The Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Habitat- and Density-Dependent Animal Behaviour

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Density dependence is an ecological process that affects how animals live and die, influencing the rates populations increase or decline. Density acts by affecting animal behaviors, altering their costs and benefits. Depending on what behaviors an individual or subset of individuals expresses, density can differentially affect reproduction or survival. As selective pressure for certain behaviors occurs, the distribution of these behaviors in a population may change through time. My long-term objective tests the relationships between density-dependent behaviors, while quantifying how the phenotypic distribution of individual-based behaviors in a population changes as a function of density, and how these affect population growth. I will apply an eco-evolutionary framework to the link between behavioral ecology and population dynamics. For example, an individual’s habitat selection and social behavior likely affect its reproduction, survival, and consequently the population’s growth. As populations grow, changing density may influence how habitat selection and social behavior affect reproduction and survival, i.e., the adaptive value of the behavior. Recent evidence suggests that sociality derived from social networks and resource use are behaviors that exhibit consistent differences among individuals, so-called personalities. These behaviors are correlated and affected by density. To achieve my long-term objective, I propose 3 short-term initiatives that test how the adaptive value of social behavior and habitat selection are influenced by density; how social behaviors and habitat selection are correlated; and how an eco-evolutionary feedback affects the adaptive value of these behaviors. To achieve this I will combine existing and new data, using social ungulates as a model system. Existing data consists of historical telemetry data on caribou and elk. New data will be collected from a low-cost whole-population capture-mark-recapture of caribou. I will use a research population of caribou that was introduced onto an island off Newfoundland from 1965-1967. It is a mesocosm to study fine-scale ecology, evolution, and population dynamics. This will become a long-term individual-based research program. My research program will serve two purposes: Test and advance fundamental questions about density-dependent behaviors and population dynamics within an eco-evolutionary framework, while incidentally attending to critical conservation issues, as caribou are a species in global decline.