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Positive interspecific associations consistent with social information use shape juvenile fish assemblages

Hui, Francis; Haak, Christopher R.; Cowles, Geoffrey W.; Danylchuk, Andy J.

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Social information obtained from heterospecifics can enhance individual fitness by reducing environmental uncertainty, making it an important driver of mixed-species grouping behavior. Heterospecific groups are well documented among fishes, yet are notably more prevalent among juveniles than more advanced life stages, implying that the adaptive value of joining other species is greater during this developmental period. We propose this phenomenon can be explained by the heightened ecological...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorHui, Francis
dc.contributor.authorHaak, Christopher R.
dc.contributor.authorCowles, Geoffrey W.
dc.contributor.authorDanylchuk, Andy J.
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-05T04:15:48Z
dc.date.available2021-02-05T04:15:48Z
dc.identifier.issn0012-9658
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/222100
dc.description.abstractSocial information obtained from heterospecifics can enhance individual fitness by reducing environmental uncertainty, making it an important driver of mixed-species grouping behavior. Heterospecific groups are well documented among fishes, yet are notably more prevalent among juveniles than more advanced life stages, implying that the adaptive value of joining other species is greater during this developmental period. We propose this phenomenon can be explained by the heightened ecological relevance of heterospecifically produced cues pertaining to predation risk and or resources, as body-size uniformity inherent in early ontogeny yields greater overlap in predator and prey guild membership across juveniles of disparate taxa. To evaluate the putative role of information in shaping juvenile fish assemblages, we employed a joint species distribution model (JSDM), identifying nonrandom relationships among fishes collected in 785 seine hauls within the shallow littoral zones of a subtropical island. After accounting for species-environment relationships, which explained 39% of observed covariation in the abundance of 11 taxa, we detected high rates of positive association (84% of significant correlations) predominantly between mutual foraging guild members, consistent with assemblage patterns predicted to evolve under widespread interspecific information use. Affiliations occurred primarily between species characterized by neutral (i.e., noninteracting) or negative (i.e., predator-prey) relationships in later life stages, supporting the notion that heightened niche overlap due to body size homogeneity acted to increase the pertinence of information among juveniles. Taxa exerted varying degrees of influence on assemblage structure; however Eucinostomus spp., a gregarious generalist with exceptional information-production potential, had an effect several times that of all other species combined, further evidencing the likely role of information in motivating observed relationships. Co-occurrence and qualitative behavioral data inferred from remote underwater video surveys reinforced these conclusions. Collectively, these results suggest that positive interactions linked to information exchange can be among the principal factors organizing juvenile fish assemblages at local scales, highlighting the role of ontogeny in mediating the relevance and exploitation of information across species
dc.description.sponsorshipFunding from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, UMass Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, and the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A. Danylchuk was supported the National Institute of Food & Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, and Department of Environmental Conservation and is also a Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Research Fellow.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen_AU
dc.publisherEcological Society of America
dc.rights© 2019 by the Ecological Society of America
dc.sourceEcology
dc.subjectinterspecific information transfer
dc.subjectsocial information
dc.subjectjuvenile fish
dc.subjectheterospecific association
dc.subjectmixed-species groups
dc.subjectpositive interactions
dc.subjectontogenetic niche
dc.titlePositive interspecific associations consistent with social information use shape juvenile fish assemblages
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume101
dcterms.dateAccepted2019-08-23
dc.date.issued2019-12-20
local.identifier.absfor060202 - Community Ecology
local.identifier.ariespublicationu6269649xPUB604
local.publisher.urlhttps://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationHui, Francis, College of Business and Economics, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationHaak, Christopher R., University of Massachusetts Amherst
local.contributor.affiliationCowles, Geoffrey W., University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
local.contributor.affiliationDanylchuk, Andy J., University of Massachusetts Amherst
local.bibliographicCitation.issue2
local.identifier.doi10.1002/ecy.2920
dc.date.updated2020-11-02T04:27:39Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-85076822610
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dc.provenancehttps://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/13292..."Published version can be made open access on institutional repository" from SHERPA/RoMEO site (as at 5.2.2021).
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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