title: Reproductive state affects reliance on public information in sticklebacks.
abstract: The degree to which animals use public and private sources of information has important implications for research in both evolutionary ecology and cultural evolution. While researchers are increasingly interested in the factors that lead individuals to vary in the manner in which they use different sources of information, to date little is known about how an animal's reproductive state might affect its reliance on social learning. Here, we provide experimental evidence that in foraging ninespine sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius), gravid females increase their reliance on public information generated by feeding demonstrators in choosing the richer of two prey patches than non-reproductive fish, while, in contrast, reproductive males stop using public information. Subsequent experiments revealed reproductive males to be more efficient asocial foragers, less risk-averse and generally less social than both reproductive females and non-reproductives. These findings are suggestive of adaptive switches in reliance on social and asocial sources of information with reproductive condition, and we discuss the differing costs of reproduction and the proximate mechanisms that may underlie these differences in information use. Our findings have important implications for our understanding of adaptive foraging strategies in animals and for understanding the way information diffuses through populations.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, University of St Andrews, , Bute Building, Fife KY16 4TS, UK. mike.m.webster@gmail.com
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Laland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003071:Cognition; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D023701:Smegmamorpha / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2004 May 7;271(1542):957-62
references.pmid: 15255051
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2009 Mar 23;96(4-5):693-702
references.pmid: 19171159
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2002 Nov 29;357(1427):1559-66
references.pmid: 12495513
references.citation: Horm Behav. 2001 Dec;40(4):497-509
references.pmid: 11716579
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2003 Nov 22;270(1531):2413-9
references.pmid: 14667359
references.citation: Learn Behav. 2004 Feb;32(1):4-14
references.pmid: 15161136
references.citation: Exp Biol. 1989;48(5):295-300
references.pmid: 2620713
references.citation: Brain Behav Evol. 2001 May;57(5):239-51
references.pmid: 11641561
references.citation: Biol Lett. 2010 Aug 23;6(4):466-8
references.pmid: 20129948
references.citation: Am Nat. 2006 Oct;168(4):546-52
references.pmid: 17004225
references.citation: Trends Ecol Evol. 1991 Jun;6(6):183-6
references.pmid: 21232452
references.citation: Science. 2010 Apr 9;328(5975):208-13
references.pmid: 20378813
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Dec 22;275(1653):2869-76
references.pmid: 18755676
references.citation: J Fish Biol. 2009 Nov;75(8):2143-53
references.pmid: 20738678
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 2006 Dec 15;175(2):263-70
references.pmid: 17028002