Hunger encourages risk-taking

Date:
October 5, 2020
Source:
Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena
Summary:
An insufficient food supply causes animals to engage in higher-risk
behavior: the willingness to take risks rises by an average of
26 per cent in animals that have experienced hunger earlier in
their lives.

Scientists evaluated experimental studies involving more than 100
animal species.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The lives of animals in the wild are full of risky situations with
uncertain outcomes. Whether they are exploring new habitats in unfamiliar terrain or searching for new food sources, they run the risk of being
caught and killed by a predator. In many instances, their very survival
depends on a single decision. Whether an animal decides to take a risk
or prefers to avoid danger varies greatly from one individual to another.


========================================================================== "Just as there are humans who are more cautious and others who take more
risks, among animals of a particular species there are also individuals
that are more or less risk-averse," says population ecologist Prof. Holger Schielzeth of the University of Jena. These differences are to some degree innate, but to a considerable extent they also depend on an individual's development. As Prof.

Schielzeth, his Bielefeld colleague Prof. Klaus Reinhold and their
research teams have now shown in an extensive meta-analysis, an animal's
risk appetite is decisively influenced by the nutritional conditions it experiences while growing up. The researchers report on their findings
in the latest issue of the specialist journal Biological Reviews.

Study results involving over 100 animal species compared The researchers, working with lead author Nicholas Moran, analysed more than 120
experimental studies involving over 100 animal species and the results.

Species studied included spiders, insects, crustaceans, fish, amphibians
and birds. Common to all the studies was the fact that the animals
had experienced phases of good and bad nutrition, and that their risk
appetite was measured later in life. There were two opposing hypotheses:
"On the one hand, one could assume that animals that have always enjoyed
good circumstances and are therefore in a better condition would have
more to lose and would therefore be more risk-averse," says evolutionary biologist Reinhold. On the other hand, he adds, a better nutritional
status could mean that an animal would escape more easily from a risky situation, and would therefore be more likely to take a risk.

The analysis of the results of all the studies has now made things
clear. An insufficient food supply causes animals to engage in higher-risk behaviour: the willingness to take risks rises by an average of 26 per
cent in animals that have experienced hunger earlier in their lives.

"We were surprised that this result was so clear and unambiguous," says Schielzeth. The correlation applied to virtually all the behavioural
contexts studied, such as exploration behaviour, migration and risky
searches for food.

There were of course variations in the strength of the
effect. Nevertheless, Schielzeth assumes that this correlation could
also exist in humans, at least to some extent, as we are, after all,
also an "animal species." This meta-analysis was carried out within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre Transregio 212, "A Novel Synthesis of Individualisation across Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution:
Niche Choice, Niche Conformance, Niche Construction" (NC3), which is
based at the universities of Bielefeld and Mu"nster, and in which the University of Jena is also involved. Dr Nicholas Moran is currently an
MSCA Research Fellow at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources,
Technical University of Denmark.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet_Jena. Original written by Ute
Scho"nfelder. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Nicholas P. Moran, Alfredo Sa'nchez‐To'jar, Holger Schielzeth,
Klaus Reinhold. Poor nutritional condition promotes high‐risk
behaviours: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Biological
Reviews, 2020; DOI: 10.1111/brv.12655 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201005101521.htm

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