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Is alarm calling risky? Marmots avoid calling from risky places
Travis C Collier1, Daniel T Blumstein, Lewis Girod
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California, 90025, USA.
Ethology : Formerly Zeitschrift Fur Tierpsychologie
|December 1, 2010
Summary
Alarm calling in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) is not as risky as assumed. These marmots call near safety, minimizing predation risk and suggesting limited costs to alarm calling behavior.
Area of Science:
- Animal Behavior
- Ecology
- Bioacoustics
Background:
- Alarm calling is a widespread behavior across many species.
- A common assumption is that alarm calls increase predation risk for the caller.
- The evolutionary maintenance of costly alarm calls requires specific explanations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the spatial behavior of yellow-bellied marmot alarm calling.
- To determine if alarm calling increases predation risk in Marmota flaviventris.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an acoustic localization system to pinpoint alarm call origins.
- Analyzed the spatial positions of calling marmots relative to safety (burrows).
- Examined the spatial dynamics of calling bouts, including start and end points.
Main Results:
- Yellow-bellied marmots predominantly emitted alarm calls from locations near their burrows.
- Individuals tended to move closer to safety during multi-call alarm bouts.
- The spatial behavior suggests a significant mitigation of predation risk associated with alarm calling.
Conclusions:
- Alarm calling in yellow-bellied marmots appears to have limited predation costs.
- The findings challenge the prevalent assumption of high risk for alarm callers in this species.
- Spatial positioning is a key factor in understanding the costs and evolution of alarm communication.
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