Behavioral responses to changing environments

Developmental plasticity in vision and behavior may help guppies overcome increased turbidity

“…As aforementioned, turbidity may also affect predator-prey interactions depending on the relative effects of turbidity on predators and prey. Hence, it is crucial to consider how novel environmental stressors such as 1 3 increasing turbidity affect ecological interactions if we are to understand the overall effects of such changes on species and community ecology (Wong and Candolin 2015). Since we have shown that rearing conditions dramatically change aspects of behavior and sensory systems in a novel turbid environment, we also stress the importance of considering developmental plasticity in mediating behavioral responses and species interactions under human-induced rapid environmental change.…”

“…Adaptive or not, such drastic changes in multiple traits through development are likely to be of consequence given the importance of vision and visually mediated behaviors in the lives of guppies. Further work is needed in this system to determine whether behavioral and developmental plasticity is adaptive in novel environments; indeed, a major guiding question in research dealing with responses to novel environments asks whether changes-plastic or otherwise-are not only adaptive but also sufficient (Wong and Candolin 2015). Despite over half a century of work conducted on the Trinidadian guppy in both predator-prey and sexual selection research (reviewed in Houde 1997;Magurran 2005), however, we are uncertain exactly how increasing turbidity affects such ecological interactions.…”

Ecological traps: current evidence and future directions

“…human-induced rapid environmental change, HIREC [3]) than natural processes, and mean that animals increasingly encounter conditions they have not experienced in their evolutionary history. Initial responses by animals to HIREC are often behavioural, and can help them adjust to new conditions [4]. Worryingly though, the rate at which HIREC occurs can mean that animals fail to adapt and their fitness is compromised when previously adaptive behaviours become maladaptive [5].…”

Animal cognition in a human-dominated world

“…Large-scale land clearing to increase grazing opportunities for cattle, coupled with installation of permanent water holes, has created ideal ecological conditions for large grazing marsupials, such as the Australian eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus eugenii), whose Queensland populations exploded from 11 to 23 mio in just four years prior to the instigation of commercial harvesting in 2004 (Australian Government 2013). These and many other examples (Candolin and Wong 2012;Sol et al 2013;Tuomainen and Candolin 2011;Wong and Candolin 2015) make it clear that for those animals with cognitive systems capable of handling these novel opportunities, HIREC offers opportunities that are not only extraordinarily abundant, but also fast increasing as a consequence of human population expansion.…”

“…Hendry et al (2008) undertook a metaanalysis of over 3000 rates of recent phenotypic change in 68 systems and found that rates of phenotypic change are greater in anthropogenic contexts than in natural contexts. Research to date has focused heavily on phenotypic plasticity in the context of reproduction, including competition and selection of mates, as well communication (for reviews, see Brown 2012;Ketterson et al 2009;Lowry et al 2013;Sol et al 2013;Wong and Candolin 2015).…”