Project description
Analysing foraging behaviours of southern elephant seals and little penguins
Nearly 10 years’ worth of high-resolution bio-logging data sets collected on three marine predators (little penguins, Adélie penguins and southern elephant seals) will be analysed by the EU-funded MuFFIN project. It will study the effects of environmental changes on breeding success, predators’ foraging behaviours, decision-making and habitat use. Changes in foraging behaviours will be quantified. The project will also consider the type of foraging patches visited and the amount of energy spent. These three factors (foraging behaviours, effort spent and type of patch) will be linked to breeding success. The project will pave the way for new opportunities for the use and analysis of large high-resolution movement data for species and habitat conservation.
Objective
MuFFIN - Modelling Foraging Fitness in Marine predators
Recent technological advances have permitted the collection of novel high-frequency information about animal behaviour,
physiology and characteristics of the environment in which animals move. Such technology-driven achievements are
exciting, but it is important to analyse these data with a view to their original objectives: understanding individual behaviour,
predicting population processes and optimizing species monitoring and conservation programs. Despite a growing number of
tracked animals, long term movement dataset are a present-day achievement. As a consequence, while many studies of
animal movements are motivated by questions on population dynamics, the explicit connection between the two is rarely
attained. Through MUFFIN, I will make use of nearly ten years of high resolution bio-logging datasets collected on three
species of top marine predators moving in environments difficult to monitor: Little penguins, Adelie penguins and Southern
elephant seals. With these unique data, MUFFIN will answer questions related to effects of changes of availability of marine
resources on breeding success, predators foraging behaviour, decision making and habitat use. I will (I) quantify changes in
foraging behaviour across spatio-temporal scales, characterise type of foraging patches visited and energy spent. I will (II)
model the effect of foraging patches visited, energy spent and environment encountered aiming to understand animal
decision making, use of environmental features and changes in space used. I will (III) link foraging behaviours, effort spent
and type of patch to breeding success, highlighting fitness consequences of changes of behavioural patterns. In
accomplishing MUFFIN's objectives I will open powerful new avenues for the use and analysis of large high resolution
movement data. These approaches are key for research seeking to optimise strategies for habitat management, species
monito
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering ecosystem-based management habitat conservation
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75794 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.