Human and conservation impact on animal behaviour

Researching and understanding how human impact can affect behaviour at an individual level
Hands of a fisherman in yellow overalls pulling fishing net from the sea 
We study aspects of animal behaviour which can answer questions that are important to the in-situ conservation of species, particularly those affected by human impacts. Understanding behaviour at the individual level i.e., how animals are affected by, evaluate and cope with environmental disturbance, can help us to predict how populations will respond to climate or anthropogenic impacts in the wild.
Dr Katherine Herborn explores trade-offs between acute stress, often caused by human impact, and other behaviours in a range of wild animals. 
Professor Mark Briffa investigates whether we can we detect signals of human impacts on the environment in animal behaviour, mainly in coastal invertebrates. 
Dr Sarah Collins uses animal communication to explore how human activity affects populations of birds. She also has done research using animal behaviour theory to determine what resources are important for an animal conservation in both estuary birds and dormice. 
Dr Alexander Wilson investigates how human-induced rapid environmental change (tourism, harvest, pollution) affects population conservation, and the use of animal tracking technologies and electronic sensory tags in ecology and conservation. 
Dr Svenja Tidau investigates the impacts of artificial light at night on coastal organisms, their development, reproduction, behaviour and interactions, and previously conducted a project showing that anthropogenic noise interferes with natural cues and signals used in individual and group behaviour. In marine organisms.
Emma Moyse studies how light pollution, and in particular the changing spectra of light we are introducing into the nocturnal environment, affects camouflage in intertidal rocky shore organisms. She uses a mixture of behavioural lab experiments, ecological field studies, and visual modelling to better understand how changes in light alter predator-prey interactions and the ways in which different species perceive the world around them.
PhD student (Supervisor Dr Alexander Wilson) Ben Ellis investigates the impact of a commercial fishery on the reproductive behaviour and personality of corkwing wrasse, a nest building fish, and how these impacts influence groups and populations. 
Local birds walking on a south Devon estuary while the tide is out

Potential projects 

Does stone curlew egg colouration signal environmental and parental quality and offspring fitness? (Dr Nikolaus von Engelhardt)
How are estuary birds affected by anthropogenic disturbance such as walkers, tourists and changes in algae due to global warming (Dr Sarah Collins)

Key papers

Key research projects relating to human impact and conservation

  • Collins SA, Lane SM, Ishibashi M & Hamston T 2023 'Nest material preferences in wild hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius: testing predictions from optimal foraging theory' Behavioral Ecology , DOI Open access
  • Velasque M, Denton JA & Briffa M 2022 'Under the influence of light: How light pollution disrupts personality and metabolism in hermit crabs' Environmental Pollution , DOI Open access
  • Tidau S, Whittle J, Jenkins SR & Davies TW 2022 'Artificial light at night reverses monthly foraging pattern under simulated moonlight' Biology Letters , DOI Open access
  • Cooke SJ, Auld HL, Birnie-Gauvin K, Elvidge CK, Piczak ML, Twardek WM, Raby GD, Brownscombe JW, Midwood JD & Lennox RJ 2022 'On the relevance of animal behavior to the management and conservation of fishes and fisheries' Environmental Biology of Fishes 106, (5) 785-810 , DOI Open access
  • Van Colen C, Ong EZ, Briffa M, Wethey DS, Abatih E, Moens T & Woodin SA 2020 'Clam feeding plasticity reduces herbivore vulnerability to ocean warming and acidification' Nature Climate Change , DOI Open access
  • Tidau S & Briffa M 2019 'Distracted decision makers: ship noise and predation risk change shell choice in hermit crabs' Behavioral Ecology , DOI Open access
  • Tidau S & Briffa M 2019 'Anthropogenic noise pollution reverses grouping behaviour in hermit crabs' Animal Behaviour 151, 113-120 , DOI Open access
  • Herborn KA, Jerem P, Nager RG, McKeegan DEF & McCafferty DJ 2018 'Surface temperature elevated by chronic and intermittent stress' Physiology and Behavior 191, 47-55 , DOI Open access
  • Jerem P, Jenni-Eiermann S, Herborn K, McKeegan D, McCafferty DJ & Nager RG 2018 'Eye region surface temperature reflects both energy reserves and circulating glucocorticoids in a wild bird' Scientific Reports 8, (1) , DOI Open access
  • Henderson LJ, Evans NP, Heidinger BJ, Herborn KA & Arnold KE 2017 'Do glucocorticoids predict fitness? Linking environmental conditions, corticosterone and reproductive success in the blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus' Royal Society Open Science 4, (10) 170875-170875 , DOI Open access
  • Tidau S & Briffa M 2016 'Review on behavioral impacts of aquatic noise on crustaceans' Fourth International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life Acoustical Society of America , DOI