Abstract

Eavesdropping on community members has immediate and clear benefits. However, little is known regarding its importance for the organization of cross-taxa community structure. Furthermore, the possibility that eavesdropping could allow species to coexist with a predator and access risky foraging habitat, thereby expanding their realized niche, has been little considered. Kalahari tree skinks (Trachylepis spilogaster) associate with sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) colonies as do African pygmy falcons (Polihierax semitorquatus), a predator of skinks and weavers. We undertook observational and experimental tests to determine if skinks eavesdrop on sociable weavers to mitigate any increase in predation threat that associating with weaver colonies may bring. Observations reveal that skinks use information from weavers to determine when predators are nearby; skinks were more active, more likely to forage in riskier habitats, and initiated flight from predators earlier in the presence of weavers compared with when weavers were absent. Playback of weaver alarm calls caused skinks to increase vigilance and flee, confirming that skinks eavesdrop on weavers. Furthermore, skinks at sociable weaver colonies were more likely to flee than skinks at noncolony trees, suggesting that learning is mechanistically important for eavesdropping behavior. Overall, it appears that eavesdropping allows skinks at colony trees to gain an early warning signal of potential predators, expand their realized niche, and join communities, whose predators may otherwise exclude them.

中文翻译：

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卡拉哈里（Kalahari）剥皮者向社交织布者窃听，以管理侏儒猎鹰的掠食并扩大其已实现的利基市场

摘要

窃听社区成员具有直接而明显的好处。但是，关于其对于跨单元群社区结构组织的重要性了解甚少。此外，人们几乎没有考虑过窃听可能使物种与捕食者共存并进入危险的觅食栖息地，从而扩大其已实现的生态位的可能性。卡拉哈里（Kalahari）树皮（Trachylepis spilogaster）与交织的织布工（Philetairus socius）殖民地紧密相连，非洲侏儒f（Polihierax semitorquatus）），是石龙子和编织者的捕食者。我们进行了观察性和实验性测试，以确定石龙鱼是否窃听了社交编织者，以减轻与编织者殖民地相关的捕食威胁的增加。观察发现，石龙子利用编织者的信息来确定掠食者何时在附近。与没有织布工的情况相比，在织布工存在的情况下，石龙子更活跃，更有可能在危险的栖息地觅食，并且较早地开始从掠食者逃跑。织布机警报呼叫的回放导致石匠提高警惕性并逃离，确认石匠偷听了织布工。此外，在社交织布者群体上的石龙子比在非殖民地树上的石龙子更容易逃离，这表明学习对于窃听行为在机械上很重要。总体，