TY - JOUR A1 - Mazza, Valeria A1 - Dammhahn, Melanie A1 - Lösche, Elisa A1 - Eccard, Jana T1 - Small mammals in the big city BT - behavioural adjustments of non-commensal rodents to urban environments JF - Global change biology N2 - A fundamental focus of current ecological and evolutionary research is to illuminate the drivers of animals' success in coping with human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC). Behavioural adaptations are likely to play a major role in coping with HIREC because behaviour largely determines how individuals interact with their surroundings. A substantial body of research reports behavioural modifications in urban dwellers compared to rural conspecifics. However, it is often unknown whether the observed phenotypic divergence is due to phenotypic plasticity or the product of genetic adaptations. Here, we aimed at investigating (a) whether behavioural differences arise also between rural and urban populations of non-commensal rodents; and (b) whether these differences result from behavioural flexibility or from intrinsic behavioural characteristics, such as genetic or maternal effects. We captured and kept under common environment conditions 42 rural and 52 urban adult common voles (Microtus arvalis) from seven subpopulations along a rural-urban gradient. We investigated individual variation in behavioural responses associated with risk-taking and exploration, in situ at the time of capture in the field and ex situ after 3 months in captivity. Urban dwellers were bolder and more explorative than rural conspecifics at the time of capture in their respective sites (in situ). However, when tested under common environmental conditions ex situ, rural individuals showed little change in their behavioural responses whereas urban individuals altered their behaviour considerably and were consistently shyer and less explorative than when tested in situ. The combination of elevated risk-taking and exploration with high behavioural flexibility might allow urban populations to successfully cope with the challenges of HIREC. Investigating whether the observed differences in behavioural flexibility are adaptive and how they are shaped by additive and interactive effects of genetic make-up and past environmental conditions will help illuminate eco-evolutionary dynamics under HIREC and predict persistence of populations under urban conditions. KW - animal personality KW - behavioural adjustment KW - behavioural flexibility KW - environmental change KW - HIREC KW - rodents KW - urbanization Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15304 SN - 1354-1013 SN - 1365-2486 VL - 26 IS - 11 SP - 6326 EP - 6337 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mazza, Valeria A1 - Czyperreck, Inken A1 - Eccard, Jana A1 - Dammhahn, Melanie T1 - Cross-Context Responses to Novelty in Rural and Urban Small Mammals JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - The Anthropocene is the era of urbanization. The accelerating expansion of cities occurs at the expense of natural reservoirs of biodiversity and presents animals with challenges for which their evolutionary past might not have prepared them. Cognitive and behavioral adjustments to novelty could promote animals’ persistence under these altered conditions. We investigated the structure of, and covariance between, different aspects of responses to novelty in rural and urban small mammals of two non-commensal rodent species. We ran replicated experiments testing responses to three novelty types (object, food, or space) of 47 individual common voles (Microtus arvalis) and 41 individual striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius). We found partial support for the hypothesis that responses to novelty are structured, clustering (i) speed of responses, (ii) intensity of responses, and (iii) responses to food into separate dimensions. Rural and urban small mammals did not differ in most responses to novelty, suggesting that urban habitats do not reduce neophobia in these species. Further studies investigating whether comparable response patters are found throughout different stages of colonization, and along synurbanization processes of different duration, will help illuminate the dynamics of animals’ cognitive adjustments to urban life. KW - animal cognition KW - anthropogenic environment KW - HIREC KW - novelty KW - neophobia KW - neophilia KW - rodents KW - urbanization Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.661971 SN - 2296-701X VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Mazza, Valeria A1 - Czyperreck, Inken A1 - Eccard, Jana A1 - Dammhahn, Melanie T1 - Cross-Context Responses to Novelty in Rural and Urban Small Mammals T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The Anthropocene is the era of urbanization. The accelerating expansion of cities occurs at the expense of natural reservoirs of biodiversity and presents animals with challenges for which their evolutionary past might not have prepared them. Cognitive and behavioral adjustments to novelty could promote animals’ persistence under these altered conditions. We investigated the structure of, and covariance between, different aspects of responses to novelty in rural and urban small mammals of two non-commensal rodent species. We ran replicated experiments testing responses to three novelty types (object, food, or space) of 47 individual common voles (Microtus arvalis) and 41 individual striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius). We found partial support for the hypothesis that responses to novelty are structured, clustering (i) speed of responses, (ii) intensity of responses, and (iii) responses to food into separate dimensions. Rural and urban small mammals did not differ in most responses to novelty, suggesting that urban habitats do not reduce neophobia in these species. Further studies investigating whether comparable response patters are found throughout different stages of colonization, and along synurbanization processes of different duration, will help illuminate the dynamics of animals’ cognitive adjustments to urban life. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1226 KW - animal cognition KW - anthropogenic environment KW - HIREC KW - novelty KW - neophobia KW - neophilia KW - rodents KW - urbanization Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-543863 SN - 1866-8372 ER -