Behavioural dynamics of marine predators

The application of scale-based theoretical and statistical models to examine single- and multi-dimensional behavioural vectors of marine predators, particularly in relation to the distribution of food patches. The objective of this research is to :

- develop and test dynamic models of the way in which predator fitness varies in relation to the distribution and abundance of food and of how this ultimately influences the evolution of life-histories and the viability of predators in different environments;

- characterise the functional relationship (in terms of fitness) of animals to environmental variability and thereby to develop a predictive framework for population trajectories under different environmental conditions;

- examine the impact of marine predators on their food supply.

Recently, this research interest has focused upon the behavioural responses of highly cryptic marine mammals to sound sources, including anti-submarine sonars. This research has also involved extensive studies of bioenergetics and behaviour including the use of remote tracking and recording technology, often using high capacity data streams. The results from these studies are providing the foundation for the development of algorithms to calculate the direction and dynamics of energy flux through predators populations and for solving problems in behavioural optimisation in particular circumstances.

Development of ecosystem-based management procedures for the sustainable exploitation of marine resources. This interest lies at the interface between ecology, systems modelling and economics and applies risk-based modelling to decision-making in the context of environmental exploitation.

-use predators at the top of marine food chains as models of sustainable exploitation in marine ecosystems;

-through the use of signals from top food chain predators, to examine the underlying natural levels of variability from large-scale physical forcing of the ecosystem and to develop an appreciation of their role in marine resource management;

- to develop the conceptual and strategic models underlying ecosystem-based management

Ecological economics

This aims to bridge to gap between economics and ecology. Traditionally, ecological economics has stressed the importance of natural resources for commerce and conservation. In fact it covers the whole range of subjects from bioenergetics through to resource exploitation by commercial interests. The objectives are to:

- apply theory developed within economics to understanding the criteria used by animals when making investment decisions and also the evolutionary implications of those decisions.

- providing a better understanding of how we should place a value on natural resources (such as unexploited wildlife populations) which have no marketable value.

Behavioural dynamics of marine predators. The application of scale-based theoretical and statistical models to examine single- and multidimensional behavioural vectors of marine predators, particularly in relation to the distribution of food patches. The objective of this research is to :

Current Projects

Life history optimisation and environmental variability in seals

The abundance of Mammals in the Deep Oceans

Behavioral responses of beaked whales and other deep-diving odontocetes to anthropogenic sounds

MPhil/PhD project opportunities:

MPhil/PhD

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We carry out research on the ecology and biology of zooplankton that live in the open ocean (the pelagic realm). We use combinations of acoustic (scientific echosounders) and netting techniques to sample zooplankton and gather data enabling us to estimate their abundance and map their distribution. We are seeking to understand processes that alter zooplankton abundance and distribution, and the consequences that changes in the zooplankton have for higher trophic levels (predators) and fisheries.

We are develping Bayesian Maximum Entropy techniques to reconstruct distributions of organisms from sparse acosutic survey data.

Ecology, physiology and life history of marine mammals.

Interactions between the foraging behaviour and diving physiology: Interactions between foraging ecology and reproductive success; parental investment; interactions between marine mammals and the exploitation of marine resources; use of telemetry and remote sensing to study marine mammals at sea.

Interactions between the foraging behaviour and diving physiology:Interactions between foraging ecology and reproductive success;parental investment; interactions between marine mammals and theexploitation of marine resources; use of telemetry and remotesensing to study marine mammals at sea.

Research group:

NERC Sea Mammal Research Unit

Research students:

Mr. David Thompson (with J. Parker, University of Liverpool)

Funded collaborations:

ELIFONTS (FRS Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen; Department of MarineSciences and Coastal Management, University of Newcastle; Institutefor Terrestrial Ecology, Banchory; Danish Institute for FisheriesResearch, Copenhagen); IBN-DLO, Netherlands; Australian AntarcticDivision.

We aim to understand how the diversity of form in the animal kingdom evolved. The focus of our research is the connection between the evolution of animal genome organisation and development, with a particular concentration on the homeobox-containing genes. The Hox gene cluster is established as a corner-stone of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, but much about the evolution of its organisation and mode of operation remains unknown. Also the Hox cluster is not unique as a homeobox gene cluster controlling animal development, further clusters being the ParaHox and NK clusters, all of which evolved within larger arrays of homeobox genes (the Mega-cluster and Super-Hox cluster). We utilize a variety of organisms in our research (including amphioxus, sea squirts, polychaetes and priapulids), chosen from key points in the phylogeny of the animals to enable reconstruction of the ancestral conditions at major nodes in the animal kingdom; the origin of bilaterians, protostomes, deuterostomes, chordates and vertebrates. 

Population dynamics and ecology

Foraging behaviour and diet of seals and cetaceans. Estimation of animal abundance. Statistical and mathematical modelling of marine mammal population parameters and processes. Interactions between marine mammals and man: management of whaling, cetacean bycatch in fisheries, seal-fishery interactions; conservation of vulnerable species.

Population dynamics and ecology

Foraging behaviour and diet of seals and cetaceans. Estimation of animal abundance. Statistical and mathematical modelling of marine mammal population parameters and processes. Interactions between marine mammals and man: management of whaling, cetacean bycatch in fisheries, seal-fishery interactions; conservation of vulnerable species.

Classical whole animal physiology/endocrinology linked to in vitro isolated tissue and cell and molecular studies to investigate osmoregulatory function. The control of sodium and water balance in teleost fish. Expression and characterisation of Na+-K+-ATPase and ""CFR-like"" chloride channels in euryhaline fish. Environmental factors affecting stress, growth rate and development in aquaculture. Development of recirculation technology for application in aquaculture. Osmoregulation, physiology and behaviour of migratory sea trout. Control of sodium and urea metabolism in elasmobranch fish. Isolation and characterisation of novel elasmobranch peptides.

Classical whole animal physiology/endocrinology linked to in vitro isolated tissue and cell and molecular studies to investigate osmoregulatory function. The control of sodium and water balance in teleost fish. Expression and characterisation of Na+-K+-ATPase and "CFR-like" chloride channels in euryhaline fish. Environmental factors affecting stress, growth rate and development in aquaculture. Development of recirculation technology for application in aquaculture. Osmoregulation, physiology and behaviour of migratory sea trout. Control of sodium and urea metabolism in elasmobranch fish. Isolation and characterisation of novel elasmobranch peptides

My research concerns specifically the foraging and diving behaviour of marine predators and more generally how this can inform conservation planning in the ocean.   

Current Projects

Marine predator foraging ecology

Work on predator foraging often relies on inference from dive profiles. Using a miniature video camera attached to the animal we can view the foraging space of a diving animal and test previously used proxies for foraging behaviour. The identification of foraging areas and assessment of the stability of these over time and space enable us to investigate variability in foraging success and the criteria driving this (whether anthropogenically or environmentally induced)

Diving physiology

The mechanisms allowing marine mammals to avoid problems associated with diving to depth are still only partially understood. Recent deaths of beaked whales associated with sonar exposure appear to be due to decompression sickness. I am interested in how problems such as shallow-water blackout and decompression sickness are avoided, and use modelling approaches to determine risk based on dive profiles.

Conservation planning and marine protected areas

An ecosystem-approach is widely advocated in conservation planning but ecosystem modelling approaches, despite their sophistication, often suffer from a lack of source data or inherent uncertainties. An alternative is to use spatially explicit management. I am interested in the application of such marine reserve areas to higher predators.

MPhil/PhD project opportunities:

TBA

I am interested in the evolution of complexity in communication systems and how this complexity can affect social interaction. This work takes two different approaches. On the one hand I investigate environmental constraints that influence the design of vocal communication systems, and on the other I study the underlying cognitive skills required to overcome or circumvent such constraints. Much of this work concentrates on vocal communication in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). This species combines the ability of vocal learning with complex cognitive skills that exceed those of most other animals. Furthermore, dolphins rely almost exclusively on acoustic communication which avoids the difficulties connected with studying multi-modal communication systems.

Mechanisms and content of marinemammal vocal interactions

Two of the main questions we ask in our lab is how marine mammalscommunicate and what kind of information they exchange. This requiresthedetailed analysis of vocal interactions in captivity and in the wild.We usepassive acoustic localization to ascribe sounds to individuals. Thisallows usto correlate different types of vocalizations or interactions withbehaviouralcontexts. Using these methods we describe the use of vocalizationsduringforaging and social interactions in dolphins and seals. This alsoincludes theexperiemtnal investigation of vocal learning, one of the mechanismsthat can beused to introduce novel signals into a communication system.

Referential communication andindividual identity

Signature whistles are individually distinctive signals given bybottlenosedolphins in isolation contexts. Unlike isolation calls of other animalstheyare learned and can be copied by conspecifics. This kind of copying canbe usedto address a specific individual. Our studies investigate whetherdolphins arecapable to use voice cues and how background noise and water pressureaffectdolphin signals and consequently voice recognition. We also study theindividual recognition skills of dolphins to explore their naturalability touse learned labels, a crucial step in the evolution of referentialcommunication.This is done by using playback techniques in the wild anddiscriminationexperiments with captive individuals. Comparative work on other speciestriesto identify conditions that lead to the evolution of these skills.

Geographic variation and traditions in behaviour patterns

Marine mammals show a substantialamount of geographic variation in their behaviour patterns. Even withinthesame species vocal repertoires differ between different sites. This maybecaused directly by differences in habitat or indirectly through theeffects ofthe environment on the social behaviour and social structure of apopulation.To fully explore all possible causes of variation I am interested in avarietyof other factors that may affect communication behaviour. These includerangingpatterns, foraging behaviour and association patterns of dolphins.

Reactions to changes in the acoustic environment

While conspecifics certainly providevery relevant acoustic information to marine mammals, they areexposed to atremendous variety of different sound types. These can provideadditionalinformation about threats (e.g. predators) or opportunities (e.g.foraging). Weuse playback experiments to investigate communication distances andacousticmasking as well as reactions to other species or non-biological soundsources. These studies help us to understand what kind of information marine mammals extract from their acoustic environment and how they adjust their own calling behaviour to achieve optimal transmission of information. These studies also inform conservation efforts by giving details on howmarinemammals react to different kinds of noise.

Genomic and physiological approaches are being used to investigate muscle growth and adaptation in teleost fish.  Skeletal muscle fibres are produced during the embryonic, larval and adult stages. The genetic mechanisms controlling the production of muscle fibres and their subsequent hypertrophy are being studied. Several novel genes have been discovered that may inhibit myotube formation in adult fish and future research will elucidate their function.  microRNAs are short noncoding RNAs with largely uncharacterized regulatory roles that  represent a considerable part of the transcriptional output of animal and plant genomes. Our research with model species (pufferfish and zebrafish) has discovered some new miRNAs and is investigating changes in miRNA expression patterns with growth and environmental adaptation.  Several miRNAs have been identified that change in expression when myotube production becomes inhibited. The gene targets and function of these miRNAs is being elucidated. Other research interests include the role of maternally transmitted messenger RNAs in early development and developmental plasticity. The temperature of embryonic development has been shown to have persistent effects on muscle growth in adult stages and both the genetic mechanisms and physiological consequences at the whole animal level are being investigated.

Animal Physiology

Muscle action and performance during locomotion in molluscs, fishand amphibians. The implications of body size for muscle functionin vivo. The evolution of muscle performance characteristics inrelation to environmental temperature with particular referenceto sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Notothenioid fishes and bivalvemolluscs. The phenotypic plasticity of muscle to temperature changeduring ontogeny: molecular and cellular mechanisms and evolutionarysignificance. Laboratory and field studies on muscle developmentand growth regulation in fish, with particular reference to temperature.The effects of ploidy manipulation and sex-reversal on musclegrowth characteristics in fish.

Evolution of adaptive variation in fish communities; antipredator behaviour; speciation; species diversity and conservation of freshwater fish in the neotropics (Brazilian Amazon, Mexico and Trinidad) and UK.
		Anne with the model cormorant used to test the anti-predator response of piranhas.

Upper Aripo River, Trinidad

Much of my group's work is on the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata, a species that has become a model system for investigating evolution in action. We are examining the evolution of reproductive isolation between fish in the Caroni and Oropouche drainages in Trinidad. These river systems have been separated for 1-2 million years. Although the guppies in them can still interbreed if given the opportunity, some post-mating reproductive barriers are already evident. For example, sperm from the female's own river system outcompete foreign sperm, and hybrid offspring formed when guppies from the two drainages are crossed are less viable than pure-bred fish. This research is being done with Anna Ludlow and Stephen Russell.

Northern Range, Trinidad.

Other investigations using the guppy concern aspects of mating behaviour (with Kit Magellan), the effect of thermal regime on behaviour and development (with Lars Pettersson), mutiple mating (with Alfredo Ojanguren) and interactions between guppies and their sister species Poecilia picta (with Indar Ramnarine of the University of the West Indies) .

Anne and Helder tagging piranhas prior to release back to the wild.

I am also interested in the evolution of schooling behaviour. Helder Queiroz (of the Mamirau· Sustainable Development Institute) and I are studying red-bellied piranhas, Pygocentrus nattereri, in the flooded forests of the Brazilian Amazon. Although piranhas are widely depicted as vicious, pack-hunting predators, in fact they are themselves preyed upon by river dolphins, caiman, piscivorous fish such as the pirarucu, and fish-eating birds including cormorants. Our work is showing that piranhas school as a defence against predation.

Esox lucius

In the UK I collaborate with Si‰n Grffiths (University of Cardiff), John Armstrong (FRS, Pitlochry) and Alfredo Ojanguren in a project on individual recognition and the benefits of associations between familiar groups of fish. We are using the European minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus, to test our ideas. The work is taking place in the artificial stream system at the Almondbank, FRS laboratory. A second project (with Lorraine Hawkins and John Armstrong) based at Almondbank is examining behavioural interactions between salmon, Salmo salar, and pike, Esox lucius - one of their most important natural predators.

My longstanding interest in the measurement of biological diversity and the structure of ecological assemblages is reflected in the recent publication of my book Measuring Biological Diversity. In addition, Peter Henderson (Pisces Conservation Ltd) and I are exploring changes in species abundance distributions over time.

Sigmoid display by male guppy.

Finally, I am interested in the conservation of biological diversity, particularly of freshwater fish assemblages. Constantino MacÌas Garcia (UNAM) and I are beginning to quantify the impact of introduced poeciliids on endangered fish in Mexico. I am continuing to investigate the biodiversity of freshwater assemblages in Trinidad with my colleagues there. Anuradha Bhat has recently joined the group. Her research is on fish assemblages in the Western Ghats region of India, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. This will open up new challenges in biodiversity conservation.

Current Projects

Foraging and social behaviour of sperm whales

Sperm whales are prodigious divers. We have used acoustic and motion-recording suction-cup tags their diving, sound production, and resting behaviour. We now know that sperm whales spend over 50% of their time actively pursuing prey at depth. My lab is working to describe other aspects of sperm whale behaviour, including how and when sperm whales rest, and possibly sleep, within their busy dive schedule.

Diverse feeding habits of killer whales:mammal –eaters versus herring - herders

Killer whales are generalist predators as a species, but each population is remarkably specialized on certain prey types. This project seeks to describe how prey type might relate to population-level differences in foraging and social behaviour.

Effects of noise on communication

To be effective in communication, signals must be detected and decoded in the presence of noise. I am using animal models ranging from the fruit fly D montana to the humpback whale to explore how noise influences communication systems and how signallers might respond to noise within ecological and evolutionary time scales.

MPhil/PhD project opportunities:

• PhD project - The function of acoustic communication in seasonally-migrating humpback whales
• MPhil project - Variability of sperm whale foraging behaviour in relation to oceanographic features
• MPhil project - The influence of environmental noise on communication: the Drosophila courtship song

Ecology and dynamics of coastal depositional systems

Research on the functional ecology and dynamics of coastal systems. Research into the primary productivity of coastal systems and the infuence of the catchment use on coastal areas and the importance of ecosystem fuction. The resiliance of these systems to global change. The interdisciplinary study of "biogenic stabilisation", defined as an increase in the critical threshold force for sediment re-suspension brought about by biological activity. The development of techniques to measure the stability of sediments in situ. Development of freeze fracture and HPLC techniques to allow microspatial discrimination (1005m scale) of the physical (density, porosity, mineralogy) and biological (pigments, organics, polymeric substances, microbes) properties of cohesive sediments. Structural analysis of sediments by low-temperature scanning electron microscopy. Modelling of biogenic effects on sediment erosion and transport. Light climate and primary productivity in cohesive sediments using fluorescence and light microsensor systems. Influence of pigment distribution of spectral reflectance properties of sediments and the potential of using reflectance data for the remote sensing and modelling of biomass distribution on mudflat systems.

Comparative and evolutionary immunology

Innate immunity in invertebrates and lower vertebrates. Antibacterial proteins in crustaceans, ascidians, cnidarians, teleosts , elasmobranchs and marine mammals. Plasticity within the innate responses of these animals. Immune development in fish and marine invertebrates and effect of environment. Complement phylogeny. Virus diseases and antiviral immunity in crustaceans. Marine invertebrate blood cell culture. Development of molecular probes for disease diagnosis in marine shellfish. Effects of environmental factors on immune capability in marine animals. Wastewater treatment by marine micro-algae. Antibacterial compounds from micro-algae.

Innate immunity in invertebrates, lower vertebrates and marine mammals.
Antibacterialproteins in crustaceans, ascidians, cnidarians, teleosts and pinniped seals.
Plasticity within the innate responses of marine animals.
Immunedevelopment in fish and marine invertebrates and effect of environment on immune function.
Complement phylogeny.
Virus diseases and antiviral immunity incrustaceans.
Marine invertebrate blood cell culture.
Developmentof molecular probes for disease diagnosis in marine shellfish.
Antibacterialproducts from marine micro-algae and cyanobacteria.

Our research interests embrace a variety of marine ecological topics, ranging from the development and dynamics of hard substratum epifaunal ("fouling") communities, to responses of invertebrate larvae at metamorphosis and the population genetics of marine molluscs and crustaceans

Ecological Genetics of Parasitic Sea Lice

Inducible Morphology in Marine Bryozoans

Larval Dispersal

Biofilms and Larval Settlement

Bryozoans

Salmonid Parasites