Fighting for space: How do weaker individuals compete?

动物为争夺领地而战，体型更大、更强壮的个体通常会获胜。那么，在河蟹中，体型较小的雄性和手无寸铁的雌性如何在较大的雄性面前保卫自己的领土呢？我将调查四种情况，在这些情况下，仅凭力量可能不能决定战斗的成功。我预测：(A)位置和动机优势使领地所有者能够击退入侵者；(B)弱小的个体通过‘唠叨’而不是通过赢得战斗来与更强大的邻居竞争；(C)居民结成联盟来抵御入侵者；以及d)缺乏雄性大爪子的雌性会使用新的替代策略来维持领地。这项研究将检验有关领地的重要理论，这样做对行为生态学做出了重大贡献。

Animals fight for territories and larger, stronger individuals usually win. How then, in fiddler crabs, do small males and weaponless females defend their territories against larger males? I will investigate four contexts in which strength alone may not determine fighting success. I predict that: (a) positional and motivational advantages allow territory owners to repel intruders; (b) weak individuals compete with stronger neighbours by 'nagging' rather than by winning fights; (c) residents form coalitions to fend off intruders; and d) females, who lack the large claws of males, employ novel alternative tactics to maintain territories.This study will test important theories of territoriality and in so doing make a major contribution to behavioural ecology.