Tag: Animal behavior

Conference Report

The multiple facets of behavioural plasticity: A symposium at Behaviour 2019 and a celebration for Louis Lefebvre

Behavioural plasticity is an important concept in ecology and evolution. The term has been applied to a broad range of biological phenomena, from developmental changes occurring in a canalized fashion during ontogeny, to dynamic responses of animals to prevailing ecological and social conditions, and longer-term behavioural changes brought about by learning and memory. On July 24th at the Behaviour meeting in Chicago, the symposium Behavioural … Continue reading The multiple facets of behavioural plasticity: A symposium at Behaviour 2019 and a celebration for Louis Lefebvre

Journal of Animal EcologyLeave a comment
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Urbanization alters predator‐avoidance behaviours

Urbanisation is changing the natural landscape at a global scale. This obviously alters habitat structures, but what is the influence on predator-prey dynamics? A recent paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology studied two urban prey species to examine whether urbanisation changed their predator-avoidance behaviour. Lead author Dr Travis Gallo, an Urban Wildlife Postdoctoral Researcher at the Urban Wildlife Institute, Lincoln Park Zoo, tells us … Continue reading Urbanization alters predator‐avoidance behaviours

Sarah MarleyLeave a comment
Guest post

Go Big or Go Home: Pitcher plant hosts and their crab spider tenants

The carnivorous traps of Nepenthes pitcher plants are sometimes inhabited by a species of crab spider which ambushes insects as they arrive at traps. Recently published work by Weng Ngai Lam and Hugh Tan showed that this apparent thievery is actually beneficial to the plants — but only when crab spiders attack big prey with high nutrient contents. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that trap … Continue reading Go Big or Go Home: Pitcher plant hosts and their crab spider tenants

Sarah Marley2 Comments
Guest post

Using crowd-sourced funding to track snakes

The understanding of the interplay of movement, behaviour and physiology that biologging offers has applied relevance for a range of fields, including evolutionary ecology, wildlife conservation and behavioural ecology. In recognition of this, the Journal of Animal Ecology has an upcoming Special Feature on Biologging  (submissions due 20th September). Unfortunately, animal-borne tags don’t come cheap. This was the problem recently-completed PhD student Ashleigh Wolfe faced … Continue reading Using crowd-sourced funding to track snakes

Sarah Marley2 Comments
Guest post

Nowhere to Hide: Changing landscapes and predator highways

Whilst we often think about human activities negatively altering the landscape, sometimes these changes can have unexpected benefits for predators. Of course, this is not necessarily good news for prey species! A paper recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology examined this with regard to linear features and predator-prey dynamics in the forests of Canada. Lead author Dr Craig DeMars, a postdoctoral fellow at the … Continue reading Nowhere to Hide: Changing landscapes and predator highways

Sarah Marley1 Comment
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The secret life of wild reindeer

This post presents photos from the Special Feature” Stuck in motion? Reconnecting questions and tools in movement ecology ” from the current issue (85:1) of Journal of Animal Ecology

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Wild mountain reindeer. Photo: wild reindeer.

Taken from GPS collars equipped with wide-angle cameras, these amazing shots represent an unprecedented window into the lives of reindeer, one of the most ancient deer species in the world. Few people are aware that within the heart of Europe there still exist mass migrations as spectacular but more secretive than those in the Serengeti. Yet, reindeer migrations represent one of the most endangered phenomena in the Northern hemisphere. Wild reindeer are extremely wary of humans, who have been harvesting them since pre-historic times using large-scale pitfall systems. Their anti-predator strategy consists of aggregating in large herds roaming across vast mountain plateau in southern Norway, and avoiding human activities. Following the industrial revolution, the development of anthropogenic infrastructures has therefore led to the fragmentation of the last remaining wild mountain reindeer population into 23 virtually isolated sub-populations, and has hampered/blocked migration routes used since pre-historic times. Due to the increase in tourism, hydropower and other human activities in mountain areas, fragmentation is rapidly ongoing. Continue reading “The secret life of wild reindeer”

Journal of Animal Ecology3 Comments