Expertise:
Animal Behavior
Cognition & Learning
Social Behavior
Invasive Cognition
Social Competence
Project overview:
Cognition of Invasive Species
As individuals invade novel environments during the invasion process, populations in the native range and front often experience different challenges and begin to diverge in traits. While this is well established in morphological characteristics, the consequences of biological invasions on cognition and the mechanisms that facilitate these differences remains enigmatic. What makes some species good invaders and which cognitive traits are important for such processes?
This project investigates the how cognitive abilities and invasion are linked, using the Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois spp.) as a model for these questions. So far, we have conducted lab experiments investigated the visual capabilities of this species, as well as conducted field experiments to investigate the long-term effect of culling on lionfish behavior in collaboration with the Enalis Physis Environmental Research Center in Cyprus. We also plan to explore the cognitive abilities of lionfish from the native and invasive ranges through analysis of brain morphology.
Linking Social Competence & Cognition
Social competence is the ability to accurately perceive and respond appropriately to social situations. In the cooperatively breeding cichlid (Neolamprologus pulcher), research has shown that early-life rearing conditions can impact social competence later in life, though it remains unclear what mechanisms induce these changes. We predict that cognition may facilitate these changes in social competence, as cognition is crucial to the perception and recollection of information that then dictates how individuals behaviorally respond to their environment.
In this project, we examine the link between social competence and cognition in cichlids. In our labs, we have reared cichlids in differing social conditions to create groups of high and low social competence individuals and plan to experimentally test various cognitive abilities to determine if there are cognitive and behavioral differences between the two groups.
We are actively recruiting BSc & MSc thesis students for this project starting in fall 2022. If you are interested, please contact Elizabeth Phillips (elizabeth.phillips@wur.nl) for more details.
