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Uncertainty about predation risk: a conceptual review
Adam L Crane1,2, Laurence E A Feyten2, Alexyz A Preagola3
1WCVM, Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Dr., Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4, Canada.
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
|October 15, 2023
Summary
Animals face uncertainty in their environment, especially regarding predation risk. This study explores how informational limitations, like novel or conflicting cues, influence animal decisions and antipredator behavior.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Animals must make critical decisions for survival, often under conditions of uncertainty.
- Predation risk is a significant factor influencing animal behavior and decision-making processes.
- Uncertainty in ecology arises from informational limitations regarding environmental cues.
Approach:
- This review synthesizes studies investigating uncertainty in predation risk perception.
- Examines how informational limitations (novelty, incompleteness, unreliability, complexity, conflict) induce uncertainty.
- Discusses the use of neophobia and memory attenuation as proxies for measuring uncertainty.
Key Points:
- Environmental changes, especially unpredictable ones, create informational limitations.
- Studies assess unpredictable variance in predation risk, encounter rates, and predator diversity.
- Anthropogenic habitat changes significantly impact information availability and antipredator uncertainty.
Conclusions:
- Understanding uncertainty is crucial for comprehending animal decision-making in ecological contexts.
- Informational limitations are central to the functional ecology of predation risk uncertainty.
- Human-induced environmental alterations pose substantial challenges to animals navigating uncertainty.
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