Perceptual trap

A perceptual trap is an ecological scenario in which environmental change, typically anthropogenic, leads an organism to avoid an otherwise high-quality habitat.

In a 2004 article discussing source–sink dynamics, James Battin did not distinguish between high-quality habitats that are preferred or avoided, labelling both "sources".

[1] To support the concept of a perceptual trap, Patten and Kelly[1] cited a study of the lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus).

The species' natural environment, shinnery oak grassland, is often treated with the herbicide tebuthiuron to increase grass cover for cattle grazing.

Patten and Kelly[1] also cited as a possible perceptual trap the cases of the spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) and rufous-crowned sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps), which tend to avoid habitat fragments, even though birds nesting in habitat fragments achieve increased nesting success due to a reduction in snake predation.

Conceptual representation (2x2 table) of sources and sinks , ecological traps , and perceptual traps. Adapted from Patten and Kelly (2010) [ 1 ]
Patten and Kelly [ 1 ] propose that a perceptual trap is acting on populations of the lesser prairie chicken