Aurelie Delisle

Head raising during foraging and pausing during intermittent locomotion as components of antipredator vigilance in chipmunks

Although many studies of vigilance examine head raising in foraging, grooming or resting animals, pauses during intermittent locomotion are rarely considered from the perspective of vigilance, and no studies have compared head raising and pausing in the same system. We videotaped central place foraging chipmunks, Tamias striatus, as they approached a patch, collected sunflower seeds, and left to return to their burrows. There was a strong similarity between head raising during foraging and pausing during intermittent locomotion. Chipmunks paused more frequently when moving towards the patch than when leaving the patch. Chipmunks in the patch raised their heads at an intermediate rate, which tended to decrease with time in the patch. Pauses and the duration of motionless periods during head raises were very short (∼0.4 s), and their frequency distributions were similar. Animals remained motionless during 22% of the time spent approaching the patch, 14% of the time spent in the patch and 7% of the time spent leaving the patch. Rates of pausing and head raising generally decreased with short-term familiarity (number of trips to the patch) and with long-term familiarity (proximity of the patch to the burrow). Trials with higher pause rates when approaching the patch had higher head-raising rates in the patch. Whether the focal individual was solitary, dominant or subordinate in a dyad, or competing with multiple chipmunks in the patch had no effect on pausing or head raising. In a separate experiment, exposure to a model hawk increased pause and head-raising rates. We conclude that head raising during foraging and pausing during locomotion serve a similar vigilance function, that this vigilance is directed towards detection of predators rather than conspecifics, and that time allocated to vigilance is sufficient to significantly reduce foraging rates and affect many space use and foraging decisions.

Setting the table: indigenous engagement on environmental issues in a politicized context

ABSTRACT Environmental issues are often highly politicized. Indigenous peoples may be reluctant to participate in research due to a history of colonization and negative experiences with researchers—described as a “chronic conflict”. We present a case where an acute conflict (an event that creates intense mistrust among stakeholders) occurred during a research project. The project studied a contentious issue: the sharing of dugong and turtle meat by Indigenous Australians. The chronic conflict of colonial history and Western research was exacerbated by media coverage of related issues when the project was starting, making participants unwilling to participate in our research. We adapted established Indigenous engagement protocols and—both literally and figuratively—set the table in response to the sociopolitical context of the research. This engagement process enabled us to establish trusting relationships with participants, and could benefit most researchers seeking to engage people, irrespective of Indigeneity or context.

Motivations for Sharing Bushmeat with an Urban Diaspora in Indigenous Australia

ABSTRACT The hunting and trade of bushmeat is a significant issue. The sharing of marine bushmeat between Australian Torres Strait Islanders and their mainland urban diaspora was documented from a diaspora perspective by collecting quantitative and qualitative data from communities in three mainland cities. Motivations for sharing dugong and turtle meat were almost exclusively cultural and mostly occurred when a diaspora member visited Torres Strait, when Torres Strait Islanders visited their mainland family, during Islander ceremonies, or when goods were exchanged as gifts. Each respondent consumed relatively little dugong and turtle meat (<1–2% of annual meat consumption, or < 1 kg per person per annum). Sharing bushmeat strengthened social capital and reinforced cultural identity. Harnessing the social capital generated from the sharing of bushmeat to engage the urban diaspora in dugong and turtle management activities in the Torres Strait could enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of such initiatives.

Assessing food security using household consumption expenditure surveys (HCES): a scoping literature review

OBJECTIVE To meet some of the UNs seventeen Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, there is a need for more effective policy to reduce food insecurity in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC). Measuring progress towards these goals requires reliable indicators of food security in these countries. Routinely conducted household consumption and expenditure surveys (HCES) provide potentially valuable and nationally representative data sets for this purpose. The present study aimed to assess methods used to determine national food security status using proxy measures from HCES data in LMIC globally. DESIGN A scoping literature review was conducted using electronic databases. Of the 929 abstracts identified, a total of twenty articles were reviewed against strict inclusion and exclusion criteria and included for further analysis. RESULTS Fourteen LMIC globally were represented in the twenty articles. The simplest metric used to indicate food insecurity compared household food expenditure against a level of expenditure considered to be below the poverty line. Data on acquisition of food was commonly converted to available energy for the household using local food composition tables and expressed as a proportion of household total energy requirements. Dietary diversity was also assessed in some studies as well as experience of food insecurity. CONCLUSIONS The review demonstrated that routinely collected HCES data sets provide a useful resource for the measurement of household food security in often resource-limited LMIC. Standardisation of methods used to assess food security is needed to allow for more useful comparisons between countries, as well as to assess temporal trends.