Cross-Context Responses to Novelty in Rural and Urban Small Mammals
Author(s)
Date Issued
2021
Type
article
Volume
9
Abstract
The Anthropocene is the era of urbanization. The accelerating expansion of cities occurs
at the expense of natural reservoirs of biodiversity and presents animals with challenges
for which their evolutionary past might not have prepared them. Cognitive and behavioral
adjustments to novelty could promote animals’ persistence under these altered
conditions. We investigated the structure of, and covariance between, different aspects
of responses to novelty in rural and urban small mammals of two non-commensal rodent
species. We ran replicated experiments testing responses to three novelty types (object,
food, or space) of 47 individual common voles (Microtus arvalis) and 41 individual
striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius). We found partial support for the hypothesis that
responses to novelty are structured, clustering (i) speed of responses, (ii) intensity of
responses, and (iii) responses to food into separate dimensions. Rural and urban small
mammals did not differ in most responses to novelty, suggesting that urban habitats
do not reduce neophobia in these species. Further studies investigating whether
comparable response patters are found throughout different stages of colonization, and
along synurbanization processes of different duration, will help illuminate the dynamics
of animals’ cognitive adjustments to urban life.
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