Discussion Questions

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

The mice acorn use was categorized into the day when the acorn was manipulated, manipulating the acorn in the cage, dispersing the acorn from the cage, and predation after dispersal. The mice’s behavior is classified into sniffing, vigilance and freezing, handling, and other behaviors. The tools used for the study are acorns attached to wires, scent treatments, video cameras, and cages.

• 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)

The mice altered their behaviors according to the genet scent and the conspecifics. The mice’s behavior varied according to scent such that when the scent is of a genet, the mice were cautious and vigilant, while when it is conspecifics, the mice sniffed for a better seed. Sunyer et al. (2013) placed acorns in cages with a genet scent and put in another cage with conspecific scents and monitored the behavior of the rodents using a video camera for several days.

 

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