The strategies underlying different forms of protective coloration are well understood but little attention has been paid to the ecological, life-history and behavioural circumstances under which they evolve. While some comparative studies have investigated the ecological correlates of aposematism, and background matching, the latter particularly in mammals, few have examined the ecological correlates of other types of protective coloration. Here, we first outline which types of defensive coloration strategies may be exhibited by the same individual; concluding that many protective coloration mechanisms can be employed simultaneously, particularly in conjunction with background matching. Second, we review the ecological predictions that have been made for each sort of protective coloration mechanism before systematically surveying phylogenetically controlled comparative studies linking ecological and social variables to antipredator defences that involve coloration. We find that some a priori predictions based on small-scale empirical studies and logical arguments are indeed supported by comparative data, especially in relation to how illumination affects both background matching and self-shadow concealment through countershading; how body size is associated with countershading, motion dazzle, flash coloration and aposematism, although only in selected taxa; how immobility may promote background matching in ambush predators; and how mobility may facilitate motion dazzle. Examination of nearly 120 comparative tests reveals that many focus on ecological variables that have little to do with predictions derived from antipredator defence theory, and that broad-scale ecological studies of defence strategies that incorporate phylogenetics are still very much in their infancy. We close by making recommendations for future evolutionary ecological research.

中文翻译：

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迈向保护色生态

不同形式的保护色背后的策略是众所周知的，但很少有人关注它们进化的生态、生活史和行为环境。虽然一些比较研究调查了脱色现象和背景匹配的生态相关性，后者尤其是在哺乳动物中，但很少有人研究其他类型的保护性着色的生态相关性。在这里，我们首先概述同一个人可能会表现出哪些类型的防御着色策略；结论是可以同时采用许多保护性着色机制，特别是与背景匹配结合使用。第二，在系统地调查系统发育控制的比较研究之前，我们回顾了对每种保护性着色机制所做的生态预测，这些研究将生态和社会变量与涉及着色的抗捕食者防御联系起来。我们发现一些基于小规模实证研究和逻辑论证的先验预测确实得到了比较数据的支持，特别是在光照如何通过反阴影影响背景匹配和自我阴影隐藏方面；尽管仅在选定的分类群中，体型与反阴影、运动眩光、闪光着色和脱色有关；不动如何促进伏击捕食者的背景匹配；以及移动性如何促进运动炫目。对近 120 项比较测试的检查表明，许多关注的生态变量与来自反捕食者防御理论的预测几乎没有关系，并且纳入系统发育学的防御策略的大规模生态研究仍处于起步阶段。我们最后为未来的进化生态研究提出建议。