Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land

Communication is a characteristic of life, but its reliability and basic definition are hotly debated. Theory predicts that trade among mutualists requires high reliability. Here, we show that moderate reliability already allows mutualists to optimize their rewards. The colours of Mediterranean fles...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Schaefer, H. Martin, Valido, Alfredo, Jordano, Pedro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/90149
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/90149
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Food selection
Signal theory
Fair trade
Sensory ecology
Honest signalling
Seed dispersal
Communication
Mutualism
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spelling Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the landSchaefer, H. MartinValido, AlfredoJordano, PedroFood selectionSignal theoryFair tradeSensory ecologyHonest signallingSeed dispersalCommunicationMutualismCommunication is a characteristic of life, but its reliability and basic definition are hotly debated. Theory predicts that trade among mutualists requires high reliability. Here, we show that moderate reliability already allows mutualists to optimize their rewards. The colours of Mediterranean fleshy-fruits indicate lipid rewards (but not other nutrients) to avian seed dispersers on regional and local scales. On the regional scale, fruits with high lipid content were significantly darker and less chromatic than congeners with lower lipid content. On the local scale, two warbler species (Sylvia atricapilla and Sylvia borin) selected fruit colours that were less chromatic, and thereby maximized their intake of lipids-a critical resource during migration and wintering. Crucially, birds were able to maximize lipid rewards with moderate reliability from visual fruit colours (r2 1/4 0.44-0.60). We suggest that mutualisms require only that any association between the quality and sensory aspects of signallers is learned through multiple, repeated interactions. Because these conditions are often fulfilled, also in social communication systems, we contend that selection on reliability is less intense than hitherto assumed. This may contribute to explaining the extraordinary diversity of signals, including that of plant reproductive displays. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.Peer ReviewedRoyal Society (Great Britain)2014201420142014info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501http://hdl.handle.net/10261/90149reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/901492026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
title Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
spellingShingle Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
Schaefer, H. Martin
Food selection
Signal theory
Fair trade
Sensory ecology
Honest signalling
Seed dispersal
Communication
Mutualism
title_short Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
title_full Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
title_fullStr Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
title_full_unstemmed Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
title_sort Birds see the true colours of fruits to live off the fat of the land
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Schaefer, H. Martin
Valido, Alfredo
Jordano, Pedro
author Schaefer, H. Martin
author_facet Schaefer, H. Martin
Valido, Alfredo
Jordano, Pedro
author_role author
author2 Valido, Alfredo
Jordano, Pedro
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Food selection
Signal theory
Fair trade
Sensory ecology
Honest signalling
Seed dispersal
Communication
Mutualism
topic Food selection
Signal theory
Fair trade
Sensory ecology
Honest signalling
Seed dispersal
Communication
Mutualism
description Communication is a characteristic of life, but its reliability and basic definition are hotly debated. Theory predicts that trade among mutualists requires high reliability. Here, we show that moderate reliability already allows mutualists to optimize their rewards. The colours of Mediterranean fleshy-fruits indicate lipid rewards (but not other nutrients) to avian seed dispersers on regional and local scales. On the regional scale, fruits with high lipid content were significantly darker and less chromatic than congeners with lower lipid content. On the local scale, two warbler species (Sylvia atricapilla and Sylvia borin) selected fruit colours that were less chromatic, and thereby maximized their intake of lipids-a critical resource during migration and wintering. Crucially, birds were able to maximize lipid rewards with moderate reliability from visual fruit colours (r2 1/4 0.44-0.60). We suggest that mutualisms require only that any association between the quality and sensory aspects of signallers is learned through multiple, repeated interactions. Because these conditions are often fulfilled, also in social communication systems, we contend that selection on reliability is less intense than hitherto assumed. This may contribute to explaining the extraordinary diversity of signals, including that of plant reproductive displays. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
publishDate 2014
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2014
2014
2014
2014
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/90149
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/90149
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Royal Society (Great Britain)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Royal Society (Great Britain)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812429

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