Examining functional components of cover: the relationship between concealment and visibility in shrub-steppe habitat

The term “cover” has been used broadly in ecology, with a wide range of meanings, from thermal cover to security cover, to escape cover. Some habitat features could provide both thermal and security cover, or both concealment and escape cover; but in other cases, habitat features such as vegetation could impose a tradeoff between opposing functions of cover. Cover that conceals an animal from a predator also could reduce the animal's visibility and thus, its ability to detect a predator early enough to escape capture. We quantified the opposing functional properties of cover (concealment and visibility) and evaluated the relationship between these properties using continuous measures in sagebrush-steppe and grassland habitats. We hypothesized that concealment and visibility would be inversely related and that the slope of this relationship would differ among sites with varying density and patchiness of shrub vegetation, imposing differing tradeoff scenarios. Concealment and visibility were inversely, but not perfectly related, implying that animals must make tradeoffs between the properties of cover, but they could achieve higher levels of one property while giving up relatively less of the other. In addition, we examined potential tradeoffs by pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) by comparing concealment and visibility at locations used by rabbits with measurements collected at random locations. At a small scale, pygmy rabbits traded off visibility for concealment in dense and sparse vegetation, but not in patchy vegetation. Although cover is an intuitively simple concept, it is functionally more complex, and this study provides insight into the opposing mechanisms of cover that might influence habitat use. Our work provides an initial step towards more fully understanding how cover functionally relates to predation risk.

• Publication year

  2013

• Venue

  Ecosphere

• Publication date

  2013-02-01

• Fields of study

  Geography, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1890/ES12-00114.1
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• At a small scale, pygmy rabbits traded off visibility for concealment in dense and sparse vegetation, but not in patchy vegetation.

  Confidence 0.92

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• Concealment and visibility were inversely but not perfectly related, implying that animals must make tradeoffs between cover properties but can achieve higher levels of one property while giving up relatively less of the other.

  Confidence 0.93

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review

• concealment

  ecological property, habitat function

  The degree to which habitat features hide an animal from detection by predators, measured here as a continuous variable across habitat types.

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• cover tradeoff

  ecological concept

  The opposing functional relationship between concealment and visibility imposed by habitat features, where gains in one property tend to reduce the other.

  Aliases: opposing functions of cover

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• pygmy rabbit

  focal species

  Brachylagus idahoensis, a small lagomorph species whose habitat-use locations were compared with random locations to assess cover tradeoffs.

  Aliases: Brachylagus idahoensis

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• sagebrush-steppe

  habitat type

  A shrub-dominated semi-arid habitat type in which concealment and visibility measurements were collected.

  Aliases: shrub-steppe

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• shrub vegetation patchiness

  habitat attribute

  The spatial arrangement and density variation of shrub cover across sites, used here to categorize habitat into dense, sparse, and patchy conditions.

  Aliases: density and patchiness of shrub vegetation

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• visibility

  ecological property, habitat function

  An animal's ability to see its surroundings and detect approaching predators, measured here as a continuous variable in opposition to concealment.

  뀨 (7c402c1b98) extractionAll you need is Python (5d7gwfm5zu) reviewmexicorea (qjvnbu8xg3) reviewB (s683577b42) review

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