Behavioural
Ecology Group


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Research





The aim of the Behavioural Ecology Group is to answer questions on the causes and consequences of behavioural traits and strategies, and to determine their implications especially in social contexts. The main research focus of the BHE group is social behaviour, involving a range of projects. This includes research on communication, cooperation, cognition, family conflicts, predator-prey interactions, social networks, territoriality and movement decisions, animal personality, and early developmental effects on behaviour, using wild and captive animals as model organisms.


By applying our expertise in animal behaviour to different study systems - wild animals, farm animals and companion animals - our research and teaching integrates knowledge from these approaches. Our interests in behavioural ecology, applied animal behaviour and animal welfare and conservation behaviour ideally complement each other leading to knowledge transfer between these fields. One linking approach is our focus on individual behavioural decisions and their causes, correlates and predictors, which all play a central role in understanding behaviour in animals from a mechanistic and an evolutionary perspective.



Research Domains





Behavioural ecology



Companion animals



Conservation biology



Applied animal behaviour



Behavioural ecology





Our research in behavioural ecology focuses on understanding how individual animals and populations function and how selection acts on fitness, using a range of different behavioural and life history traits. Our main study organisms are birds and fish.
Please visit the sites of the staff members for more details. Overall our topics topics include:
Animal communication, Animal CooperationAnimal Cognition, Social behaviour, Sexual selection, Animal personality, Movement ecology, Foraging, Predator and prey interactions, Conservation Behaviour among others



project selection in Behavioural ecology



Communication and resilience in an unpredictable world using Zebra finches in the wild


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The evolution of Cognition



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ECO2 project: Human Wildlife interactions & Conservation


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SOCIAL FORAGING IN A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT in Guppies


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Cooperation and conflict resolution in communally breeding speckled mousebirds


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Wildlife conditioning interventions: A systematic map


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Between two oceans: Lionfish cognition and environmental change


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causes and consequences of cooperative breeding in birds (comparative analysis)


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communication, anti-predator and territorial behaviours in the eurasian magpie


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the adaptive benefits of group living, dispersal and communal breeding in seychelles warblers


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the ecological drivers of communal breeding in burying beetles


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dispersal and helping behaviour in cooperatively breeding purple-crowned fairy-wrens


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LONG-TERM STUDY OF THE LINED SEEDEATERS


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LIFE HISTORY AND ECOLOGY OF FAMILY-LIVING IBERIAN BLACK WHEATEARS


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ECOACOUSTICS: A BIODIVERSITY YARDSTICK AS A FACILITATING TOOL FOR NATURE POSITIVE FOOD PRODUCTION


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researchers involved





Marc Naguib



Professor



Sjouke Kingma



Assistant professor



ALexander kortrschal



Assistant professor



Lysanne SNijders



Assistant professor



Filipe Cunha



Lecturer



gretchen wagner



Lecturer



severine kotrschal



Lecturer



Chris Tyson



Postdoc



niki teunissen



Postdoc



rita fragueira



Research Assistant



companion animals





For companion animal behaviour the focus of the Behavioural Ecology Group is on dogs, investigating personality traits, human-dog relationships and welfare. Research with cats focusses on welfare and motivation (wanting, liking), typically in relation to the appraisal of foods. We are interested in the question how personality traits of an individual pet affects its (not so) social behaviour and ability to perform specific tasks, and how the humans to whom a pet is attached play a role. The objective assessment of mental states (feelings) and the traits that govern behaviour is one of the major challenges in our ongoing work. Research results aid the understanding of how companion animals cope with man-made living conditions and how the latter may be optimized to improve companion animal welfare.



projects companion animals



dogs


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cats


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Parenting styles in the Human horse relationship


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researchers involved





Bonne Beerda



Lecturer



jori noordenbos



Research Assistant



conservation biology





Section currently under construction...



projects conservation biology



Eco2 project


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WILDLIFE CONDITIONING INTERVENTIONS: A SYSTEMATIC MAP


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Ecoacoustics: a Biodiversity yardstick as a facilitating tool for nature positive food production


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researchers involved





Marc Naguib



Professor



Lysanne SNijders



Assistant professor



Alexander kotrschal



Assistant professor



Sjouke Kingma



Associate professor



Filipe Cunha



Lecturer



rita fragueira



Research Assistant



Applied animal behaviour





For applied animal behaviour, the focus of the Behavioural Ecology Group is on social behaviour in farm animal and its effects on animal welfare. The research focuses mainly on laying hens, but in collaboration with other groups within the Centre for Animal Welfare and Adaptation (CAWA) also research on other species is conducted. We are interested in the question how personality traits of an individual affect its social behaviour, but also how this affects the individual’s social environment. Further, we investigate how genetic background and early-life experiences influence these individual personality traits and how this affects the social group in their ability to cope with stress.



projects applied animal behaviour



Farm animals


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researchers involved





Bonne Beerda



Assistant Professor



Alexander kotrschal



Assistant professor



jori noordenbos



Research Assistant



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