Coupling of dispersal and aggression facilitates the rapid range expansion of a passerine bird.

ABSTRACT: Behaviors can facilitate colonization of a novel environment, but the mechanisms underlying this process are poorly understood. On one hand, behavioral flexibility allows for an immediate response of colonizers to novel environments, which is critical to population establishment and persistence. On the other hand, integrated sets of behaviors that display limited flexibility can enhance invasion success by coupling behaviors with dispersal strategies that are especially important during natural range expansions. Direct observations of colonization events are required to determine the mechanisms underlying changes in behavior associated with colonization, but such observations are rare. Here, we studied changes in aggression on a large temporal and spatial scale across populations of two si

SUBMITTER: Duckworth RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1986605 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature