Understanding how animals behave and make decisions in their natural environment is critical for conservation, especially in our rapidly changing world. But even with modern state-of-the-art technologies, studying animal behavior in the wild is highly limited because: (1) it is difficult to monitor the same individual over long periods while also monitoring its environment, and (2) it is almost impossible to monitor a substantial part of a population and thus we know little about social interactions. The BehaviorIsland ERC project aims to overcome these limitations by using new tracking technology which allows long-term continuous tracking of dozens of animals from birth to adulthood.
Using a combination of technologies allows us to study some of the most fundamental aspects of behavior in the wild including: Navigation and its ontogeny; Long-term spatio-temporal memory, Decision making and Sociality.
We focus on two species of fruit bats which have several clear advantages as animal models: (a) They are relatively large and can carry multiple sensors without compromising their wellbeing. (b) They live long (~25 years) making long-term spatio- temporal memory beneficial for them as is indeed exhibited by their ability to memorize the locations of trees that ripen in different seasons. (c) They are highly social, making their long-term bonds meaningful and interesting.
Our overarching goal is to reveal new insight into animal decision making in the wild. This goal can be broken into several specific objectives including - shedding light on animal navigation, examining the ability of animals to map space and time, revealing the importance of social information on foraging decision making and the role of vocal sequences in conveying information. We moreover examine how experience and personality interact in shaping behavior.
The approach and technology that are developed as part of this project enable studying the same individual animals from birth to adulthood. We plan to make all the technology which will be developed in this project available for other researchers, thus broadening the impact of the project far beyond the specific animal model and system that we are focusing on.
The current lack of understanding of animal behavior in the wild limits our understanding of their needs, hindering our ability to make conservation decisions, which are crucial in our changing world. Specifically, one of the species we work with is endemic to Mauritius and in threat due to a conflict with local farmers and our project is expected to assist its conservation.
