Using insights from animal behaviour and behavioural ecology to inform marine conservation initiatives

Abstract

The impacts of human activities on the natural world are becoming increasingly apparent, with rapid development and exploitation occurring at the expense of habitat quality and biodiversity. Declines are especially concerning in the oceans, which hold intrinsic value due to their biological uniqueness as well as their substantial sociological and economic importance. Here, we review the literature and investigate whether incorporation of knowledge from the fields of animal behaviour and behavioural ecology may improve the effectiveness of conservation initiatives in marine systems. In particular, we consider (1) how knowledge of larval behaviour and ecology may be used to inform the design of marine protected areas, (2) how protecting species that hold specific ecological niches may be of particular importance for maximizing the preservation of biodiversity, (3) how current harvesting techniques may be inadvertently skewing the behavioural phenotypes of stock populations and whether changes to current practices may lessen this skew and reinforce population persistence, and (4) how understanding the behavioural and physiological responses of species to a changing environment may provide essential insights into areas of particular vulnerability for prioritized conservation attention. The complex nature of conservation programmes inherently results in interdisciplinary responses, and the incorporation of knowledge from the fields of animal behaviour and behavioural ecology may increase our ability to stem the loss of biodiversity in marine environments.

The impact of personality, morphotype and shore height on temperature‐mediated behavioural responses in the beadlet anemone Actinia equina

“…There has been increased call for conservation strategies to move beyond population‐based approaches in the conservation of marine systems being exposed to environmental change (Brooker et al., 2016; Killen et al., 2016). These laboratory results indicate that more effective and targeted strategies might indeed be designed by considering finer‐scale variation.…”

Often Overlooked: Understanding and Meeting the Current Challenges of Marine Invertebrate Conservation

“…Studying animal behavior is a key aspect for species conservation because understanding their behavioral plasticity and how it will change with respect to anthropogenic impacts in the future is crucial. It has become a growing field in research, as the fitness and social structure of species can be disrupted when behavior is changed as a consequence of environmental factors (Brooker et al, 2016). Researching behavior for all species would be ideal, but there is a recorded bias toward vertebrates in temperate regions, because studies are often done on charismatic animals that the public tend to favor in areas that are geographically easy to access (Titley et al, 2017;Davies et al, 2018).…”

“…Marine invertebrates are often overlooked in this field, but they are important species to study as climate change becomes a larger issue, since many are useful bioindicators and play a major role in the food web. Marine invertebrates are also interesting for animal behavior research because the larval stages of marine species oftentimes have well-developed behaviors that allow them to postpone their settlement until reaching a suitable habitat (Rahman et al, 2014;Brooker et al, 2016). However, phenological changes in behavior due to ocean warming compounded with the sessile nature of adult invertebrates, may potentially result in higher mortality rates; as Fuchs et al (2020) found in its study, many invertebrate species have been discovered moving toward warmer water along the coast instead of escaping into colder waters.…”

Evolution of realized Eltonian niches acrossRajidaespecies

“…This emphasis on terrestrial fauna is likely an artifact of the logistical challenges of studying marine organisms, especially those which display complex and cryptic life histories. Considering the multitude of threats facing marine ecosystems (Cózar et al 2014, McCauley et al 2015, Molinos et al 2016), understanding how ecological niches have evolved is intricately tied to our ability to identify vulnerable taxa, predict how associated distributions and functional roles are likely to change over time, and understand how protecting specific niches may help preserve marine biodiversity (Brooker et al 2016).…”