Prudent burrow-site selection in a landscape of fear

Prey animals should select safer breeding sites over riskier sites of otherwise similar habitats. This preference, however, may differ between conspecifics of different competitive abilities if the costs of intraspecific competition overpower the benefits of breeding in a safer site. Our goal was to test this hypothesis by exploring the burrow site selection of different-sized desert isopod (Hemilepistus reaumuri) females near and away from burrows of a scorpion predator. We found that larger females are more likely to occupy new burrows than smaller females, regardless of whether these burrows were close or away from scorpion burrows. We also found that larger females stayed longer in safer burrows and that smaller females tended to stay longer in riskier sites even in the absence of direct competition, implying a prudent burrow site selection. We found no association between male size and the tendency to occupy or to spend time in a burrow, regardless of whether these burrows were clo..., In March 2021, we conducted a field experiment at the Avdat Research Station, Negev desert, Israel to explore the isopods’ nest-site selection. We established 14 experimental blocks, each including two groups of four cylindrical holes that were dug in the corners of a square. The minimal distance between the two burrow-groups was one meter. In each block, we dug a 10 cm long scorpion-burrow in the middle of one randomly chosen burrow-group. The neighboring burrow-group in each block served as a no-scorpion “safe” control. To all scorpion-burrows, we introduced scorpions of similar size. 
Each experiment lasted for two consecutive days. The experiment was started at the peak of the isopods’ daily dispersal activity. At the end of day one, the experiment was paused due to reduced isopod activity. On day two, the experiment was resumed and ended in a manner similar to day 1. At the end of day two, all isopods still inside burrows were collected, their body weight measured (in grams) and th..., All analyses were performed using R version 4.1.2, models were run using the packages “glmmTMB” or “lme4”. Post-hoc analyses to obtain estimated marginal means (EMMs) were performed using package \"emmeans\"., # Data analysed for 'Prudent burrow-site selection in a landscape of fear'

Experimental setup and where the data was collected
In March 2021, we conducted a field experiment at the Avdat Research Station, Negev desert, Israel to explore the isopods nest-site selection. We established 14 experimental blocks, each including two groups of four cylindrical holes that were dug in the corners of a square. The minimal distance between the two burrow-groups was one meter. In each block, we dug a 10 cm long scorpion-burrow in the middle of one randomly chosen burrow-group. The neighboring burrow-group in each block served as a no-scorpion safe control. To all scorpion-burrows, we introduced scorpions of similar size.

# How the data was collected

Each experiment lasted for two consecutive days. The experiment was started at the peak of the isopods daily dispersal activity. At the end of day one, the experiment was paused due to reduced isopod activity. On day two, the experiment was resumed an...