Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird
Koskenpato, K., Lehikoinen, A., Lindstedt, C., & Karell, P. (2020). Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird. Ecology and Evolution, 10(4), 1751-1761. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5914
Published in
Ecology and EvolutionDate
2020Discipline
Biologisten vuorovaikutusten huippututkimusyksikköEkologia ja evoluutiobiologiaCentre of Excellence in Biological Interactions ResearchEcology and Evolutionary BiologyCopyright
© 2019 The Authors
Camouflage may promote fitness of given phenotypes in different environments. The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a color polymorphic species with a gray and brown morph resident in the Western Palearctic. A strong selection pressure against the brown morph during snowy and cold winters has been documented earlier, but the selection mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we hypothesize that selection favors the gray morph because it is better camouflaged against predators and mobbers in snowy conditions compared to the brown one. We conducted an online citizen science experiment where volunteers were asked to locate a gray or a brown tawny owl specimen from pictures taken in snowy and snowless landscapes. Our results show that the gray morph in snowy landscapes is the hardest to detect whereas the brown morph in snowy landscapes is the easiest to detect. With an avian vision model, we show that, similar to human perceivers, the brown morph is more conspicuous than the gray against coniferous tree trunks for a mobbing passerine. We suggest that with better camouflage, the gray morph may avoid mobbers and predators more efficiently than the brown morph and thus survive better in snowy environments. As winters are getting milder and shorter in the species range, the selection periods against brown coloration may eventually disappear or shift poleward.
...
Publisher
John Wiley & SonsISSN Search the Publication Forum
2045-7758Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/34540571
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Related funder(s)
Research Council of FinlandFunding program(s)
Centre of Excellence, AoFAdditional information about funding
AL and PK were funded by the Academy of Finland (projects 275606 and 314108, respectively). KK was funded by Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Oskar Öflunds Foundation, and Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica. CLK was funded by the Academy of Finland via the Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions.License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Supplementary data to: Predator selection on phenotypic variability of cryptic and aposematic moths
Nokelainen, Ossi; Silvasti, Sanni; Strauss, Sharon; Wahlberg, Niklas; Mappes, Johanna (University of Jyväskylä, 2023)2800 wing images of 82 moth species accessed via three online museum databases were examined using state-of-the-art image analysis. The study tested whether anti-predator strategy (i.e., camouflage or aposematism) explains ... -
Global warming, forest biodiversity and conservation strategies in boreal landscapes
Mazziotta, Adriano (University of Jyväskylä, 2014) -
Improved camouflage through ontogenetic colour change confers reduced detection risk in shore crabs
Nokelainen, Ossi; Maynes, Ruth; Mynott, Sara; Price, Natasha; Stevens, Martin (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2019)1. Animals from many taxa, from snakes and crabs to caterpillars and lobsters, change appearance with age, but the reasons why this occurs are rarely tested. 2. We show the importance that ontogenetic changes in coloration ... -
Exploring polymorphism in a palatable prey : predation risk and frequency dependence in relation to distinct levels of conspicuousness
Poloni, Riccardo; Dhennin, Marina; Mappes, Johanna; Joron, Mathieu; Nokelainen, Ossi (Oxford University Press, 2024)Camouflage and warning signals are different antipredator strategies, which offer an excellent opportunity to study the evolutionary forces acting on prey appearance. Edible prey often escape detection via camouflage, which ... -
Evolution of signal diversity : predator-prey interactions and the maintenance of warning colour polymorphism in the wood tiger moth Arctia plantaginis
Rönkä, Katja (University of Jyväskylä, 2017)Aposematic organisms avoid predation by advertising defences with warning signals. The theory of aposematism predicts warning signal uniformity, yet variation in warning coloration is widespread. The chemically defended ...