ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2021
Background complexity can mitigate poor camouflage.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- The influence of illumination and cast shadows on prey detectability by predators.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- A macroevolutionary perspective of cryptic coloration in sexually dichromatic grasshoppers of the genus Sphenarium (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae).Oecologia · 2025Article
- Adapting genetic algorithms for artificial evolution of visual patterns under selection from wild predators.PloS one · 2024Article
- Dazzling damselfish: investigating motion dazzle as a defence strategy in humbug damselfish (PeerJ · 2024Article
- Enclosure Background Preferences Differ between Sexes and Color Morphs in the Gouldian Finch.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Camouflage in lichen moths: Field predation experiments and avian vision modelling demonstrate the importance of wing pattern elements and background for survival.The Journal of animal ecology · 2022Article
- Background complexity can mitigate poor camouflage.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Interactions between color and gloss in iridescent camouflage.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Perch choice and substrate matching to the dorsal patterns ofBehavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Varying benefits of generalist and specialist camouflage in two versus four background environments.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Avoiding detection through camouflage is often key to survival. However, an animal's appearance is not the only factor affecting conspicuousness: background complexity also alters detectability. This has been experimentally demonstrated for both artificially patterned backgrounds in the laboratory and natural backgrounds in the wild, but only for targets that already match the background well. Do habitats of high visual complexity provide concealment to even relatively poorly camouflaged animals? Using artificial prey which differed in their degrees of background matching to tree bark, we were able to determine their survival, under bird predation, with respect to the natural complexity of the background. The latter was quantified using low-level vision metrics of feature congestion (or 'visual clutter') adapted for bird vision. Higher background orientation clutter (edges with varying orientation) reduced the detectability of all but the poorest background-matching camouflaged treatments; higher background luminance clutter (varying achromatic lightness) reduced average mortality for all treatments. Our results suggest that poorer camouflage can be mitigated by more complex backgrounds, with implications for both camouflage evolution and habitat preferences.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.