Bats Aggregate to Improve Prey Search but Might Be Impaired when Their Density Becomes Too High

No Thumbnail Available
Files
There are no files associated with this item.
Date
2015
Authors
Cvikel, Noam
Egert Berg, Katya
Levin, Eran
Borissov, Ivailo
Boonman, Arjan
Amichai, Eran
Yovel, Yossi
Editors
Contact
Journal ISSN
Electronic ISSN
ISBN
Bibliographical data
Publisher
Series
URI (citable link)
DOI (citable link)
ArXiv-ID
International patent number
Link to the license
EU project number
Project
Open Access publication
Collections
Restricted until
Title in another language
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Publication type
Journal article
Publication status
Published
Published in
Current Biology ; 25 (2015), 2. - pp. 206-211. - Cell Press. - ISSN 0960-9822. - eISSN 1879-0445
Abstract
Social foraging is a very common yet extremely complex behavior. Numerous studies attempted to model it with little supporting evidence. Studying it in the wild is difficult because it requires monitoring the animal's movement, its foraging success, and its interactions with conspecifics. We present a novel system that enables full night ultrasonic recording of freely foraging bats, in addition to GPS tracking. As they rely on echolocation, audio recordings of bats allow tapping into their sensory acquisition of the world. Rapid changes in echolocation allowed us to reveal the bats' dynamic reactions in response to prey or conspecifics—two key behaviors that are extremely difficult to assess in most animals. We found that bats actively aggregate and forage as a group. However, we also found that when the group became too dense, bats were forced to devote sensory attention to conspecifics that frequently entered their biosonar "field of view," impairing the bats' prey detection performance. Why then did bats fly in such high densities? By emitting echolocation calls, bats constantly provide public information about their detection of prey. Bats could therefore benefit from intentionally flying at a distance that enables eavesdropping on conspecifics. Group foraging, therefore, probably allowed bats to effectively operate as an array of sensors, increasing their searching efficiency. We suggest that two opposing forces are at play in determining the efficient foraging density: on the one hand, higher densities improve prey detection, but on the other hand, they increase conspecific interference.
Summary in another language
Subject (DDC)
570 Biosciences, Biology
Keywords
Conference
Review
undefined / . - undefined, undefined. - (undefined; undefined)
Cite This
ISO 690CVIKEL, Noam, Katya EGERT BERG, Eran LEVIN, Edward HURME, Ivailo BORISSOV, Arjan BOONMAN, Eran AMICHAI, Yossi YOVEL, 2015. Bats Aggregate to Improve Prey Search but Might Be Impaired when Their Density Becomes Too High. In: Current Biology. Cell Press. 25(2), pp. 206-211. ISSN 0960-9822. eISSN 1879-0445. Available under: doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.010
BibTex
@article{Cvikel2015-01-19Aggre-53630,
  year={2015},
  doi={10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.010},
  title={Bats Aggregate to Improve Prey Search but Might Be Impaired when Their Density Becomes Too High},
  number={2},
  volume={25},
  issn={0960-9822},
  journal={Current Biology},
  pages={206--211},
  author={Cvikel, Noam and Egert Berg, Katya and Levin, Eran and Hurme, Edward and Borissov, Ivailo and Boonman, Arjan and Amichai, Eran and Yovel, Yossi}
}
RDF
<rdf:RDF
    xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:bibo="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/"
    xmlns:dspace="http://digital-repositories.org/ontologies/dspace/0.1.0#"
    xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
    xmlns:void="http://rdfs.org/ns/void#"
    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" > 
  <rdf:Description rdf:about="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/53630">
    <dc:creator>Amichai, Eran</dc:creator>
    <dcterms:rights rdf:resource="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/"/>
    <void:sparqlEndpoint rdf:resource="http://localhost/fuseki/dspace/sparql"/>
    <dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/28"/>
    <dc:contributor>Yovel, Yossi</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Hurme, Edward</dc:creator>
    <dcterms:available rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2021-05-10T11:33:00Z</dcterms:available>
    <dc:contributor>Hurme, Edward</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Boonman, Arjan</dc:creator>
    <dc:creator>Yovel, Yossi</dc:creator>
    <dspace:isPartOfCollection rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/28"/>
    <dc:language>eng</dc:language>
    <dc:contributor>Amichai, Eran</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Borissov, Ivailo</dc:creator>
    <bibo:uri rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/handle/123456789/53630"/>
    <dc:creator>Levin, Eran</dc:creator>
    <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="http://localhost:8080/"/>
    <dc:contributor>Boonman, Arjan</dc:contributor>
    <dcterms:issued>2015-01-19</dcterms:issued>
    <dc:contributor>Borissov, Ivailo</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Cvikel, Noam</dc:creator>
    <dc:contributor>Levin, Eran</dc:contributor>
    <dc:rights>terms-of-use</dc:rights>
    <dcterms:title>Bats Aggregate to Improve Prey Search but Might Be Impaired when Their Density Becomes Too High</dcterms:title>
    <dc:contributor>Cvikel, Noam</dc:contributor>
    <dcterms:abstract xml:lang="eng">Social foraging is a very common yet extremely complex behavior. Numerous studies attempted to model it with little supporting evidence. Studying it in the wild is difficult because it requires monitoring the animal's movement, its foraging success, and its interactions with conspecifics. We present a novel system that enables full night ultrasonic recording of freely foraging bats, in addition to GPS tracking. As they rely on echolocation, audio recordings of bats allow tapping into their sensory acquisition of the world. Rapid changes in echolocation allowed us to reveal the bats' dynamic reactions in response to prey or conspecifics—two key behaviors that are extremely difficult to assess in most animals. We found that bats actively aggregate and forage as a group. However, we also found that when the group became too dense, bats were forced to devote sensory attention to conspecifics that frequently entered their biosonar "field of view," impairing the bats' prey detection performance. Why then did bats fly in such high densities? By emitting echolocation calls, bats constantly provide public information about their detection of prey. Bats could therefore benefit from intentionally flying at a distance that enables eavesdropping on conspecifics. Group foraging, therefore, probably allowed bats to effectively operate as an array of sensors, increasing their searching efficiency. We suggest that two opposing forces are at play in determining the efficient foraging density: on the one hand, higher densities improve prey detection, but on the other hand, they increase conspecific interference.</dcterms:abstract>
    <dc:date rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2021-05-10T11:33:00Z</dc:date>
    <dc:contributor>Egert Berg, Katya</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Egert Berg, Katya</dc:creator>
  </rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
Internal note
xmlui.Submission.submit.DescribeStep.inputForms.label.kops_note_fromSubmitter
Contact
URL of original publication
Test date of URL
Examination date of dissertation
Method of financing
Comment on publication
Alliance license
Corresponding Authors der Uni Konstanz vorhanden
International Co-Authors
Bibliography of Konstanz
No
Refereed
Yes