Ultimately, it is behavior that determines survival.
Conservation behavior is the interdisciplinary field about howanimal behavior can assist in the conservation ofbiodiversity.[2][3][4] It encompassesproximate and ultimate causes of behavior and incorporates disciplines includinggenetics,physiology,behavioral ecology, andevolution.[3][4]
Conservation behavior is aimed at applying an understanding ofanimal behavior to solve problems in the field ofconservation biology. These are problems that may arise during conservation efforts such ascaptive breeding,species reintroduction,reserve connectivity, andwildlife management. By using patterns in animal behavior,biologists can be successful in these conservation efforts. This is done by understanding the proximate and ultimate causes of problems that arise. For example, understanding how proximate processes affect survival can help biologist train captive-reared animals to recognize predators post-release. Ultimate causes also have a clear benefit to conservation. For example, understanding social relationships that lead tofitness (biology) can help biologists managewildlife that exhibitinfanticide. Conservation projects may have a better chance of being successful if biologists search for a deeper understanding of how animals makeadaptive decisions.[3]
While animal behavior and conservation biology are conceptually intertwined, the idea of using animal behavior in conservation management was only first used explicitly in 1974.[5] Since then,conservation behavior has slowly gained prominence with a surge ofpublications in the field since the mid-1990s and the Animal Behavior Society even forming a committee in support ofconservation behavior.[6][7][8][2] A number of studies have shown that animal behavior can be an important consideration during conservation projects.[9][10][11] More importantly, ignorance of animal behavior in conservation projects may lead to their failure.[12] Recent calls for stronger integration of behavior and physiology to advance conservation science emphasize the growing recognition that when studying animals in nature it is impossible to decouple behavior and physiology.[13]
Understanding animal behavior can help limit the impact of humans on the environment. Wildlife conservation is concerned with protecting species and their habitats from the impact of humandevelopment.Wildlife management is concerned with manipulating and exploiting wild species to achieve a desired end while ensuring their persistence and availability. Because management is often a component of conservation strategies, incorporating knowledge of animal behavior into wildlife management has potential for improving the outcomes of conservation projects.[14] This understanding of animal behavior can help managers design betterwildlife andnature reserves, reducehuman–wildlife conflict, understand and manage species’ responses to human-inducedenvironmental stress, and manageintroduced species.[15]
Wildlife managers commonly try to create wildlife reserves to conservehabitat forspecies of concern. The behavior of target animals is pivotal in designing the size, shape, location, and habitat of these reserves. For example, many bird reserves inCentral andSouth America are located in high mountains, but in one instance 25% of the local birds left the protected area toforage.[16] Understanding behaviors including recruitment, settling,spawning, foraging,territoriality, daily movements, and seasonal patterns ofmigration are all important for conservation success.[15]
Minimizing human–wildlife conflict is a persistent challenge in wildlife management and conservation. Behavioral manipulation can help mitigate some conflicts such as livestock depredation or agricultural destruction by repelling animals withstrobe lights, sounds, aversive conditioning, ortaste aversion. Not only are humans frequently coming into conflict with animals, but humans can also induce environmental stress on animals. Humans can begin to mitigate these stresses by understanding behaviors, such as the effecttourists have on wildlife in reserves.
Because an animal's survival andreproductive success relies on its behavior, knowledge of behavior is essential in actively reversing the decline of imperiled wild species.[15] Knowledge of behavior can be used to reducebycatch of fish species, reestablish breeding populations, or boost reproduction.[14][17] Understanding the behavior of fish has helped reduce bycatch by improving the selectivity offishing gear. Species can be separated by their initial response to atrawl mouth, their position within anet, and their responses to visual andrheotacticsensory cues.[15] Use of behavioral characteristics such as these can help reduce tremendous waste that often occurs duringindustrial fishing and help manage for sustainablefisheries.
The state of a declining species can sometimes be reversed by augmenting reproduction through behavior. By manipulatingauditory,olfactory, andvisual cues of animals, biologists can attract animals to breeding grounds or increase the number of breeding individuals. This method has been applied most successfully to bird populations.[14] For example, acoustic playbacks have attractedseabirds to historic and new breeding grounds.[18] Similarly, adding eggs to nests of some male fish species may promote increased spawning by females who prefer to spawn with males already possessing eggs.[14]
Knowingspecies richness andabundance in a given area has been an important part ofecology since its creation.Censusing and monitoring methods can use animal behavior to assess and track the status of species of concern. Many times this involves using communication signals or other conspicuous behaviors to locate and count species. For example, knowledge of behavior can be used to locate birds by theirmating calls, countmammals who are more active during mating season, or trackwhale vocalizations anddolphinecholocation signals.[19][20][21]
Population viability analysis (PVA) can provide important information when assessing the status of a species and help evaluate conservation priorities. PVA is a process that can help determine the probability that a species will goextinct within a given number of years. Along with survival and reproduction, behavior can be factored into population viability models. These are behaviors that influence populationdemographics such asimmigration,emigration,dispersal, andinbreeding depression.[22]
Captive breeding and reintroductions ofendangered species are becoming more common and necessary for the conservation of some species.[23] Rearing wild animals in a captive setting requires behavioral understanding of factors such asmate choice, social structure, and environmental influences on mating.[24] Many captive breeding and reintroductions have failed due to behavioral deficiencies of released animals because many times captive animals lack natural parental care or other environmental influences during critical learning periods.[15] Animals need to learn a variety of behaviors that may be difficult to replicate in captive settings, including how to forage or catch prey, where it is safe to sleep, how to avoid predators, and intraspecies relationships and traditions.[24][25] Captive breeding programs often inadvertently alter behaviors of animals including interfering with normal patterns of mate selection, creating inappropriate social conditions, antipredator behavior, and conditioning them to humans. The loss or altercation of behaviors such as these can have devastating effects on released animals.
There has been some concern in the field ofconservation behavior about the lack of official cohesion between behavior and conservation biology and the potentially avoidable mistakes that have been made in conservation.[4][15][26] It has even been argued that theoretical advances in behavior have made little practical contributions to conservation biology.[26] While theory-driven behavior may have yet to become fully integrated into conservation, its importance is clear and application necessary.
