When and why do territorial coalitions occur? Experimental evidence from a fiddler crab

Tanya Detto, Michael D. Jennions, Patricia R.Y. Backwell

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    42 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Neighboring territory owners are often less aggressive toward each other than to strangers ("dear enemy" effect). There is, however, little evidence for territorial defense coalitions whereby a neighbor will temporarily leave his/her own territory, enter that of a neighbor, and cooperate in repelling a conspecific intruder. This is surprising, as theoreticians have long posited the existence of such coalitions and the circumstances under which they should evolve. Here we document territorial defense coalitions in the African fiddler crab Uca annulipes, which lives in large colonies wherein each male defends a burrow and its surrounding area against neighbors and "floaters" (burrowless males). Fights between a resident and a floater sometimes involve another male who has left his territory to fight the floater challenging his neighbor. Using simple experiments, we provide the first evidence of the rules determining when territorial coalitions form. Our results support recent models that suggest that these coalitions arise from by-product mutualism.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)E119-E125
    JournalAmerican Naturalist
    Volume175
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2010

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