Nash, A.L., Jebb, A.H.M. orcid.org/0000-0002-7899-5939 and Blumstein, D.T. (2020) Is the propensity to emit alarm calls associated with health status? Current Zoology, 66 (6). pp. 607-614. ISSN 1674-5507
Abstract
The production and structure of animal signals may depend on an individual’s health status and may provide more than one type of information to receivers. While alarm calls are not typically viewed as health condition dependent, recent studies have suggested that their structure, and possibly their propensity to be emitted, depends on an individual’s health condition and state. We asked whether the propensity of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) to emit calls is influenced by their immunological or parasite status, by quantifying both trap-elicited and natural calling rates as a function of their neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NL) ratio, the presence of a blood borne trypanosome, and the presence of several intestinal parasites (Eimeria sp., Entamoeba sp., and Ascaris sp.). We fitted mixed effects models to determine if the health measures we collected were associated with the probability of calling in a trap and with annual rates of natural alarm calling. Marmots infected with a blood-borne trypanosome were marginally more likely to call naturally and when trapped, while those infected with the intestinal parasite Ascaris were less likely to call when trapped. NL ratio was not directly associated with in-trap calling probability, but males were more likely to call when they had higher NL ratios. Thus, health conditions, such as parasite infection and immune system activation, can modulate the production of alarm signals and potentially provide information to both predators and prey about the caller’s condition. Playback experiments are required to confirm if receivers use such information.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) (2020). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Editorial Office, Current Zoology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
Keywords: | alarm calling; animal communication; antipredator behavior; condition dependence; immune function; parasites |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Jun 2024 14:15 |
Last Modified: | 20 Jun 2024 14:15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/cz/zoaa020 |
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Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:213729 |