What factors contribute to an ownership advantage?
In most taxa, owners win fights when defending a territory against intruders. We calculated effect sizes for four factors that potentially contribute to an 'owner advantage'. We studied male fiddler crabs Uca mjoebergi, where owners won 92% of natural fights. Owners were not more successful because they were inherently better fighters (r=0.02). There was a small effect (r=0.18) of the owner's knowledge of territory quality (food availability) and a medium effect (r=0.29) of his having established relations with neighbours (duration of active tenure), but neither was statistically significant. There was, however, a significant effect due to the mechanical advantage the owner gained through access to the burrow during fights (r=0.48, p<0.005).
Fayed
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SA
School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
Jennions
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MD
Backwell
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PR
D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D003386:Brachyura / Q000502:physiology*; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D015876:Northern Territory; D013731:Territoriality