同物种如何感知相对方位的研究，可能会增进我们对其在逃逸决策中的重要性的理解。
