Vigilance for predators: detection and dilution effects

Summary

Grouped individuals are less vigilant for predators than solitary conspecifics because (1) grouping increases the likelihood of predator detection (detection effect) and (2) grouping makes it less likely that any given individual will be preyed upon (dilution effect). However, many models of vigilance behaviour consider only the detection effect, and the interaction of the two effects has been insufficiently considered. I present two models of vigilance behaviour and test them using data on the vigilance of elk, Cervus elaphus. The first model, based on the detection effect alone, is implicit in many published formulations of the relationship between vigilance and group size. Although it predicts the direction of the relationship between vigilance and group size, it provides a poor explanation of the form of the relationship. The second model incorporates both detection and dilution effects. Regression analysis on this “security model” indicates that the model provides a good prediction of both the direction and the form of the relationship between vigilance and group size, explaining 69% of the variance in vigilance frequency. The security model demonstrates that both detection and dilution are important in determining the frequency of vigilance behaviour but that the relative importance of these two effects changes across group size, with detection providing relatively less benefit as group size increases. However, even when groups are large, individuals should exhibit at least some vigilance because although dilution alone provides much protection from predation, even a low level of vigilance greatly increases the likelihood that an individual will survive repeated predation attempts.