Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/V015036/1
NSFGEO-NERC: Integrating individual personality differences in the evolutionary ecology of a seabird in the rapidly changing polar environment
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr S Patrick, University of Liverpool, Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Liverpool, Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences
- Science Area:
- Marine
- Overall Classification:
- Panel C
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Behavioural Ecology
- Conservation Ecology
- Population Ecology
- Abstract:
- To date, studies that have addressed the impacts of global changes have mainly focused on linking climate variability and/or human disturbances to individual life history traits, population dynamics or distribution. However, individual behavior and plasticity mediate these responses. The goal of this project is to understand mechanisms linking environmental changes (climate & fisheries) - behavioral personality type - plasticity in foraging behaviors - life history traits - population dynamics for a seabird breeding in the southern ocean: the wandering albatross. This project will also forecast the population structure and growth rate using the most detailed mechanistic model to date for any wild species incorporating behaviors in an eco-evolutionary context. Specifically, the investigators will (1) characterize the life history strategies along the shy-bold continuum of personalities and across environmental conditions; (2) understand the link between phenotypic plasticity in foraging effort and personality; (3) characterize the heritability of personality and foraging behaviors; (4) develop a stochastic eco-evolutionary model to understand and forecast the distribution of bold and shy individuals within the population and the resulting effect on population growth rate in a changing environment by integrating processes from goals 1, 2 and 3. To date, this has been hampered by the lack of long-term data on personality and life histories in any long-lived species in the wild. For the first time ever, we have tested in a controlled environment the response to a novel situation for ~1800 individuals for more than a decade to define individual personality variation along the shy-bold continuum that we can relate to the life history traits over the entire species life cycle using unique long-term individual mark-recapture data sets for this iconic polar species. The novelty of this project thus lies in the combination of personality, foraging and demographic data to understand and forecast population responses to global change using state-of-the-art statistical analysis and eco-evolutionary modeling approaches.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/V015036/1
- Grant Stage:
- Awaiting Event/Action
- Scheme:
- Standard Grant FEC
- Grant Status:
- Active
- Programme:
- Lead Agency Grant
This grant award has a total value of £243,758
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DI - T&S |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £111,626 | £19,505 | £12,149 | £88,591 | £11,886 |
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