Biology subjects

Turner, J. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Turner, J. W..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Movement-integrated habitat selection reveals wolves balance ease of travel with human avoidance in a risk-reward trade-off

Anthropogenic linear features are often linked to alterations in wildlife behaviour and movement. Landscape features such as habitat can have important mediating effects on wildlife response to disturbance and yet is rarely explicitly considered in how it interacts with other features. This study tests the effects of habitat variation on the space-use responses of GPS-collared wolves to linear features in eastern Manitoba. We simultaneously model wolf movement and selection within a conditional logistic regression framework (integrated Step Selection Analysis) with explicit consideration for how habitat alters these responses through either added cover or friction to movement. Classifying linear features based on the selection and movement response of wolves revealed that pairing transmission lines and primary roads increased the avoidance response to be greater than either feature on their own and provided evidence of a semi-permeable barrier to movement. In contrast, features with reduced human activity, including secondary and tertiary roads were highly selected for and provided access to movement corridors. Explicit parameterization of habitat provides evidence that where a linear feature is routed and which habitats it interacts with will have the greatest implications for wolf behavioural responses. Reduction of avoidance behavioural in highly risky environments signifies the importance of habitat for maintaining landscape connectivity, particularly when routing multiple features together. Natural regrowth along these features reduced movement advantages by increasing friction, indicating that actively decommissioning other features such as secondary roads would have important implications for reducing wolf encounters with prey. Knowing the influence of adjacent habitats on the likelihood of wolves selecting for a given linear feature creates context to minimize the impact of new anthropogenic features on behaviour.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Hunger drives switching and searching response in a social predator

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWHunger is a frequent state for many predators and increasing hunger is likely to motivate costly behaviour to acquire necessary resources. Generalist predators must balance the costs and gains of hunting different prey, including increasing encounter rates and improving success rates by seeking areas with greater prey catchability. Large carnivores face threats when they interact with humans or conspecifics. We use integrated step selection analysis to describe spatiotemporal factors that influence wolf (Canis lupus) hunting behavior in Riding Mountain National Park, a natural area that wolves share with moose (Alces alces) and elk (Cervus canadensis). If hunger generates more risky behavior by wolves, as time-from-kill increases we expect wolves will: (1) search for and kill a prey that poses higher risk of injury, (2) use the periphery of their range, (3) use areas closer to the park boundary. Hunger alters wolf space use and drives a fine scale change in prey tracking. Movement patterns of hungry wolves are indicative of search behavior, i.e., shorter steps and more turning. Contrary to our predictions, hungry wolves moved further into the park. As wolves become hungrier, they switch their response from a weak selection to avoidance of elk. In contrast, the response to the primary and emergent prey, moose varied between individuals with some pack level similarities. Therefore, the state-based response to a pervasive risk and a historical resource was conserved in a population residing in a prey rich island interfacing with human disturbance.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Existing caribou habitat and demographic models are poorly suited for Ring of Fire impact assessment: A roadmap for improving the usefulness, transparency, and availability of models for conservation

Decision making in conservation science often relies on the best available information. This may include using models that were not designed for purpose and are not accompanied by an assessment of limitations. To begin addressing these issues, we sought to reproduce, and evaluate the suitability of, the best available models for predicting impacts of proposed mining on boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) resource selection and demography in northern Ontario. We then evaluated their suitability for projecting the impacts of development in the Ring of Fire region. To aid in accessibility, we developed an R package for data preparation, analyses of resource selection, and demographic parameters. We found existing models were either ill suited, or lacking, for ongoing regional planning. The specificity of the regional resource selection model limited its usefulness for predicting impacts of development, and the high variability across caribou ranges limited the usefulness of a national aspatial demographic model for predicting range-specific impacts. Variability in model coefficients across caribou ranges suggests selection responses vary with habitat availability (i.e. a functional response) while demographic responses continue to decline with increasing disturbance. Models designed for forecasting that are continuously updated by range-specific demographic and habitat information, are required to better inform conservation decisions and ongoing policy and planning practices in the Ring of Fire region.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

At a snail's pace: the influence of habitat disturbance on terrestrial snail movement using experimentally manipulated mesocosms

The Anthropocene marks great changes to environments and the animals that inhabit them. Changes, such as disturbance, can affect the manner in which animals interact with their environments, such as moving and selecting habitats. To test how animals might respond to changing disturbance regimes, we employ an experimental approach to movement ecology. We used integrated step selection analysis (iSSA) to test the behavioural responses of individually-marked grove snails (Cepaea nemoralis) exposed to a gradient of physical disturbance in their habitat. We used a before-after control-impact (BACI) experimental design within semi-controlled mesocosms to manipulate edge and disturbance variables by altering the area of the mesocosm covered by bricks. We showed that grove snails perceive edges of enclosures and edges of bricks as risks, and responded to such risks by altering their movement. Grove snails displayed a bimodal response to risk by taking shelter in place or moving faster to be farther from the disturbance. Furthermore, individuals tended to modulate their behavioural response to the degree of risk. Our study highlights the usefulness of experimental mesocosms in movement ecology and in determining the effects of habitat alteration and human-imposed risk on movement behaviour.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2021

Death comes for us all: an interplay of habitat selection, movement, and social behavior relate to cause specific mortality among grey wolves

Avoiding death infects biological processes, including behavior. Habitat selection, movement, and sociality are highly flexible behaviors that influence the mortality risks and subsequent fitness of individuals. In the Anthropocene, animals are experiencing increased risks from direct human causes and increased spread of infectious diseases. Using integrated step selection analysis, we tested how the habitat selection, movement, and social behaviors of grey wolves vary as an individual dies due to humans or canine distemper virus (CDV) and how those behaviors may vary in the lead up to death. Behaviors that changed prior to death were strongly related to how an animal eventually died. Wolves killed by humans moved slower than wolves that survived and selected to be nearer roads closer in time to their death. Wolves that died due to CDV moved progressively slower as they neared death and reduced their avoidance of wet habitats. All animals, regardless of dying or not maintained strong selection to be near packmates across time, which seemingly contributed to disease dynamics in the packs that became infected with CDV. Habitat selection, movement, and sociality interact to put individuals and groups at greater risks, influencing their cause-specific mortality. Lay SummaryNot much is known about behaviors prior to death in wild animals. Grey wolves killed by humans selected to be in riskier areas increasingly prior to their deaths. Wolves that died due to disease moved slower and changed their habitat selection to be in areas with more water as they became sicker. Sick wolves also continued to select for packmates, increasing the chances that the whole pack would succumb to the disease.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2020

Toxoplasma gondii infections are associated with boldness towards lions in wild hyena hosts

Toxoplasma gondii is widely reported to manipulate the behavior of its non-definitive hosts in ways that promote lethal interactions with the parasites definitive feline hosts. Nonetheless, there is a lack of data on the association between T. gondii infection and costly behavioral interactions with felids in nature. Here, we report that three decades of field observations reveal T. gondii infected hyena cubs approach lions more closely than uninfected peers and have higher rates of lion mortality. Our findings support the hypothesis that T. gondiis manipulation of host boldness is an extended phenotype that promotes parasite transmission from intermediate hosts to feline predators. While upregulating hyena boldness toward lions might achieve this, it may also reflect a collateral influence of manipulative traits that evolved in other hosts (e.g., rodents). In either case, our findings corroborate the potential impacts of a globally distributed and generalist parasite (T. gondii) on fitness-related interaction with felids in a wild host. One Sentence SummaryWild hyenas infected with the parasite T. gondii show evidence of costly behavioral manipulation when interacting with lions.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2020

Associations of early social experience with offspring DNA methylation and later life stress phenotype

In a wild population of spotted hyenas, we tested the hypothesis that maternal care during the first year of life and social connectedness during two periods of early development lead to differences in DNA methylation and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) later in life. We found that although maternal care and social connectedness during the communal den dependent period were not associated with fGCMs, greater social connectedness after hyenas leave their communal den is associated with lower adult fGCMs. Additionally, more maternal care and social connectedness after leaving the communal den corresponded with higher global (%CCGG) DNA methylation. Finally, we identified multiple DNA methylation biomarkers near genes involved in inflammation that may link maternal care and stress phenotype. Our findings suggest that both maternal care during the first year of life and social connections after leaving the den influence DNA methylation and contribute to a developmentally plastic stress response.

animal behavior and cognition↗