TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zöller, Gert
A1  - Hainzl, Sebastian
A1  - Tilmann, Frederik
A1  - Woith, Heiko
A1  - Dahm, Torsten
T1  - Comment on: Wikelski, Martin; Müller, Uschi; Scocco, Paola; Catorci, Andrea; Desinov, Lev V.; Belyaev, Mikhail Y.; Keim, Daniel A.; Pohlmeier, Winfried; Fechteler, Gerhard; Mai, Martin P. : Potential short-term earthquake forecasting by farm animal monitoring. - Ethology. - 126 (2020), 9. - S. 931 - 941. -ISSN 0179-1613. - eISSN 1439-0310. - doi 10.1111/eth.13078
JF  - Ethology
N2  - Based on an analysis of continuous monitoring of farm animal behavior in the region of the 2016 M6.6 Norcia earthquake in Italy, Wikelski et al., 2020; (Seismol Res Lett, 89, 2020, 1238) conclude that animal activity can be anticipated with subsequent seismic activity and that this finding might help to design a "short-term earthquake forecasting method." We show that this result is based on an incomplete analysis and misleading interpretations. Applying state-of-the-art methods of statistics, we demonstrate that the proposed anticipatory patterns cannot be distinguished from random patterns, and consequently, the observed anomalies in animal activity do not have any forecasting power.
KW  - animal behavior
KW  - earthquake precursor
KW  - error diagram
KW  - prediction
KW  - randomness
KW  - statistics
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13105
SN  - 0179-1613
SN  - 1439-0310
VL  - 127
IS  - 3
SP  - 302
EP  - 306
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Milles, Alexander
A1  - Dammhahn, Melanie
A1  - Grimm, Volker
T1  - Intraspecific trait variation in personality-related movement behavior promotes coexistence
JF  - Oikos
N2  - Movement behavior is an essential element of fundamental ecological processes such as competition and predation. Although intraspecific trait variation (ITV) in movement behaviors is pervasive, its consequences for ecological community dynamics are still not fully understood. Using a newly developed individual-based model, we analyzed how given and constant ITVs in foraging movement affect differences in foraging efficiencies between species competing for common resources under various resource distributions. Further, we analyzed how the effect of ITV on emerging differences in competitive abilities ultimately affects species coexistence. The model is generic but mimics observed patterns of among-individual covariation between personality, movement and space use in ground-dwelling rodents. Interacting species differed in their mean behavioral types along a slow-fast continuum, integrating consistent individual variation in average behavioral expression and responsiveness (i.e. behavioral reaction norms). We found that ITV reduced interspecific differences in competitive abilities by 5-35% and thereby promoted coexistence via an equalizing mechanism. The emergent relationships between behavioral types and foraging efficiency are characteristic for specific environmental contexts of resource distribution and population density. As these relationships are asymmetric, species that were either 'too fast' or 'too slow' benefited differently from ITV. Thus, ITV in movement behavior has consequences for species coexistence but to predict its effect in a given system requires intimate knowledge on how variation in movement traits relates to fitness components along an environmental gradient.
KW  - animal behavior
KW  - animal movement
KW  - coexistence
KW  - competitive ability
KW  - foraging
KW  - individual-based model
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.07431
SN  - 0030-1299
SN  - 1600-0706
VL  - 129
IS  - 10
SP  - 1441
EP  - 1454
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -