Dominique A Potvin

University of the Sunshine Coast | USC · Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering

The "paradox of the great speciators" has puzzled evolutionary biologists for over half a century. A great speciator requires excellent dispersal ability to explain its occurrence on multiple islands, but reduced dispersal ability to explain its high number of subspecies. A rapid reduction in dispersal ability is often invoked to solve this apparen...

Birds may act as hosts for numerous pathogens, including members of the family Chlamydiaceae, beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), avipoxviruses, Columbid alphaherpesvirus 1 (CoAHV1) and Psittacid alphaherpesvirus 1 (PsAHV1), all of which are a significant biosecurity concern in Australia. While Chlamydiaceae and BFDV have previously been detecte...

The ability to monitor developing avian embryos and their associated vascular system via candling enables the application of important reproductive management techniques. Egg candling facilitates the confirmation of egg viability throughout the incubation process and identification of a precise position on a vein for the safe extraction of blood. B...

Recent advances in tracking technology have enabled devices such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) loggers to be used on a wide variety of birds. Although there are established ethical considerations to these processes, different species may react differently to particular devices and attachments. Thus, pilot studies are still of utmost importanc...

Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive environmental feature across both urban and non-urban habitats and presents a novel challenge especially for acoustically communicating species. While it is known that some species adjust acoustic signals to communicate more effectively in noisy habitats, we know very little about how the receivers of these signal...

Global plastic production has increased exponentially since the 1940s, resulting in the increased presence of anthropogenic debris in the environment. Recent studies have shown that birds incorporate anthropogenic debris into their nests, which can reduce nest ectoparasite loads. However, we know little about the long-term history of interactions a...

Animals rely on both personal and social information about danger to minimize risk, yet environmental conditions constrain information. Both visual obstructions and background noise can reduce detectability of predators, which may increase reliance on social information, such as from alarm calls. Furthermore, a combination of visual and auditory co...

Ecotourism attempts to provide sustainable tourism with a focus on experiencing natural areas to foster environmental appreciation. However, it is often seen as a paradox, since associated infrastructure and activity can have detrimental effects on wildlife. One aspect that has been overlooked in this context is the potential impact of ecotourists...

Australia has lost two species and one subspecies of ratite due to historical persecution and anthropogenic changes to their habitats. Two additional ratites, the Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) and Coastal Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), are following this trajectory and will require human intervention to prevent further populat...

By studying animal vocalizations such as birdsong, our capacity to record and interpret acoustic data has opened many opportunities for objective studies of animal behaviour, song evolution, physiology and ecology. However, the analysis of such data sets is often complex, and can vary between research teams, study species and theoretical approach....

Research into the effects of anthropogenic noise on birds has revealed that individuals are susceptible to negative impacts of noise at all life stages. Scientists are particularly concerned about the effects of noise on embryos and nestlings, because of potential survival and fitness consequences. However, almost nothing is known about how backgro...

Animals in natural communities gain information from members of other species facing similar ecological challenges [1-5], including many vertebrates that recognize the alarm calls of heterospecifics vulnerable to the same predators [6]. Learning is critical in explaining this widespread recognition [7-13], but there has been no test of the role of...

Vertebrate alarm calls signal danger and often encode graded or categorical information about predator proximity or type. In addition to allowing communication with conspecifics, alarm calls are a valuable source of information for eavesdropping heterospecifics. However, although eavesdropping has been experimentally demonstrated in over 70 species...

Research shows that gender inequality is still a major issue in academic science, yet academic societies may serve as underappreciated and effective avenues for promoting female leadership. That is, society membership is often self-selective, and board positions are elected (with a high turnover compared to institutions)—these characteristics, amon...

Database. All Raw Data collected from each society included in the study. (XLSX)

Natural model averages for variables in predicting the proportion of females on society boards. (DOCX)

Natural model averages for variables in predicting the presence of a female executive on society boards. (DOCX)

Natural model averages for variables in predicting the number of female leaders on society boards. (DOCX)

In recent years, ringing recovery records in Europe have been identified as a potential important source of data for assessing the impact of climate change and other long-term changes on wintering population distributions of migrating birds. As with any voluntarily gathered data, however, there are clear sources of bias that might impact results if...

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches are increasingly being used to generate multi-locus data for phylogeographic and evolutionary genetics research. We detail the applicability of a restriction enzyme-mediated genome complexity reduction approach with subsequent NGS (DArTseq) in vertebrate study systems at different evolutionary and geograp...

Since the industrial age, background anthropogenic noise has become a pervasive feature of many habitable environments. This relatively recent environmental feature can be particularly challenging for organisms that use acoustic forms of communication due to its propensity for masking and decreasing the potential acoustic space of signals. Furtherm...

Our understanding of fundamental organismal biology has been disproportionately influenced by studies of a relatively small number of ‘model’ species extensively studied in captivity. Laboratory populations of model species are commonly subject to a number of forms of past and current selection that may affect experimental outcomes. Here, we examin...

Wildfires are increasing in both frequency and intensity in many ecosystems, with climate change models predicting further escalations in fire-prone environments. Set against this background is the global decline of amphibians, with up to 40% of species facing extinction from multiple additive threats. Despite these disturbing figures, it is curren...

Recently, numerous studies have observed changes in bird vocalizations—especially song—in urban habitats. These changes are often interpreted as adaptive, since they increase the active space of the signal in its environment. However, the proximate mechanisms driving cross-generational changes in song are still unknown. We performed a captive exper...

Studies on the impact of climate change on the distributions of bird species in Europe have largely focused on one season at time, especially concerning summer breeding ranges. We investigated whether migratory bird species show consistent range shifts over the past 55 years in both breeding and wintering areas or if these shifts are independent. W...

All raw song, physiological and brain measurement data used in the study All raw song, physiological and brain measurement data used in the study. Separate sheets correspond to different datasets used in the study. Includes Group 1 song measurement data from RavenPro at PHD 40 and PHD 100, song comparison data within individuals PHD 60–100 and betw...

Supplementary Tables of Bayesian model estimates and DIC comparison Table S1. Bayesian model estimates for the effect of treatment on baseline circulating corticosterone in juvenile zebra finches. Table S2. Bayesian model estimates for the effect of treatment on post-hatch day 40 song characteristics in juvenile zebra finches. Table S3. Bayesian mo...

Over the past two decades, studies of songbird populations have detected decreases in the reproductive success of individuals living in urban areas. Anthropogenic noise is considered to be particularly detrimental, however the exact relationship between noise and reproductive success is still unclear because noise is often correlated with many othe...

Studies over the past decade have revealed many differences in song characteristics between urban and rural populations of passerines. While some of these adjustments are immediate (i.e. flexible responses to a changing acoustic environment), there is evidence that other adjustments may occur over a longer term. We tested whether adult zebra finche...

In territorial animals occupying environments that vary in quality over the landscape, high quality individuals are predicted to monopolize high quality territories. Thus, in many cases it may be difficult to disentangle the relative effects of individual quality from those of territory quality on long-term fitness. We used a nine-year field datase...

While teaching to multiple learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile learning) has become more common in Science classrooms, assessments are often unchanged and generally delivered in traditional written formats. Since not every student's strength lies in such assessment methods, it is important to recognize the variety of ways in...

Many passerines adjust song attributes to avoid potential masking by anthropogenic noise. The costs of masking should be particularly high for vocalizations important for survival (e.g. alarm calls), but few studies have investigated how such calls are affected. We compared urban and rural silvereye, Zosterops lateralis, alarm calls across southeas...

In birds, song divergence often precedes and facilitates divergence of other traits. We assessed the relative roles of cultural drift, innovation and acoustic adaptation in divergence of island bird dialects, using silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis). In recently colonized populations, syllable diversity was not significantly lower than source populat...

Silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) are native Australian birds that thrive in both cities and rural areas. Their diverse repertoire of songs and calls overlap with the frequency range of urban noise. This chapter examines the silvereye to determine the various aspects of urban vocal adjustment, and to test some hypotheses on urban acoustic adaptation...

Many birds raise the pitch of their vocalizations in urban environments, a shift generally attributed to avoidance of low frequencies vulnerable to masking by anthropogenic noise (acoustic adaptation hypothesis [AAH]). However, high frequencies could just be an incidental byproduct of singing more loudly (Lombard hypothesis). If birds cope with bac...

Diff erences in song repertoires and characteristics of island and mainland populations of the same avian species are usually explained by dispersal, cultural evolution and/or habitat diff erences. Th e infl uence of morphology is often overlooked, even though island populations are frequently morphologically distinct from mainland populations, and...

Life history theory predicts that individuals paired with attractive mates may invest more in offspring. Such differential investment may amplify the effects of genetic quality on fitness. Attractiveness can include ‘good gene’ and ‘complementary gene’ components, but how the latter affects parental investment remains unknown. We found that nestlin...

The bioacoustic attributes of vocalisations made by birds in urban environments often differ markedly from those of rural conspecifics. Whether such differences are result from genetic divergence between urban and rural populations, or from plasticity or cultural evolution of song remains poorly understood. Silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) show evi...

Figure S1. Mean measurements of head-bill length, wing length, tarsus length, tail length and mass of rural and urban silvereyes, grouped by geographic area (indicated on map). Error bars represent standard deviation.

A number of studies have found that birds in urban areas alter singing behaviour, possibly to increase signal transmission and avoid masking by high levels of anthropogenic background noise. However, few studies have focused on how these song differences might be interpreted by receivers. We investigated differences in song between populations of u...

Recent studies have revealed differences between urban and rural vocalizations of numerous bird species. These differences include frequency shifts, amplitude shifts, altered song speed, and selective meme use. If particular memes sung by urban populations are adapted to the urban soundscape, "urban-typical" calls, memes, or repertoires should be c...

Plumage aberrations are not uncommon in birds, but there is some confusion in the literature, especially in relation to albinos. Plumage aberrations in birds are better known in Europe and North America than in Australia, where, however, several reports have been published recently. In this paper, we review the various types and causes of plumage a...

Recent studies in the Northern Hemisphere have shown that songbirds living in noisy urban environments sing at higher frequencies than their rural counterparts. However, several aspects of this phenomenon remain poorly understood. These include the geographical scale over which such patterns occur (most studies have compared local populations), and...

Sex allocation theory predicts that population sex ratios should be generally stable and close to unity, but individuals may benefit by adjusting the sex ratio of their offspring. For example, females paired with attractive males may benefit by overproducing sons relative to daughters, as sons inherit their fathers' attractive ornaments (“sexy son”...

The stress response--increases in circulating glucocorticoids following a stressor--is typically considered adaptive, but few studies address the fitness consequences of individual variation in stress response. Generally, due to negative consequences of prolonged elevation of glucocorticoids, animals should have a transient stress response just suf...

Animal signals are often complex, raising the possibility that different aspects of a signal may convey different types of information. Birdsong, for example, may simultaneously advertise the singer's condition during early life (through song complexity), location of song learning (through local song structure) and current condition (through song o...