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Information transfer and design in inter-specific communication| old_uid | 5658 |
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| title | Information transfer and design in inter-specific communication |
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| start_date | 2008/11/21 |
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| schedule | 11h |
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| online | no |
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| location_info | bât. 7 de l’UM2, salle 02 |
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| summary | Communication mediates the interactions between organisms. Despite the key role of communication, the selective forces shaping its evolution are not well known and sometimes hotly debated. In general, the exchange of information can be adaptive, and the evolution of communication is expected to increase signal efficacy and signal reliability. However, information can also be encoded in cues, which evolved for reasons other than communication and thereby constrain the evolution towards increased efficacy and reliability of information transfer. Visual cues are widespread in interspecific communication as pigments in both plants and animals often fulfill multiple functions. Selection upon these functions needs to be addressed for attaining a broader view on the evolution of communication systems such as those between plants and animals. In signals, which evolved to convey information to other organisms, trade-offs between signal efficacy and signal content may partly explain the diversity of communication systems. For example, fruit-eating animals may impose differential selective pressures upon fruit colours, selecting for increased conspicuousness but also for increased antioxidant rewards.
Diversifying selection is also imposed by the sensory and cognitive mechanisms that signal receivers use to detect and identify targets. The diversity of camouflage strategies can be related to animals' sensory abilities that select for background matching and animals' cognitive abilities that select for disruptive colouration. Signal efficacy thereby depends primarily on the patterns of colour patches. Importantly, sexual and natural selection may both select for increased signal conspicuousness in disruptive colouration, particularly UV reflectance in butterflies. |
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| responsibles | Lebreton |
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