Competitive ability signaling

Rich, T.J. and Hurst, J.L. (1998) Scent marks as reliable signals of the competitive ability of mates. Anim. Behav. 56, 727-735. 

Malone, N., 2003, The signalling of competitive ability by male house mice, Ph.D. thesis. University of... 

Early studies described the function of male mouse urinary odour cues as aggression-promoting or aversive to other males. However, the response to a scent depends on a wide range of different factors and scent marks are generally deposited as a broadcast signal that will be encountered by many different individuals (Hurst, 2004). Thus it is more appropriate to consider the information provided by male scents as signals that advertise specific aspects of a male s quality or competitive ability. 

Interference competition embraces any activity which directly or indirectly limits a competitor s access to a resource (Miller, 1967). Indirect interference invariably involves a form of chemical communication, or signal, which is effective in the owner s absence. Direct interference includes a range of interactions such as territoriality, dominance, physiological or physical suppression, and cannibalism. Exploitation is the joint utilization of a limited resource once access has been gained (Miller, 1967). Thus, rather than deal with other individuals, an exploiter deals exclusively with available resources and is successful only through competitive ability. Nicholson (1954) proposed a comparable, but not identical, distinction between modes of competition by designating contest and scramble competition, terms which relate to interference and exploitation competition, respectively. 

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