AVBS3004 Behavioural Ecology in Conservation Notes

Animal behaviour broadly refers to everything animals do, including movement, other activities, and underlying mental processes (Britannica).
Includes:
- Individual behaviour
- Intraspecific interactions
- Interspecific interactions

Conserving specific, sometimes unique, behaviours of wildlife might be the primary conservation goal.
Examples:
- Unusual or unique mating systems
- Spectacular migrations
- Communication
- Animal cultures

Conservation problems are essentially population-level issues.
Collecting population-level information (population size, survival rates, etc.) is difficult and costly.
Behaviour can help provide indicators.

Illustrates behaviour as problem indicators.
Data showing the number of adult elephants killed by humans and elephants before and after park fencing.
Before fencing:
- Males: 5 killed by humans, 0 by elephants
- Females: 6 killed by humans, 0 by elephants
After fencing:
- Males: 1 killed by humans, 14 by elephants
- Females: 1 killed by humans, 1 by elephants
Reference: Whitehouse, A.M. & Kerley, G.I.H. (2002) Oryx, 32, 243-248.

Using orca behavioural indicators for marine protected area (MPA) selection.
Numbers of whale-watching vessels approximately the same as the population size of Vancouver Island orcas.
Individuals were most vulnerable to disturbance while feeding.
Led to a focus on protecting feeding grounds from boats.

Observations and behaviours used to define feeding grounds:
- Rest: Slow with predictable coordinated short dives.
- Travel: Consistent group heading with long independent dives.
- Social: Tight-knit groups with irregular dives and breaching etc.
- Feed: Group spread out, no consistent heading, long independent dives.
Reference: Ashe et al. 2010 Anim. Cons. 13: 196-203

Framework for understanding behaviour from both proximate (individual level) and ultimate (evolutionary level) perspectives.
Proximate:
- Cause (Mechanism): Immediate drivers.
- Development (Ontogeny): How the behavior develops over a lifetime
Ultimate:
- Function (Adaptive value): Survival or reproductive advantage.
- Evolution (Phylogeny): How the behaviour evolved over time.
Includes understanding of constraints and predictive tools.

Mechanism (Causation): Immediate physiological or environmental triggers (hormones, neural circuits, sensory inputs).
Development (Ontogeny): How behaviour develops over an animal’s lifetime; influence of genetics and experience.
Function (Adaptive Value): Behaviour’s survival or reproductive advantage; evolutionary purpose and fitness.
Evolution (Phylogeny): How behaviour evolved over time in the species’ lineage; evolutionary history and related species.

Sexual selection and captive breeding challenges.
Pandas are notoriously difficult to breed.
Traditionally, males were assumed to be the choosy sex.
Behavioural observation indicated mating occurs only when both sides show high levels of courting.

First attempt (1970s): Cross-fostered with sandhill cranes; migration established, but no breeding.
Second attempt: Hand-rearing; migration not established; population not viable.
Third attempt:
- Hand-rearing with puppets
- Predator aversion training
- Trained to follow microlite to establish migration
- Successful population establishment due to:
  - Avoiding inappropriate imprinting
  - Learning on non-innate behaviours
  - Maintenance of social structure

Understanding behaviour from an evolutionary perspective
Key principle: individuals behave so as to maximise their own fitness, not for the benefit of the population or species
e.g. swallow’s tails resulting from sexual selection – increased individual fitness but reduced overall survival. Long-forked tail streamers preferred by females, but longer tails inhibit survival by slowing flight
Tail trait evolved to give individual males a reproductive edge, even if it makes them (or population) more vulnerable

Kakapo sex ratio problems with supplementary feeding
- Critically endangered conservation programs using supplementary feeding lead to females producing more male offspring (potential to pass on more genes)
- More males in population reduced population growth overall
Infanticide in brown bears
- Male bears kill cubs they don’t sire to limit competitor males passing on genes and allow females re-enter oestrus cycle, increasing individual reproductive success
- Loss of cubs reduces juvenile survival rate and damages population growth
- Human disturbance impacting bear movements can influence this behaviour

Individual fitness decreases as population density or size drops.
Being rare or in a small population is detrimental to survival.
Consequences include:
- Difficulty finding mates
- Breakdown of social behaviours
- Loss of learned or cultural behaviours
- Reduced mate choice

Mechanisms include:
- Foraging – defence and efficiency
- Breeding – pup care and defence
- Survival – defence and food sharing
Reference: Courchamp, F. & Macdonald, D.W. (2001) Anim Cons, 4, 169-174.

Can behaviour help explain variation in extinction risk between species?
Some evidence suggests that more strongly sexually-selected species (most birds) are more prone to extinction (Doherty et al. 2003).
Obvious changes in vulnerability based on behaviours as environments change (particularly with increased human impacts).

Behavioural Trait	Linked to Extinction Risk	Example
Strong sexual selection	Yes	Birds with elaborate courtship displays (such as peacocks)
Specialized foraging/habitat use	Yes	Koala, panda
Complex social systems	Sometimes	African wild dogs, elephants
Migration/large home ranges	Yes	Monarch butterflies, caribou, raptors
Low behavioral flexibility	Yes	Many island birds, corals

Some behaviours are maladaptive under new or human-altered conditions (even if they evolved adaptively).
Examples:
- Mate-finding failure
- Fixed migration patterns (populations can’t adjust under human pressures and/or climate shifts)
- Anti-predator behaviours not suited to introduced predators (Australian invasives and CWR mammals)
- Inflexible diets preventing adjustment to shifting habitats
- Protected areas not always designated around animal behaviours

Using behavioural ecology is key to inform protected area size and design.
Monitoring wildlife behaviour as a conservation indicator (e.g. vigilance, stress, courtship, etc.).
Managing and maintaining key behaviours (e.g. migration routes).
Cultural conservation: preserving learned traditions and social structures.