American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering

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Frequency Dependant and Frequency Independent Selection of Wild Birds When Presented with Artificial Prey and Whether Selection Pressures Are Present

Received: 13 September 2017    Accepted: 27 September 2017    Published: 02 November 2017
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Abstract

Genetic variation of a prey population can be affected by a range of variables, one of which is wild birds. Many species of prey population are polymorphic and wild birds hunt by sight which may means they select one morph of their prey over the other. The aim of this investigation is to use artificial prey to examine whether birds in an urban area, such as a garden of a residence, operate via selection pressures. 20 trials in total were performed. 10 trials with 45 yellow balls and 5 red balls were presented (ratio 9 yellow: 1 red) followed by 10 trials of 45 red balls and 5 yellow balls (ratio 9 red: 1 yellow). The bird population showed evidence of operating under significant frequency-dependant selection but not under significant frequency independent selection. The results show we can reject the null hypothesis that wild birds do not exhibit selection preferences due to the colour and frequency of the artificial prey, however, the null hypothesis can be accepted when in reference to frequency dependant selection. The birds showed no preference to which colour was rare, just that if that colour was the rare colour at the time, they select it over the common.

DOI 10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12
Published in American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering (Volume 5, Issue 4, August 2017)
Page(s) 88-91
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Genetic Variation, Selection Pressures, Frequency Independent, Dependant, Wild Birds, Artificial Prey, Mann Whitney U Test, Selection

References
[1] The Open University S317 (2015) accessed 8th march 2015. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/subpage/view.php?id=745379.
[2] Frequency-dependent and frequency-independent visual selection of red and yellow dough balls by wild birds in an Oxfordshire garden and evolutionary implications for potential prey populations. Haresnape 2015, The Open University - Accessed 8th March 2015 - Available: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1688758/mod_resource/content/4/Haresnape%202015.pdf.
[3] Allen, J. A. (1976) further evidence for a postatic selection by wild passerine birds – 9:1 experiments, Heredity 36(2), 173-180.
[4] Allen J. A. Further evidence for apostatic selection by wild passerine birds: training experiments. Heredity (Edinb) 1974 Dec; 33(3):361–372.
[5] Allen J. A. Further evidence for apostatic selection by wild passerine birds -9:1 experiments. Heredity (Edinb) 1976 Apr; 36(2):173–180.
[6] Kettlewell, H. B. D. (1956) further selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera, Heredity 10,287-301.
[7] Manly, B. F. J. (1985) the Statistics of Natural Selection, Chapman and Hal.
[8] Allaboutbirds. org, 2015. Available at: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse.
[9] Allen J. A. Frequency-dependent selection by predators. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1988 Jul 6;319(1196):485–503.
[10] S. MERILAITA, 2006. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.385.4618&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
Author Information
  • Biological Sciences, The Open University, Oxford, United Kingdom

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    Sarah Jayne Drinkwater. (2017). Frequency Dependant and Frequency Independent Selection of Wild Birds When Presented with Artificial Prey and Whether Selection Pressures Are Present. American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, 5(4), 88-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12

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    Sarah Jayne Drinkwater. Frequency Dependant and Frequency Independent Selection of Wild Birds When Presented with Artificial Prey and Whether Selection Pressures Are Present. Am. J. BioSci. Bioeng. 2017, 5(4), 88-91. doi: 10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12

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    Sarah Jayne Drinkwater. Frequency Dependant and Frequency Independent Selection of Wild Birds When Presented with Artificial Prey and Whether Selection Pressures Are Present. Am J BioSci Bioeng. 2017;5(4):88-91. doi: 10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12,
      author = {Sarah Jayne Drinkwater},
      title = {Frequency Dependant and Frequency Independent Selection of Wild Birds When Presented with Artificial Prey and Whether Selection Pressures Are Present},
      journal = {American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {88-91},
      doi = {10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bio.20170504.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bio.20170504.12},
      abstract = {Genetic variation of a prey population can be affected by a range of variables, one of which is wild birds. Many species of prey population are polymorphic and wild birds hunt by sight which may means they select one morph of their prey over the other. The aim of this investigation is to use artificial prey to examine whether birds in an urban area, such as a garden of a residence, operate via selection pressures. 20 trials in total were performed. 10 trials with 45 yellow balls and 5 red balls were presented (ratio 9 yellow: 1 red) followed by 10 trials of 45 red balls and 5 yellow balls (ratio 9 red: 1 yellow). The bird population showed evidence of operating under significant frequency-dependant selection but not under significant frequency independent selection. The results show we can reject the null hypothesis that wild birds do not exhibit selection preferences due to the colour and frequency of the artificial prey, however, the null hypothesis can be accepted when in reference to frequency dependant selection. The birds showed no preference to which colour was rare, just that if that colour was the rare colour at the time, they select it over the common.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AB  - Genetic variation of a prey population can be affected by a range of variables, one of which is wild birds. Many species of prey population are polymorphic and wild birds hunt by sight which may means they select one morph of their prey over the other. The aim of this investigation is to use artificial prey to examine whether birds in an urban area, such as a garden of a residence, operate via selection pressures. 20 trials in total were performed. 10 trials with 45 yellow balls and 5 red balls were presented (ratio 9 yellow: 1 red) followed by 10 trials of 45 red balls and 5 yellow balls (ratio 9 red: 1 yellow). The bird population showed evidence of operating under significant frequency-dependant selection but not under significant frequency independent selection. The results show we can reject the null hypothesis that wild birds do not exhibit selection preferences due to the colour and frequency of the artificial prey, however, the null hypothesis can be accepted when in reference to frequency dependant selection. The birds showed no preference to which colour was rare, just that if that colour was the rare colour at the time, they select it over the common.
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