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Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns

Animals achieve camouflage through a variety of mechanisms, of which background matching and disruptive coloration are likely the most common. Although many studies have investigated camouflage mechanisms using artificial stimuli and in lab experiments, less work has addressed camouflage in the wild...

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Autores principales: Stoddard, Mary Caswell, Kupán, Krisztina, Eyster, Harold N., Rojas-Abreu, Wendoly, Cruz-López, Medardo, Serrano-Meneses, Martín Alejandro, Küpper, Clemens
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5018847/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27616020
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep32059
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author Stoddard, Mary Caswell
Kupán, Krisztina
Eyster, Harold N.
Rojas-Abreu, Wendoly
Cruz-López, Medardo
Serrano-Meneses, Martín Alejandro
Küpper, Clemens
author_facet Stoddard, Mary Caswell
Kupán, Krisztina
Eyster, Harold N.
Rojas-Abreu, Wendoly
Cruz-López, Medardo
Serrano-Meneses, Martín Alejandro
Küpper, Clemens
author_sort Stoddard, Mary Caswell
collection PubMed
description Animals achieve camouflage through a variety of mechanisms, of which background matching and disruptive coloration are likely the most common. Although many studies have investigated camouflage mechanisms using artificial stimuli and in lab experiments, less work has addressed camouflage in the wild. Here we examine egg camouflage in clutches laid by ground-nesting Snowy Plovers Charadrius nivosus and Least Terns Sternula antillarum breeding in mixed aggregations at Bahía de Ceuta, Sinaloa, Mexico. We obtained digital images of clutches laid by both species. We then calibrated the images and used custom computer software and edge detection algorithms to quantify measures related to three potential camouflage mechanisms: pattern complexity matching, disruptive effects and background color matching. Based on our image analyses, Snowy Plover clutches, in general, appeared to be more camouflaged than Least Tern clutches. Snowy Plover clutches also survived better than Least Tern clutches. Unexpectedly, variation in clutch survival was not explained by any measure of egg camouflage in either species. We conclude that measures of egg camouflage are poor predictors of clutch survival in this population. The behavior of the incubating parents may also affect clutch predation. Determining the significance of egg camouflage requires further testing using visual models and behavioral experiments.
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spelling pubmed-50188472016-09-19 Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns Stoddard, Mary Caswell Kupán, Krisztina Eyster, Harold N. Rojas-Abreu, Wendoly Cruz-López, Medardo Serrano-Meneses, Martín Alejandro Küpper, Clemens Sci Rep Article Animals achieve camouflage through a variety of mechanisms, of which background matching and disruptive coloration are likely the most common. Although many studies have investigated camouflage mechanisms using artificial stimuli and in lab experiments, less work has addressed camouflage in the wild. Here we examine egg camouflage in clutches laid by ground-nesting Snowy Plovers Charadrius nivosus and Least Terns Sternula antillarum breeding in mixed aggregations at Bahía de Ceuta, Sinaloa, Mexico. We obtained digital images of clutches laid by both species. We then calibrated the images and used custom computer software and edge detection algorithms to quantify measures related to three potential camouflage mechanisms: pattern complexity matching, disruptive effects and background color matching. Based on our image analyses, Snowy Plover clutches, in general, appeared to be more camouflaged than Least Tern clutches. Snowy Plover clutches also survived better than Least Tern clutches. Unexpectedly, variation in clutch survival was not explained by any measure of egg camouflage in either species. We conclude that measures of egg camouflage are poor predictors of clutch survival in this population. The behavior of the incubating parents may also affect clutch predation. Determining the significance of egg camouflage requires further testing using visual models and behavioral experiments. Nature Publishing Group 2016-09-12 /pmc/articles/PMC5018847/ /pubmed/27616020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep32059 Text en Copyright © 2016, The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Stoddard, Mary Caswell
Kupán, Krisztina
Eyster, Harold N.
Rojas-Abreu, Wendoly
Cruz-López, Medardo
Serrano-Meneses, Martín Alejandro
Küpper, Clemens
Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns
title Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns
title_full Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns
title_fullStr Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns
title_full_unstemmed Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns
title_short Camouflage and Clutch Survival in Plovers and Terns
title_sort camouflage and clutch survival in plovers and terns
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5018847/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27616020
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep32059
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