Importance of latrine communication in European rabbits shifts along a rural-to-urban gradient.
Information transfer in mammalian communication networks is often based on the deposition of excreta in latrines. Depending on the intended receiver(s), latrines are either formed at territorial boundaries (between-group communication) or in core areas of home ranges (within-group communication). The relative importance of both types of marking behavior should depend, amongst other factors, on population densities and social group sizes, which tend to differ between urban and rural wildlife populations. Our study is the first to assess (direct and indirect) anthropogenic influences on mammalian latrine-based communication networks along a rural-to-urban gradient in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) living in urban, suburban and rural areas in and around Frankfurt am Main (Germany).



The proportion of latrines located in close proximity to the burrow was higher at rural study sites compared to urban and suburban ones. At rural sites, we found the largest latrines and highest latrine densities close to the burrow, suggesting that core marking prevailed. By contrast, latrine dimensions and densities increased with increasing distance from the burrow in urban and suburban populations, suggesting a higher importance of peripheral marking.



Increased population densities, but smaller social group sizes in urban rabbit populations may lead to an increased importance of between-group communication and thus, favor peripheral over core marking. Our study provides novel insights into the manifold ways by which man-made habitat alterations along a rural-to-urban gradient directly and indirectly affect wildlife populations, including latrine-based communication networks.
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. madlen.ziege@mailbox.org.
Madlen
M
Ziege
Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587, Berlin, Germany.
David
D
Bierbach
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Svenja
S
Bischoff
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Anna-Lena
AL
Brandt
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Mareike
M
Brix
Department for Applied Bioinformatics, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Bastian
B
Greshake
Department of Zoology, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191, Stuttgart, Germany.
Stefan
S
Merker
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Sandra
S
Wenninger
Bristol Zoological Society, Conservation Science, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3HA, UK.
Torsten
T
Wronski
College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China.
Martin
M
Plath
D063147:Animal Distribution; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits / Q000502:physiology*; D012424:Rural Population; D014506:Urban Renewal
Chemical communication; Communication center; Core marking; Localized defecation; Urban ecology