Premise of the Research. Seed production by flowering plants depends on abiotic and biotic factors whose interacting effects may be hidden. We previously reported that exposure to dust from unpaved roads reduced the average amount of pollen on flowers of Ipomopsis aggregata, but did not consistently

Premise of the Research. Seed production by flowering plants depends on abiotic and biotic factors whose interacting effects may be hidden. We previously reported that exposure to dust from unpaved roads reduced the average amount of pollen on flowers of Ipomopsis aggregata, but did not consistently

Individuals may obtain valuable information about the presence of predators by eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm signals. While playback studies have demonstrated that similarly-sized and taxonomically-related species may respond to the calls of each other, less work has been done to define the

Differing sensitivities to predation risk contribute to diversity by allowing similar organisms to coexist. Such is the case with the golden-mantled ground squirrel, Spermophilus lateralis, and the least chipmunk, Tamias minimus. These sciurids are both abundant in the area surrounding the Rocky Mou

1. The extent to which flower colour and other visual cues influence butterfly flower choice in the field is poorly understood, especially in comparison with choices by Hymenoptera. 2. Using a novel approach to studies of visitation behaviour by butterflies, flower colour of four Asteraceae species

higher densities in streams with the highest risk of vertebrate predation. Along with many students and other colleagues, we have spent many years trying to understand that perplexing pattern. Adaptive behavior and life history strategies that can be induced experimentally by predator risk result in

In addition to encoding referential information and information about the sender's motivation, mammalian alarm calls may encode information about other attributes of the sender, providing the potential for recognition among kin, mates, and neighbors. Here, we examined 96 speckled ground squirrels (S

Yellow-bellied marmots were studied to understand the effects of specific types of human disturbance on antipredator behavior, a behavior whose performance enhances survival, and found that when the presence of motorized vehicles and bicycles was high, marmot increased the proportion of time spent v

Animals respond to alarm calls by increasing their antipredator behavior; however, responses may consistently differ by age or sex. Although several adaptive explanations have been proposed to account for age-dependent antipredator behavior, similar explanations are rarely extended to sex-specific r

Animals adjust their antipredator behavior according to environmental variation in risk, and to account for their ability to respond to threats. Intrinsic factors that influence an animal's ability to respond to predators (e.g., age, body condition) should explain variation in antipredator behavior.

Foraging Red-naped sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) displayed a clear preference for interior willow branches branches (80% of all total wells) over exterior branches, and for east-facing branches (62% of all total wells) over west-facing ones. Interior branches were most likely favored because of

Many species produce individually specific vocalizations and sociality is a hypothesized driver of individuality. Previous studies of social variation focused on species that were colonial nesters or not, and social group size in sciurid rodents. If sociality is an important driver of individuality,

Many invasive plants are equipped with a suite of mechanisms that can allow them to out-compete native plants. Recently, there has been growing recognition that invasive plants may affect native plants by luring away shared pollinators. The goal of this research was to explore the properties that ma

Animals are expected to maximize feeding success while minimizing predation risk; however, foraging and vigilance behaviors often conflict. I studied this trade-off in Golden- mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis), with respect to human-created structures in Gothic, CO, site of the Rocky

The risk of predation influences the behavior of individuals and can determine how an animal allocates its time when searching for and obtaining food. To reduce predation risk, many animals use refuges and protective cover to increase their chances of survival, but it is unclear how these safe areas