Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances

Abstract Prey species assess the risk of threat using visual, olfactory, and acoustic cues from their habitat. Thus, they modify their behavior in order to avoid encounters with competitors, predators, and human disturbances that endanger their fitness. European mink (Mustela lutreola) is a critical...

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Autores principales:	Lorena Ortiz-Jiménez, Carlos Iglesias-Merchan, Isabel Barja
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cc4a7fed8957427086c4f1281b2de733
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cc4a7fed8957427086c4f1281b2de7332021-12-02T14:27:53ZBehavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances10.1038/s41598-021-87905-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/cc4a7fed8957427086c4f1281b2de7332021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87905-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Prey species assess the risk of threat using visual, olfactory, and acoustic cues from their habitat. Thus, they modify their behavior in order to avoid encounters with competitors, predators, and human disturbances that endanger their fitness. European mink (Mustela lutreola) is a critically endangered species that can be preyed upon by larger carnivores and displaced by dominant conspecifics to areas of lower quality, e.g., near to more anthropized localities which may be noisier. In this study, the behavioral responses of 24 European mink were evaluated by conducting an experiment in which the presence of a conspecific competitor was simulated with a visual cue (mirror) and the presence of predators (terrestrial and aerial) with odorous cues. Additionally, they were also exposed to potential sources of anthropic disturbance with acoustic cues (road traffic noise and human voices). Our results showed that European mink were hidden for longer periods of time due to the presence of conspecifics and being exposed to the fecal odors of a terrestrial predator such as dog, but especially when they were exposed to anthropic noises. In the presence of a conspecific, the females and the subadults were the ones who remained hidden for the longest time. As well, they were hidden for longer periods of time due to the presence of conspecifics but in combination with dog feces and anthropic sounds did not induce variations in the response, as both by themselves already triggered an increase in the time they spent hiding. The vigilance model showed the effects of the same factors as the hiding model, but with antagonistic effects in the case of vigilance time which decreased during anthropic noises exposition. Finally, we want to highlight that European mink showed an innate response favorable to all three types of threats, but attention should be focused on human disturbances—as they trigger the most extreme responses—which may affect the rate of survival of this threatened species.Lorena Ortiz-JiménezCarlos Iglesias-MerchanIsabel BarjaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Lorena Ortiz-Jiménez Carlos Iglesias-Merchan Isabel Barja Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
description	Abstract Prey species assess the risk of threat using visual, olfactory, and acoustic cues from their habitat. Thus, they modify their behavior in order to avoid encounters with competitors, predators, and human disturbances that endanger their fitness. European mink (Mustela lutreola) is a critically endangered species that can be preyed upon by larger carnivores and displaced by dominant conspecifics to areas of lower quality, e.g., near to more anthropized localities which may be noisier. In this study, the behavioral responses of 24 European mink were evaluated by conducting an experiment in which the presence of a conspecific competitor was simulated with a visual cue (mirror) and the presence of predators (terrestrial and aerial) with odorous cues. Additionally, they were also exposed to potential sources of anthropic disturbance with acoustic cues (road traffic noise and human voices). Our results showed that European mink were hidden for longer periods of time due to the presence of conspecifics and being exposed to the fecal odors of a terrestrial predator such as dog, but especially when they were exposed to anthropic noises. In the presence of a conspecific, the females and the subadults were the ones who remained hidden for the longest time. As well, they were hidden for longer periods of time due to the presence of conspecifics but in combination with dog feces and anthropic sounds did not induce variations in the response, as both by themselves already triggered an increase in the time they spent hiding. The vigilance model showed the effects of the same factors as the hiding model, but with antagonistic effects in the case of vigilance time which decreased during anthropic noises exposition. Finally, we want to highlight that European mink showed an innate response favorable to all three types of threats, but attention should be focused on human disturbances—as they trigger the most extreme responses—which may affect the rate of survival of this threatened species.
format	article
author	Lorena Ortiz-Jiménez Carlos Iglesias-Merchan Isabel Barja
author_facet	Lorena Ortiz-Jiménez Carlos Iglesias-Merchan Isabel Barja
author_sort	Lorena Ortiz-Jiménez
title	Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
title_short	Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
title_full	Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
title_fullStr	Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
title_full_unstemmed	Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
title_sort	behavioral responses of the european mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cc4a7fed8957427086c4f1281b2de733
work_keys_str_mv	AT lorenaortizjimenez behavioralresponsesoftheeuropeanminkinthefaceofdifferentthreatsconspecificcompetitorspredatorsandanthropicdisturbances AT carlosiglesiasmerchan behavioralresponsesoftheeuropeanminkinthefaceofdifferentthreatsconspecificcompetitorspredatorsandanthropicdisturbances AT isabelbarja behavioralresponsesoftheeuropeanminkinthefaceofdifferentthreatsconspecificcompetitorspredatorsandanthropicdisturbances
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Behavioral responses of the European mink in the face of different threats: conspecific competitors, predators, and anthropic disturbances

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