Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/D008921/1
Animal Aggregation: Mechanisms for the Selfish Herd
Fellowship Award
- Fellow:
- Dr L Morrell, University of Leeds, Inst of Integrative & Comparative Biolog
- Grant held at:
- University of Leeds, Inst of Integrative & Comparative Biolog
- Science Area:
- Marine
- Freshwater
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Population Ecology
- Behavioural Ecology
- Abstract:
- Many animals live in social groups, such as shoals of fish, herds of zebra, and flocks of birds. Much is known about the benefits and costs of living in groups, as well as which group an animal chooses to join. However, we know very little about the way in which these groups form. Recently, scientific interest has grown in the way the behaviour of individual animals, and the interactions that take place between animals, influence the patterns we see at the group level. For example, although animals appear to coordinate their behaviour, they cannot have information on the positions and movement of all other individuals in the group. We now know that the way fish shoals or flocks of birds move together can be explained by looking at the behaviour of the individual members of the shoal or flock. The movement of the group is coordinated by individuals only paying attention to some of their near neighbours. When many animals are frightened, perhaps because they detect a predator, they tend to bunch together tightly. This has been called the 'Selfish Herd' because each animal tries to reduce its chance of being captured by the predator by moving in between other individuals, and the best place to be is in the middle (which is selfish because it pushes others to the edge, where they are more vulnerable). But how can animals achieve this? Several 'movement rules' have been suggested. For example, one rule suggests each animal should move towards its nearest neighbour, while other rules suggest that animals should take notice of many others, and how far away they are, before deciding in which direction to move. Modelling analysis of these rules suggests that more complicated rules are better at reducing an animal's risk of falling victim to a predator, but we do not know much about whether animals use, or are capable of using, such rules. In this project, I propose to investigate these movement rules. Firstly, I will carry out more modelling, to compare all the different rules proposed, and look at the timing of predation events and whether the rules that are best when predators attack late are also best when they attack early. I will make predictions such as the size of groups that form which can be tested by studying real animals. I will then study the behaviour of shoals of fish (marine sticklebacks), and match their behaviour to the predictions of the models. Marine sticklebacks are ideal for this sort of work, as they live in social groups in the wild, and also swim freely in open water without seeking protection from the walls of an aquarium. It is important for biologists to understand the rules that animals use, so that we can understand how animals aggregate, and how grouping behaviour might evolve. We can then make predictions which may be important in understanding and managing natural and domestic populations of animals.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/D008921/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Postdoctoral Fellow (FEC)
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Postdoctoral Fellowship
This fellowship award has a total value of £210,680
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DA - Other Directly Allocated | DI - T&S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £9,553 | £84,239 | £22,649 | £73,361 | £13,063 | £7,816 |
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