DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w6m905qvj
title: Data from: Prudent burrow-site selection in a landscape of fear

description: Prey animals should select safer breeding sites over riskier sites of
 otherwise similar habitats. This preference, however, may differ between
 conspecifics of different competitive abilities if the costs of
 intraspecific competition overpower the benefits of breeding in a safer
 site. Our goal was to test this hypothesis by exploring the burrow site
 selection of different-sized desert isopod (Hemilepistus reaumuri) females
 near and away from burrows of a scorpion predator. We found that larger
 females are more likely to occupy new burrows than smaller females,
 regardless of whether these burrows were close or away from scorpion
 burrows. We also found that larger females stayed longer in safer burrows
 and that smaller females tended to stay longer in riskier sites even in
 the absence of direct competition, implying a prudent burrow site
 selection. We found no association between male size and the tendency to
 occupy or to spend time in a burrow, regardless of whether these burrows
 were close or away from scorpion burrows. Our work highlights the need to
 consider intraspecific competition when exploring how predators regulate
 prey behavior and the consequences of these changes on prey mating
 patterns.
description: In March 2021, we conducted a field experiment at the Avdat
 Research Station, Negev desert, Israel to explore the isopods’ nest-site
 selection. We established 14 experimental blocks, each including two
 groups of four cylindrical holes that were dug in the corners of a square.
 The minimal distance between the two burrow-groups was one meter. In each
 block, we dug a 10 cm long scorpion-burrow in the middle of one randomly
 chosen burrow-group. The neighboring burrow-group in each block served as
 a no-scorpion “safe” control. To all scorpion-burrows, we introduced
 scorpions of similar size.  Each experiment lasted for
 two consecutive days. The experiment was started at the peak of the
 isopods’ daily dispersal activity. At the end of day one, the experiment
 was paused due to reduced isopod activity. On day two, the experiment was
 resumed and ended in a manner similar to day 1. At the end of day two, all
 isopods still inside burrows were collected, their body weight measured
 (in grams) and they were released. During the experiment, each block was
 monitored by one person. Any isopod visiting a hole was focally observed.
 Their activity near and inside the hole was recorded including whether the
 isopod occupied the hole or rejected it, and if occupied, for how long did
 the isopod stay inside (in seconds). Isopods that came in contact with a
 hole were temporarily collected after departing from the experimental
 blocks and then were sexed, weighed, temporarily marked, and
 released.
description: All analyses were performed using R version 4.1.2, models were
 run using the packages “glmmTMB” or “lme4”. Post-hoc analyses to obtain
 estimated marginal means (EMMs) were performed using package
 "emmeans".
description: # Data analysed for 'Prudent burrow-site selection in a landscape of
 fear' Experimental setup and where the data was collected In March
 2021, we conducted a field experiment at the Avdat Research Station, Negev
 desert, Israel to explore the isopods nest-site selection. We established
 14 experimental blocks, each including two groups of four cylindrical
 holes that were dug in the corners of a square. The minimal distance
 between the two burrow-groups was one meter. In each block, we dug a 10 cm
 long scorpion-burrow in the middle of one randomly chosen burrow-group.
 The neighboring burrow-group in each block served as a no-scorpion safe
 control. To all scorpion-burrows, we introduced scorpions of similar size.
 # How the data was collected Each experiment lasted for two consecutive
 days. The experiment was started at the peak of the isopods daily
 dispersal activity. At the end of day one, the experiment was paused due
 to reduced isopod activity. On day two, the experiment was resumed and
 ended in a manner similar to day 1. At the end of day two, all isopods
 still inside burrows were collected, their body weight measured (in grams)
 and they were released. During the experiment, each block was monitored by
 one person. Any isopod visiting a hole was focally observed. Their
 activity near and inside the hole was recorded including whether the
 isopod occupied the hole or rejected it, and if occupied, for how long did
 the isopod stay inside (in seconds). Isopods that came in contact with a
 hole were temporarily collected after departing from the experimental
 blocks, and then were sexed, weighted, temporarily marked and released. #
 Details of the dataframes *'pram\_summ\_acc\_rej'* \- Dataframe
 used to analyse the likelihood of isopods occupying a burrow\. The columns
 are: ``` 1. id - Individual unique identity of each isopod. 2.
 burrows_visited - Each burrow within an experimental block had an unique
 identity. Which burrow did the isopod visit? 3. sex - sex of the isopod 4.
 weight - Body weight of the isopod (grams) 5. pred_pres - Whether there is
 a predator present close to the burrow (R or S, for risky or safe) 6.
 burrow_block - Unique identity of the experimental block. There were 14
 such blocks. 7. occupied_till_end - Did the isopod occupy that hole till
 the end of the trial? (1 for yes) 8. terrace - On which terrace was the
 trial conducted? 9. in_out_brief - Once the isopod interacted with the
 hole, did it enter or leave? 10. in_out_brief_num - Same as in_out_brief
 column, but numbered for ease of performing analyses in R (1 for enter and
 0 for leave) ``` *'pram\_summ\_duration'* \- Dataframe used to
 analyse the time isopods spent inside the burrows\, once it was occupied\.
 The only new column in the dataframe compared to the previous one is: ```
 1. duration_in_out - The time duration spent inside by the isopod
 (seconds) ``` All analyses were performed using R version 4.1.2, models
 were run using the packages glmmTMB or lme4. Post-hoc analyses to obtain
 estimated marginal means (EMMs) were performed using package
 "emmeans"