The vomeronasal organ (VNO) of terrestrial vertebrates is responsible for pheromonal responses that evoke social and reproductive behaviors, including male territorial aggression, sexual preference, and sexual maturity (reviewed in [ 1]).
Different female preferences for territorial traits, or differential investment by males in territoriality as opposed to other sexual signals might be expected to maintain genetic diversity in aggression, as has been demonstrated for maintenance of colour polymorphism in guppies [10].
Differences in the cost functions may then emerge basically in the presence of economies of scale (explained below) and of a degree of spatial variation of preferences across territorial units (Marks and Hooghe 2000).
An overall female preference for territorial males has been noted among mated females, although in virgin females the direction of preference for territorial males apparently varies among populations.
Among virgin females, the relationship between territoriality and mating success is less consistent, and Hoffmann and Cacoyianni have shown population differences in virgin female preference for territorial males [18].
Profiling the locavores has revealed a general homogeneity of preferences on the territorial level.
Social versus resource drivers of territorial behaviour were contrasted using preference values for behaviours in a 1 km×1 km grid, i.e. we determined frequency of roaring and scent marking in each grid cell, and preference values for each grid cell.
Federal arrangements may not only protect existing clusters of individuals with shared values or preferences, but may also promote mobility and hence territorial clustering of individuals with similar preferences.
Structural perspectives are valuable insofar as they set the stage for examining the role of partisan actors who incarnate social and territorial cleavages and take the decision to decentralize power and whose preferences are therefore central to understanding the dynamics of decentralization.
Furthermore, the use of land cover classes as the main landscape component, and thereby relating preferences to specific land covers, offers a sound basis for a territorial approach, able to integrate landscape into rural policy and land use planning practice.
