Behaviour, life history and persistence in novel environments
Authored by Joan Maspons, Roberto Molowny-Horas, Daniel Sol
Date Published: 2019
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0056
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Platforms:
R
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
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Abstract
Understanding what affects population growth in novel environments is
fundamental to forecast organisms' responses to global change, including
biological invasions and land use intensification. Novel environments
are challenging because they can cause maladaptation, increasing the
risk of extinction by negative population growth. Animals can avoid
extinction by improving the phenotype-environment match through
behavioural responses, notably matching habitat choice and learning.
However, the demographic consequences of these responses remain
insufficiently understood in part because they have not been analysed
within a life-history context. By means of an individual-based model, we
show here that matching habitat choice and learning interact with life
history to influence persistence in novel environments. In maladaptive
contexts, the likelihood of persisting is higher for life-history
strategies that increase the value of adults over the value of
offspring, even at the cost of decreasing reproduction. Such a strategy
facilitates persistence in novel environments by reducing the costs of a
reproductive failure while increasing the benefits of behavioural
responses. Our results reinforce the view that a more predictive theory
for extinction risk under rapid environmental changes requires
considering behavioural responses and life history as part of a common
adaptive strategy to cope with environmental changes.
This article is part of the theme issue `Linking behaviour to dynamics
of populations and communities: application of novel approaches in
behavioural ecology to conservation'.
Tags
Evolution
Dispersal
Urbanization
information
Demographic stochasticity
Population-dynamics
Consequences
Extinction risk
Responses
Habitat selection
Biological invasions
Traits
Propagule pressure
Cognitive ecology