Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Proc Biol Sci. 2023 Jul 26;290(2003):20230823. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0823.
Animal behaviour can moderate biological invasion processes, and the native fauna's ability to adapt. The importance and nature of behavioural traits favouring colonization success remain debated. We investigated behavioural responses associated with risk-taking and exploration, both in non-native bank voles (, = 225) accidentally introduced to Ireland a century ago, and in native wood mice (, = 189), that decline in numbers with vole expansion. We repeatedly sampled behavioural responses in three colonization zones: established bank vole populations for greater than 80 years (2 sites), expansion edge vole populations present for 1-4 years (4) and pre-arrival (2). All zones were occupied by wood mice. Individuals of both species varied consistently in risk-taking and exploration. Mice had not adjusted their behaviour to the presence of non-native voles, as it did not differ between the zones. Male voles at the expansion edge were initially more risk-averse but habituated faster to repeated testing, compared to voles in the established population. Results thus indicate spatial sorting for risk-taking propensity along the expansion edge in the dispersing sex. In non-native prey species the ability to develop risk-averse phenotypes may thus represent a fundamental component for range expansions.
动物行为可以调节生物入侵过程和本地动物区系的适应能力。有利于殖民成功的行为特征的重要性和性质仍存在争议。我们研究了与冒险和探索相关的行为反应，这些行为反应既存在于一个世纪前偶然引入爱尔兰的非本地田鼠（，=225）中，也存在于数量随着田鼠数量增加而减少的本地木鼠（，=189）中。我们在三个殖民区反复采样行为反应：已有 80 多年历史的已建立的田鼠种群（2 个地点）、存在 1-4 年的田鼠种群扩张边缘（4 个地点）和到达前（2 个地点）。所有区域都有木鼠居住。这两个物种的个体在冒险和探索方面始终存在差异。由于非本地田鼠的存在，老鼠的行为并没有在不同区域之间产生差异，因此它们没有根据非本地田鼠的存在调整自己的行为。与已建立的种群中的田鼠相比，处于扩张边缘的雄性田鼠最初更回避风险，但对重复测试的适应速度更快。因此，研究结果表明，在扩散的种群中，风险偏好倾向在扩张边缘上存在空间分离。在非本地猎物物种中，发展避险表型的能力可能是其扩张范围的一个基本组成部分。
