Sunyer et al. (2013), Hughes et al. (2014) – Questions for Discussion 10/9/20
1) What categories did Sunyer et al. (2013) use to classify “acorn use” and “mice behavior”? Broadly, what were the tools Sunyer et al. used to track these uses and behaviors? (2 pts)
2) What was the role that scent played in influencing mice behavior (i.e. the 4 behavior categories)? How did Sunyer et al. (2013) determine this? (2 pts)
3) How would the role of genets change if live genets were used instead of their scent? What might happen to the population size of mice and their seed predation patterns? (2 pts)
4) In Sunyer et al. (2013), compare and contrast the observed effects of conspecific and predator scents on mice acorn predation and dispersal. (2pts)
5) In the Hughes et al. (2014) paper, what was the observed difference between acoustic and chemical cues? What environmental conditions might affect the chemical cues? (2 pts)
6) In Hughes et al. (2014), what explanation do the authors give for the black drum and catfish acoustic cues having a greater effect on crab foraging behavior than the toadfish or snapping shrimp? (2 pts)
7) What physiological mechanisms within crabs allowed them to detect acoustic cues from marine fish? (1 pt)
8) What are non-consumptive effects? From your reading of Sunyer et al. (2014) and Hughes et al. (2014), what aspects of prey can we measure to understand if non-consumptive effects are influencing prey populations? What would we need to measure to understand consumptive effects? (3 pts)
9) Define “cascading effects” and explain an example of these effects from either Sunyer et al. (2013) or Hughes et al. (2014). (2pts)
10) Write out the citation for both journal articles using Journal of Ecology formatting. (2 pts)
**Please answer the top question after reading the two articles, and follow the other document for ecology citation.
Answer preview
In both circumstances, the rodents take time before handling the seeds. This limits acorn dispersal since the mice take much time assessing the environment rather than removing the seeds. One difference is the reason for delaying in taking the acorns. The mice take time to sniff for conspecifics to gain more information on the conspecifics and also to select better seeds. When dealing with genets scent, the mice take time to establish the presence of genets.
In the Hughes et al. (2014) paper, what was the observed difference between acoustic and chemical cues? What environmental conditions might affect the chemical cues? (2 pts)
Redundancies affect the reception of the cue types. Acoustic cues reduce foraging among crabs, and it is unaffected by the environment, while chemical cues, even though they elicit reduced foraging, are affected by hydrodynamics. The hydrodynamic conditions that affect chemical acoustic are turbulence and velocity.
