Agonistic urban birds: elevated territorial aggression of urban song sparrows is individually consistent within a breeding period
Agonistic urban birds: elevated territorial aggression of urban song sparrows is individually consistent within a breeding period
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2016.0315
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发表时间：
2016-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Sewall, Kendra B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Davies, Scott;Sewall, Kendra B.
在模拟入侵期间，城市鸟类往往比农村鸟类更积极地捍卫自己的领土，但造成这种情况的因素仍不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们调查了城市和农村的男性歌麻雀，Melospiza melodia，在繁殖期内的领土侵略的差异是否是个别一致的。此外，为了更好地了解这种行为差异背后的生理和生态因素，我们研究了领地性是否与血浆睾酮（一种导致脊椎动物侵略性升高的激素）和/或同种密度（一种通常与侵略性呈正相关的因素）相关。城市化相关的领土差异是个别一致的繁殖期内。然而，城市鸟类的领土侵略性升高与血浆睾酮水平无关，与我们的预测相反，同种密度在城市低于农村地区。我们认为，其他方面的睾酮信号和功能的社会生态环境，如繁殖地的可用性，可能会增加城市鸟类的领土侵略。
Urban birds often more vigorously defend their territories during simulated intrusions than do their rural counterparts, but the factors responsible remain unclear. To address this issue, we investigated whether the disparity in territorial aggression of urban and rural male song sparrows, Melospiza melodia, is individually consistent within a breeding period. Additionally, to better understand the physiological and ecological factors underlying this behavioural difference, we examined whether territoriality was associated with plasma testosterone, a hormone that contributes to elevated aggression in vertebrates, and/or conspecific density, a factor often positively related to aggression. The urbanization-related difference in territoriality was individually consistent within a breeding period. However, the elevated territorial aggression of urban birds was not associated with plasma testosterone and, counter to our predictions, conspecific density was lower in urban compared with rural areas. We suggest that other aspects of testosterone signalling and features of the socio-ecological environment, such as the availability of breeding sites, may underlie increased territorial aggression in urban birds.