song diversity predicts the viability of fragmented bird populations歌多样性预测支离破碎的鸟类种群的可行性.pdf

Song Diversity Predicts the Viability of Fragmented Bird Populations 1,2 ¨ 1 1 ´ 1 Paola Laiolo *, Matthias Vogeli , David Serrano , Jose L. Tella ´ ´ ˜ ´ 1 Estacion Biologica de Donana (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain, 2 Instituto Cantabrico de Biodiversidad (CSIC, UO, PA), Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain Abstract In the global scenario of increasing habitat fragmentation, finding appropriate indicators of population viability is a priority for conservation. We explored the potential of learned behaviours, specifically acoustic signals, to predict the persistence over time of fragmented bird populations. We found an association between male song diversity and the annual rate of population change, population productivity and population size, resulting in birds singing poor repertoires in populations more prone to extinction. This is the first demonstration that population viability can be predicted by a cultural trait (acquired via social learning). Our results emphasise that cultural attributes can reflect not only individual-level characteristics, but also the emergent population-level properties. This opens the way to the study of animal cultural diversity in the increasingly common human-altered landscapes. ¨ Citation: Laiolo P, Vogeli M, Serrano D, Tella JL (2008) Song Diversity Predicts the Viability of Fragmented Bird Populations. PLoS ONE 3(3): e1822. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0001822 Editor: Minna-Liisa Rantalainen, University of Helsinki, Finland Received November 19, 2007; Accepted February 13, 2008; Published March 19, 2008 Copyright: 2008 Laiolo et al. This is an open-access article distributed