Vertical nest stratification and breeding success in a six mixed-species heronry in Taeseong, Chungbuk, Korea

Park, Shi-Ryong,Kim, Kwan-Yong,Chung, Hoon,Choi, Yu-Seong,Sung, Ha-Cheol The Korean Society for Integrative Biology 2011 Animal cells and systems Vol.15 No.1

In 2001, we conducted a study to assess the effects of differential arrival times and nest-site selection on reproductive performance in a mixed-species heronry consisting of six species in Taeseong-ri, Chungbuk, Korea. We recorded the arrival dates, nest heights, clutch sizes, and brood sizes after 15-20 days of the age of the birds' chicks. The grey herons and cattle egrets arrived first and last, respectively, on the colony site. In the homogenous vegetation structure of the breeding site, the pitch pine trees (Pinus rigida) were mainly used for building nests on 48 of the 50 pine trees (96%). The breeding species vertically stratifies the nest sites according to their body size, except for the cattle egrets and black-crowned night herons that nested at sites higher than those predicted from their body size. The mean nest success rates of the six species under study were positively correlated with the mean nest heights. Our findings suggest that aggressive interspecific interactions among neighbors influence nest-site selection to enhance breeding success.

Anti-Predator Responses of Black-Tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) Flocks to Alarm Calls during the Post-Breeding Season

Park, Shi-Ryong,Chung, Hoon,Cheong, Seok-Wan,Lee, Song-Yi,Sung, Ha-Cheol The Ecological Society of Korea 2007 Journal of Ecology and Environment Vol.30 No.1

Black-tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris) produce alarm calls apparently related to their anti-predator behaviors, but the hypothesis that the calls are actually used as functionally referential alarm signals has not yet been tested. In this study, we performed a series of experiments using visual (a stuffed goshawk: Accipiter gentilis) and acoustic (alarm calls and a control vocalization) stimuli at 15 sites in Sinjindo-ri and Dowhang-ri, Taean-gun, Chungnam province to examine anti-predator responses of the gulls to alarm calls in playback trials. We found that the gulls' visual recognition of a perched hawk model in the absence of alarm vocalizations was weak or absent because the model was noticed in only two out of 16 trials. The gulls' responses to playbacks of the alarm call only and the alarm call with a visual stimulus differed from responses to the control vocalization in latency to approach, time mobbing, and the percentage of gulls responding, while the responses to alarm call only differed from alarm call with a visual stimulus in latency to first fly, latency to call, and time mobbing. The results of this study suggest that alarm calls of black-tailed gulls are used to elicit appropriate anti-predator behaviors that are intensified when a predator is detected visually.

Male Song Repertoire Size and Syllable Sharing of Oriental Great Reed Warblers, Acrocephalus orientalis

Park, Shi-Ryong,Park, Mi-Jin,Sung, Ha-Cheol The Korean Society for Integrative Biology 2009 Animal cells and systems Vol.13 No.1

The size of song repertoires mainly provides evidence for explaining sexual selection for female choice as well as male-male competition. We investigated the role of oriental great reed warbler songs (Acrocephalus orientalis) of breeding territorial males. Early arrived males possessed larger song repertoires, paired earlier, and tended to become polygynous. No correlation was found between arrival date and territory size, but polygynous males significantly occupied larger territories than non polygynous males. Song sharing was low among males and the degree of similarity did not relate with spatial distance. Our results suggest that song repertoire of the oriental great reed warbler males play a role in female choice, where territory quality may affect male pairing success.

Comparison of Reproductive Behaviors between Two Species of Eightspine Sticklebacks (Genus: Pungitius)

Park, Shi-Ryong,Lee, Jeong Hee,Cheong, Seokwan The Korean Society for Integrative Biology 2001 Korean journal of biological sciences Vol.5 No.2

The object of this study is to differentiate the reproductive behaviors of Pungitius sinensis and P. kaibarae inhabiting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. We collected P. sinensis from Jusu stream, Okkyemyeon and P. kaibarae from Sacheon stream, Sacheon-myeon both in Gangwon province and subsequently raised and observed them in an aquarium. At the beginning of the reproductive season, male P. sinensis got tinged with dark green, made a territory, and built nests on the bottom. On the other hand, male P. kaibarae became black all over, its white ventral spines became conspicuous and built nests on the stems of waterweed off the bottom. In the courtship dance, male P. sinensis made frequent attempts to entice females into their nests after many bitings, while male P. kaibarae mostly did this with conspicuous jumpings. In courtship behaviors, the body's angle of male P. kaibarae with his head down was larger than that of male P. sinensis by 50-60 degrees. During courtship, the biting frequency as an index of aggressive behavior was greater in P. sinensis and the jumping frequency as an index of sexual behavior was greater in P. kaibarae. During the courtship dance, bitings tended to suppress jumpings, for P. sinensis, but not for P. kaibarae.

Evaluation of Historic Breeding Habitats with a View to the Potential for Reintroduction of theOriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana) and Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Korea

Shi-Ryong Park,Su-Kyung Kim,Ha-Cheol Sung,Yu-Sung Choi,Seok-Wan Cheong 한국동물분류학회 2010 Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity Vol.26 No.3

The Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana) and the Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) are wetland species listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The two species were once common on the Korean peninsula, but have experienced a severe population reduction in the past decades. Currently, they are officially extinct in Korea. At present, reintroduction programs to release the birds to the wild are in progress in Korea as well as in Japan. In this study, we surveyed the historic breeding sites of the two species using the literature and face-to-face interviews with local people as a step toward determining appropriate breeding habitats for reintroduction. We found 26 historic breeding sites for the Oriental White Stork in Chungcheong-do and Gyeonggi-do, but did not find any breeding sites for the Crested Ibis. These findings suggest that the Oriental White Stork was resident, while the Crested Ibis was a winter visitor to Korea. Based on these results, we discuss the possibilities for successful reintroduction of the two species in Korea.

Playback Experiments on Bush Warblers (Cettia diphone) : Their Song Recognition of Intra-and Inter-Population

Park, Shi-Ryong,Park, Dae-Sik,Kim, Soo-Il,Yoon, Moo-Boo 한국동물학회 1995 동물학회지 Vol.38 No.4

Male Song Repertoire Size and Syllable Sharing of Oriental Great Reed Warblers, Acrocephalus orientalis

Shi-Ryong Park,Mi-Jin Park,성하철 한국통합생물학회 2009 Animal cells and systems Vol.13 No.1

The size of song repertoires mainly provides evidence for explaining sexual selection for female choice as well as male-male competition. We investigated the role of oriental great reed warbler songs (Acrocephalus orientalis) of breeding territorial males. Early arrived males possessed larger song repertoires, paired earlier, and tended to become polygynous. No correlation was found between arrival date and territory size, but polygynous males significantly occupied larger territories than non polygynous males. Song sharing was low among males and the degree of similarity did not relate with spatial distance. Our results suggest that song repertoire of the oriental great reed warbler males play a role in female choice, where territory quality may affect male pairing success. The size of song repertoires mainly provides evidence for explaining sexual selection for female choice as well as male-male competition. We investigated the role of oriental great reed warbler songs (Acrocephalus orientalis) of breeding territorial males. Early arrived males possessed larger song repertoires, paired earlier, and tended to become polygynous. No correlation was found between arrival date and territory size, but polygynous males significantly occupied larger territories than non polygynous males. Song sharing was low among males and the degree of similarity did not relate with spatial distance. Our results suggest that song repertoire of the oriental great reed warbler males play a role in female choice, where territory quality may affect male pairing success.

Behavioral Function of the Anomalous Song in the Bush Warbler, Cettia diphone

Park, Shi-Ryong,Cheong, Seok-Wan,Chung, Hoon The Korean Society for Integrative Biology 2004 Korean journal of biological sciences Vol.8 No.2

The bush warblers (Cettia diphone) have been recognized to possess two types of songs: a normal song that plays roles in attracting mate and territorial defense, and an anomalous song. The present study suggests that the anomalous song functions as an alarm signal as well as other unknown signals. Field observations and playback experiments on the anomalous song of bush warbler were conducted in order to investigate the contextual information that occurred between sender and receiver. In the field observation, the males frequently emitted anomalous songs to potential predators. The males responded with an anomalous song to stuffed potential predators. The distance from where the anomalous song occurs to the stimulating source varied depending upon the kinds of stimulus. The males of bush warbler possibly show different responses to the anomalous song depending on the level of danger. When the anomalous song was played back to terrestrial males and females, no distinctive behavior was observed. The anomalous song may be sung to defend the territory against predators or to distract invaders from the nest and female because the male and female behaviors were related with the anomalous song and its phonetic characteristics.

Anti-predator Responses of the Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) Flock to Mobbing and Mew Call Playbacks

Park, Shi-Ryong,Song-Yi Lee,Seokwan Cheong,Sukyung Kim,성하철 한국생태학회 2008 Journal of Ecology and Environment Vol.31 No.1

We studied the functional roles of two types of calls, mew calls and mobbing calls, of the black-tailed gull (Larus crassirostris) by examining responses of mixed flocks of gulls to the playback calls. Playback experiments were conducted on four days between 11 May and 5 June 2007 at 16 sites in Sinjindo-ri and Dowhang-ri, Taean-gun, Chungnam province and Imjado, Sinan-gun, Jeonnam province, South Korea. We examined the anti-predator responses of the gulls to the playback trials. We found that gull flocks initially playbacks of the mobbing cal and control (group mobbing) call evoked mobbing. When trials in which no response was recorded were excluded, we found that the gulls responses to mobbing and group mobbing call playbacks was more intense than their response to mew cal playbacks, in that gulls mobbed longer, more guls responded, and gulls took flight after a shorter time interval. However, the intensity of the gulls response did not differ in mobbing cal and group mobbing cal playbacks. The results of this study suggest that the mixed-species flocks of guls discriminate between the mew calls and the mobbing calls.

Behavioral Function of the Anomalous Song in the Bush Warbler, Cettia diphone

Shi-Ryong Park,Seokwan Cheong,Hoon Chung 한국통합생물학회 2004 Animal cells and systems Vol.8 No.2

The bush warblers (Cettia diphone) have been recognized to possess two types of songs: a normal song that plays roles in attracting mate and territorial defense, and an anomalous song. The present study suggests that the anomalous song functions as an alarm signal as well as other unknown signals. Field observations and playback experiments on the anomalous song of bush warbler were conducted in order to investigate the contextual information that occurred between sender and receiver. In the field observation, the males frequently emitted anomalous songs to potential predators. The males responded with an anomalous song to stuffed potential predators. The distance from where the anomalous song occurs to the stimulating source varied depending upon the kinds of stimulus. The males of bush warbler possibly show different responses to the anomalous song depending on the level of danger. When the anomalous song was played back to terrestrial males and females, no distinctive behavior was observed. The anomalous song may be sung to defend the territory against predators or to distract invaders from the nest and female because the male and female behaviors were related with the anomalous song and its phonetic characteristics.