Territoriality modifies the effects of habitat complexity on animal behavior: a meta-analysis

Augmenting habitat complexity by adding structure has been used to increase the population density of some territorial species in the wild and to reduce aggression among captive animals.  However, it is unknown if all territorial species are affected similarly by habitat complexity, and whether these effects extend to non-territorial species.  We conducted a meta-analysis to compare the behavior of a wide range of territorial and non-territorial taxa in complex and open habitats to determine the effects of habitat complexity on 1) territory size, 2) population density, 3) rate and time spent on aggression, 4) rate and time devoted to foraging, 5) rate and time spent being active, 6) shyness/boldness, 7) survival rate, and 8) exploratory behavior.  Overall, all measures were significantly affected by habitat complexity, but the responses of territorial and non-territorial species differed.  As predicted, territorial species were less aggressive, had smaller territories and higher densiti...

通过添加结构以提升生境复杂度（habitat complexity），此前已有研究将其用于提升野外部分领地性物种的种群密度，并降低圈养动物间的攻击行为。然而，目前尚不明确是否所有领地性物种都会受到生境复杂度的相似影响，且该效应是否可延伸至非领地性物种。我们开展了一项元分析（meta-analysis），对比多种领地性与非领地性类群在复杂生境与开阔生境中的行为表现，以探明生境复杂度对以下8项指标的影响：1）领地面积；2）种群密度；3）攻击行为的发生频次与持续时长；4）觅食行为的发生频次与投入时长；5）活动行为的发生频次与持续时长；6）害羞/大胆程度；7）存活率；8）探索行为。总体而言，生境复杂度对所有指标均存在显著影响，但领地性与非领地性物种的响应存在差异。正如预期，领地性物种的攻击行为更少、领地面积更小且种群密度更高...