ESSA Scientists Publish Paper on the Role of Behaviour in Invasive Species Management as part of Special Issue in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Dr. Natascia Tamburello presenting at the Zoological Society of London. Photo by Dr. Natascia Tamburello.

A new paper out today by ESSA scientists explores how incorporating aspects of animal behaviour into metapopulation modelling can be used to better optimize the distribution of limited management resources. Led by ESSA’s Dr. Natascia Tamburello in collaboration with coauthors Dr. Brian Ma of ESSA and Dr. Isabelle Côté of Simon Fraser University, the paper demonstrates this concept using the case of invasive lionfish on Caribbean coral reefs and highlights its potential applications for the adaptive management of invasive populations in other contexts.

The paper is titled From individual movement behaviour to landscape-scale invasive dynamics and management: a case study in lionfish metapopulations, and is available here. This paper is included in the July 2019 special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, entitled Linking behaviour to dynamics of populations and communities: application of novel approaches in behavioural ecology to conservation.

Prior to publication, Dr. Natascia Tamburello presented the paper at the Zoological Society of London in November 2018 during an International Symposium focused on the theme of how better understanding human-influenced changes in the behaviour of individual animals can inform conservation efforts at population scales. This presentation was recorded and is available for viewing through ESSA’s YouTube channel.