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Modelling migration in birds: competition's role in maintaining individual variation
1Evolutionary Biology Department, Universität Bielefeld, Konsequenz 45, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|November 10, 2021
Summary
Competition can maintain diverse animal behaviors, like bird migration timing. When resources are unequal or competition has low risk, varied strategies, such as different return dates, are more likely to persist.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Intraspecific variation in animal behavior is common but its causes are not fully understood.
- Understanding the maintenance of multiple behavioral strategies is crucial for evolutionary studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the conditions under which competition maintains multiple behavioral strategies.
- To model the timing of bird migration as a case study for behavioral variation.
Main Methods:
- Developed a simulation model to explore behavioral strategy maintenance.
- Analyzed stable sets of return dates for migrating birds.
- Examined the impact of territory quality and fitness penalties on strategy diversity.
Main Results:
- Stable sets of migration return dates were identified through simulations.
- Greatest individual variation occurred when a small proportion of permanent residents was favored.
- When year-round residency was disadvantageous, continuous variation in return dates emerged, inversely related to fitness risks and positively related to territory inequality.
Conclusions:
- Competition can lead to the maintenance of diverse behavioral strategies.
- The diversity of strategies is influenced by the balance between competition benefits and risks, and resource distribution.
- Findings are applicable to various systems where competition drives strategy variation.
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