Daylength is an ultimate factor of migration

This blog post is provided by Ivan Pokrovsky, Andrea Kölzsch, Sherub Sherub, Wolfgang Fiedler, Peter Glazov, Olga Kulikova, Martin Wikelski and Andrea Flack and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Longer days enable higher diurnal activity for migratory birds“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. In general, animals attempt to live in conditions that fit them best. Species’ fitness results from a tradeoff between … Continue reading Daylength is an ultimate factor of migration

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

Animal Social Networks: Joint Special Feature Open Call

The recent focus on the study of animal social networks has led to some fundamental new insights. These have spanned across fields in ecology and evolution, ranging from epidemiology and learning through to evolution and conservation. Whilst network analysis has been used to address questions about sociality, food webs, bipartite networks and more over the past decade it is now extending into a wider variety … Continue reading Animal Social Networks: Joint Special Feature Open Call

Research gaps in Animal Social Network Analysis

Post provided by Damien Farine, Sebastian Sosa, David Jacoby, Mathieu Lihoreau and Cédric Sueur Here at Methods in Ecology & Evolution and the Journal of Animal Ecology we are excited by the new directions that the next decade of research into animal social networks will bring. We hope to encourage new advances in the study of animal social networks by calling for high-quality papers for … Continue reading Research gaps in Animal Social Network Analysis

Live fast, don’t die young

Understanding the trade-offs between survival and reproduction is essential for the study of population dynamics. A recent paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology used a novel statistical framework to reveal previously unknown life-cycle trends for two sympatric bat species. Lead author Dr Antica Culina from the University of Oxford and Netherlands Institute of Ecology, explains the research. Survival and reproduction both require energy, which is generally … Continue reading Live fast, don’t die young

A high cost of infidelity for swift parrots

A recent paper published in the Journal of Animal Ecology has found that a chronic shortage of females in a critically endangered parrot species has led to love triangles, sneaky sex on the side, increased fighting between males, and fewer babies.  Here to tell us more are three of the authors: Rob Heinsohn, George Olah, and Dejan Stojanovic. Most birds are at least socially monogamous, … Continue reading A high cost of infidelity for swift parrots

Penguin niche-partitioning resilient to climate change

Competition for limited food resources can be particularly fierce where similarly-related species overlap. Harriet L. Clewlow is a PhD student based at the British Antarctic Survey and linked with University of Exeter and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). Her research investigates how climate change is altering interactions between sympatric Antarctic penguin species and predicting their responses to future climate scenarios. Competition is a widely studied … Continue reading Penguin niche-partitioning resilient to climate change

Effects of a maternal stress hormone across life stages

Anthropogenic disturbance is a growing threat, and the physiological consequences of exposure to such stressors is gaining increasing attention. A recent paper published in the Journal of Animal Ecology explores the consequences of stress-relevant hormones for mothers and their offspring. David Ensminger, lead author of the study, is finishing up his PhD with Dr. Tracy Langkilde, taking an integrative approach to examining the role stress-relevant … Continue reading Effects of a maternal stress hormone across life stages

Behind the scenes: An evolutionary framework outlining the integration of individual social and spatial ecology

Our latest #StoryBehindThePaper comes from Quinn Webber, a PhD student working with Dr Eric Vander Wal in the Wildlife Evolutionary Ecology Lab at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada. Quinn is studying social and spatial behaviour of caribou on the Island of Newfoundland and Fogo Island. His work focuses on improving scientific unerstanding of how social network structure is related to habitat selection and space use, and how these … Continue reading Behind the scenes: An evolutionary framework outlining the integration of individual social and spatial ecology