Behaviour-Connect · Testing hypotheses on the behavioural drivers of connectivity in the marine environment through novel Bayesian models

Behaviour-Connect: Testing hypotheses on the behavioural drivers of connectivity in the marine environment through novel Bayesian models

Connectivity is broadly defined as the exchange of individuals between populations. Assessment of connectivity is a key goal in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. At the ecological level, connectivity is key in the persistence and resilience of populations. At the evolutionary level, connectivity influences local adaptation. In the marine environment, ecologists have primarily focused on biophysical models of larval exchange when investigating connectivity, because of the importance of this process on exploited or commercial species. This has diverted attention from the potentially important role of behaviour as a driver of connectivity in the marine environment. Aspects of a species behaviour, such as migratory fidelity, social structure and feeding specialisations, can play a strong role in shaping connectivity and gene flow that has been largely ignored in connectivity studies to date. This knowledge gap has been sought to be addressed by simultaneously harnessing leading empirical methods, micro-chemical markers and genomics, and integrating these into a novel Bayesian framework for testing hypotheses about the behavioural drivers of connectivity. The novel model system for this work, southern right whales (SRWs), shows maternally transmitted preferences for migratory destinations that could influence connectivity. The combination of well-described life history traits and lack of barriers to dispersal makes the SRW an ideal species in which to investigate the importance of behaviour on connectivity. A global collaboration on the species, exemplified by a recent publication (Carroll et al 2018, Heredity), has been developed to study the role of behaviour in population structure and connectivity in the species, and led to the formation of global SRW genomic and stable isotope database. The novel Bayesian model has been developed and presented at an international conference in 2017. Work is currently ongoing to integrate the genomic and stable isotope data with the new model. The impact of this work is shown by the invitation of Dr Carroll to the UNEP/CMS Workshop on Conservation Implications of Animal Culture and Social Complexity, and the use of the SRW as an exemplar at this workshop for migratory culture.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union