Abstract
Animals often view humans as predators, leading to alterations in their behavior. Even nuanced aspects of human activity like clothing color affect animal behavior, but we lack an understanding of when and where such effects will occur. The species confidence hypothesis posits that birds are attracted to colors found on their bodies and repelled by non-body colors. Here, we extend this hypothesis taxonomically and conceptually to test whether this pattern is applicable in a non-avian reptile and to suggest that species should respond less fearfully to their sexually-selected signaling color. Responses to clothing color could also be impacted by habituation to humans, so we examine whether behavior varied between areas with low and high human activity. We quantified the effects of four T-shirt colors on flight initiation distances (FID) and on the ease of capture in western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis), and we accounted for detectability against the background environment. We found no differences in lizard behavior between sites. However, lizards tolerated the closest approaches and were most likely to be captured when approached with the T-shirt that resembled their sexually-selected signaling color. Because changes in individual behavior affect fitness, choice of clothing color by people, including tourists, hikers, and researchers, could impact wildlife populations and research outcomes.
Highlights
Increasing human populations threaten wildlife worldwide, by altering habitats, and inducing changes to animal behavior [1,2,3]
The light blue T-shirt had the lowest mean chromatic just noticeable difference values (JNDs) when compared with the throat patch, while both light blue and dark blue shirts had the lowest chromatic JNDs when compared with the abdominal patch (Table 1)
Dark blue had the lowest mean JND when compared to the throat patch, while light blue had the lowest mean JND when compared to the abdominal patch (Table 1)
Summary
Increasing human populations threaten wildlife worldwide, by altering habitats, and inducing changes to animal behavior [1,2,3]. Animals may perceive humans as predators [4], and this can indirectly alter their activity budgets and/or create physiological stress [5,6,7]. Animals are sensitive to varying degrees of human activity. Even small indirect disturbances by humans can contribute to cumulative negative impacts on wildlife populations because changes in individual behavior may affect fitness [8,9]. Even the shutter noises from cameras modify behavior [15]. Given these challenges, animals should habituate by reducing responses over
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