Living fast, dying young: Anthropogenic habitat modification influences the fitness and life history traits of a cooperative breeder.

Anthropogenic habitat modification can indirectly effect reproduction and survival in social species by changing the group structure and social interactions. We assessed the impact of habitat modification on the fitness and life history traits of a cooperative breeder, the Arabian babbler (Argya squamiceps). We collected spatial, reproductive and social data on 572 individuals belonging to 21 social groups over 6 years and combined it with remote sensing to characterize group territories in an arid landscape. In modified resource-rich habitats, groups bred more and had greater productivity, but individuals lived shorter lives than in natural habitats. Habitat modification favoured a faster pace-of-life with lower dispersal and dominance acquisition ages, which might be driven by higher mortality providing opportunities for the dominant breeding positions. Thus, habitat modification might indirectly impact fitness through changes in social structures. This study shows that trade-offs in novel anthropogenic opportunities might offset survival costs by increased productivity.

Proto-tool use for food processing in wild Arabian babblers: matching processing methods, substrates and prey types.

Cognition is a powerful adaptation, enabling animals to utilise resources that are unavailable without manipulation. Tool use and food processing are examples of using cognition to overcome the protective mechanisms of food resources. Here, we describe and examine the flexibility of proto-tool use (defined as the alteration of an object through object-substrate manipulation) for food processing in a cooperatively breeding bird, the Arabian babbler (Argya squamiceps). Field observations demonstrate that the birds transport different caterpillar species to different substrate types depending on the processing method needed to prepare the caterpillar for eating. Species with toxic setae (e.g. Casama innotata) are transported to be rubbed on rough substrates (e.g. sand) before consumption, while other species (e.g. Hyles livornica) are transported to be pounded against hard substrates until their inner organs are removed and only their external body part is consumed. These results are among the few to describe flexible proto-tool use for food processing in wild animals. They thereby contribute to the taxonomic mapping of proto-tool use and food processing in non-human species, which is a fundamental step to advance comparative studies on the evolution of these behaviours and their underlying cognitive mechanisms.

Protocol to record multiple interaction types in small social groups of birds.

Here, we present a protocol for collecting data on multiple interaction types in small, stable groups of Arabian babblers (Argya squamiceps). We describe the procedure of habituation, the recording of social interactions, and how to classify the interaction types. Additionally, we provide code for testing, comparing, and visualizing data. The high-resolution data collection is time demanding and requires several data tests before forming the final protocol. The collected data can then be used for multiplex social network analysis. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Dragic et al. (2021).

Multilayer social networks reveal the social complexity of a cooperatively breeding bird.

The social environment of individuals affects various evolutionary and ecological processes. Their social environment is affected by individual and environmental traits. We assessed the effects of these traits on nodes and dyads in six layers of networks of Arabian babblers, representing different interaction types. Additionally, we tested how traits affect social niches in the multilayer networks using the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (tSNE) dimensionality reduction algorithm. The effect of group size and season was similar across network layers, but individual traits had different effects on different layers. Additionally, we documented assortativity with respect to individual traits in the dominance display and allopreening networks. The joint analysis of all six layers revealed that most traits did not affect individuals' social niches. However, older individuals occupied fewer social niches than younger ones. Our results suggest that multilayer social networks are an important tool for understanding the complex social systems of cooperative breeders and intragroup interactions.

Recognizing animal personhood in compassionate conservation.

Compassionate conservation is based on the ethical position that actions taken to protect biodiversity should be guided by compassion for all sentient beings. Critics argue that there are 3 core reasons harming animals is acceptable in conservation programs: the primary purpose of conservation is biodiversity protection; conservation is already compassionate to animals; and conservation should prioritize compassion to humans. We used argument analysis to clarify the values and logics underlying the debate around compassionate conservation. We found that objections to compassionate conservation are expressions of human exceptionalism, the view that humans are of a categorically separate and higher moral status than all other species. In contrast, compassionate conservationists believe that conservation should expand its moral community by recognizing all sentient beings as persons. Personhood, in an ethical sense, implies the individual is owed respect and should not be treated merely as a means to other ends. On scientific and ethical grounds, there are good reasons to extend personhood to sentient animals, particularly in conservation. The moral exclusion or subordination of members of other species legitimates the ongoing manipulation and exploitation of the living worlds, the very reason conservation was needed in the first place. Embracing compassion can help dismantle human exceptionalism, recognize nonhuman personhood, and navigate a more expansive moral space.

Reconocimiento de la Calidad de Persona en los Animales dentro de la Conservación Compasiva Resumen La conservación compasiva está basada en la posición ética que parte de que las acciones tomadas para proteger a la biodiversidad deberían estar dirigidas por la compasión por todos los seres sintientes. Los críticos de esta postura argumentan que hay tres razones nucleares por las que el daño a los animales es aceptable dentro de los programas de conservación: el principal motivo de la conservación es la protección de la biodiversidad; la conservación ya es compasiva con los animales; y la conservación debería priorizar la compasión hacia los humanos. Usamos un análisis de argumentos para aclarar los valores y la lógica subyacentes al debate en torno a la conservación compasiva. Encontramos que el rechazo a la conservación compasiva es una expresión de la excepcionalidad humana, la visión de que los humanos están en un nivel categóricamente separado y de mayor moral que todas las demás especies. Por el contrario, los conservacionistas compasivos creen que la conservación debería expandir su comunidad moral al reconocer a todos los seres sintientes como personas. La calidad de persona, en un sentido ético, implica que el individuo merece respeto y no debería ser tratado solamente como un medio para otros fines. Si hablamos desde fundamentos científicos y éticos, existen muy buenas razones para extender la calidad de persona a todos los animales sintientes, particularmente en la conservación. La exclusión moral o la subordinación de los miembros de otras especies justifica la continua manipulación y explotación de los seres vivos, la justa razón por la que necesitamos de la conservación desde el principio. La aceptación de la compasión nos puede ayudar a desmantelar la excepcionalidad humana, a reconocer la calidad de persona no humana y a navegar un espacio moral más expansivo.

Component, group and demographic Allee effects in a cooperatively breeding bird species, the Arabian babbler (Turdoides squamiceps).

In population dynamics, inverse density dependence can be manifested by individual fitness traits (component Allee effects), and population-level traits (demographic Allee effects). Cooperatively breeding species are an excellent model for investigating the relative importance of Allee effects, because there is a disproportionately larger benefit to an individual of being part of a large group. As a consequence, larger groups have greater performance than small groups, known as the group Allee effect. Although small populations of cooperative breeders may be prone to all levels of Allee effects, empirical evidence for the existence of a demographic Allee effects is scarce. To determine the extent to which Allee effects are present in a cooperatively breeding species, we used a comprehensive 35-year life history database for cooperatively breeding Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps). Firstly, we confirmed the existence of a component Allee effect by showing that breeding individuals in large groups receive greater benefits than those in small groups; second, we confirmed the existence of group Allee effect by showing that larger groups survive longer. And thirdly, we identified a demographic Allee effect by showing that per capita population growth rate is positively affected by population density. Finally, we found that emigration and immigration rates, although dependent on group size, do not buffer against component and group-level Allee effects becoming a demographic Allee effect. Our finding of the existence of all three levels of Allee effects in a cooperative breeder may have important implications for future research and conservation decisions.

Temporal changes and sexual differences of impaling behavior in Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis).

The Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis) is a common resident along the rift valley. During 2007-2008 we studied the impaling behavior of Southern Grey Shrikes at the Shezaf nature reserve by food supplementation. Our findings indicate seasonal shifts in impaling behavior. During the winter, there was no difference between the sexes and shrikes impaled house mice (Mus musculus) close to their territorial boundaries with neighboring conspecifics. All impaled mice disappeared from the tree within a few hours of impalement. During the mating season, males impaled the whole prey and let females eat it, and prey was impaled by both sexes only in order to dismember and feed the nestlings. Shrikes impaled and cached meal worms only after they were satiated. The number of meal worms taken to be hoarded increased during the non-breeding season, but during the breeding season male shrikes preferred to feed the females. During the entire research period we did not find any specific cache sites or trees and no prey remained impaled for extended periods of time. In conclusion, impaling prey changed temporally and between sexes: from being a signal for conspecifics to pair bonding.