Zidar Primož, Fišer Žiga
Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia.
Zookeys. 2022 May 18;1101:87-108. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1101.76711. eCollection 2022.
Avoidance behaviour enables woodlice to escape suboptimal environmental conditions and to mitigate harmful effects of pollutants. However, several studies have shown that at least in some woodlice species the tendency to aggregate can lead to suboptimal responses as the between-conspecific attraction can outweigh the aversive stimuli. The present study evaluated the influence of gregariousness on the behaviour of in a heterogeneously polluted environment. The hypothesis was that the tendency for aggregation outweighs the tendency for exploratory activity, therefore animals in groups will be less active. Consequently, this will affect their avoidance of polluted environmental patches. To test this hypothesis, isolated individuals or pairs of individuals were monitored in free-choice arenas where animals could select between uncontaminated and pyrethrin-contaminated soils. Animals were video recorded for 3 h in darkness using infrared light and analysed for avoidance behaviour and locomotor activity. In general, isolated animals were more locomotory active and avoided the contaminated soil more than paired animals. It can be concluded that aggregation behaviour suppresses exploratory behaviour and consequently also the avoidance of polluted environments. This should be accounted for when interpreting results of avoidance tests with groups of gregarious animals, which may underestimate the effect of pollutants.
回避行为使潮虫能够逃离次优环境条件并减轻污染物的有害影响。然而，多项研究表明，至少在某些潮虫物种中，聚集倾向可能导致次优反应，因为种内吸引力可能超过厌恶刺激。本研究评估了群居性对潮虫在异质污染环境中行为的影响。假设是聚集倾向超过探索活动倾向，因此群居动物的活动会较少。因此，这将影响它们对污染环境斑块的回避。为了验证这一假设，在自由选择的场地中监测单独的个体或成对的个体，动物可以在未受污染的土壤和受除虫菊酯污染的土壤之间进行选择。使用红外光在黑暗中对动物进行3小时的视频记录，并分析其回避行为和运动活动。一般来说，单独的动物比成对的动物更活跃，并且比成对动物更能避开受污染的土壤。可以得出结论，聚集行为会抑制探索行为，从而也会抑制对污染环境的回避。在解释群居动物群体回避测试的结果时应考虑到这一点，因为这可能会低估污染物的影响。
