title: A systematic survey of the integration of animal behavior into conservation.
abstract: The role of behavioral ecology in improving wildlife conservation and management has been the subject of much recent debate. We sought to answer 2 foundational questions about the current use of behavioral knowledge in conservation: To what extent is behavioral knowledge used in wildlife conservation and management, and how does the use of animal behavior differ among conservation fields in both frequency and types of use? We searched the literature for intersections between key fields of animal behavior and conservation and created a systematic heat map (i.e., graphical representation of data where values are represented as colors) to visualize relative efforts. Some behaviors, such as dispersal and foraging, were commonly considered (mean [SE] of 1147.38 [353.11] and 439.44 [108.85] papers per cell, respectively). In contrast, other behaviors, such as learning, social, and antipredatory behaviors were rarely considered (mean [SE] of 33.88 [7.62], 44.81 [10.65], and 22.69 [6.37] papers per cell, respectively). In many cases, awareness of the importance of behavior did not translate into applicable management tools. Our results challenge previous suggestions that there is little association between the fields of behavioral ecology and conservation and reveals tremendous variation in the use of different behaviors in conservation. We recommend that researchers focus on examining underutilized intersections of behavior and conservation themes for which preliminary work shows a potential for improving conservation and management, translating behavioral theory into applicable and testable predictions, and creating systematic reviews to summarize the behavioral evidence within the behavior-conservation intersections for which many studies exist.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A.|Applied Animal Ecology Division, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027-7000, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Oded
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Berger-Tal
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Blumstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, and Institute for Contemporary Evolution, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, 4165 Spruance Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA, 92101-0812, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, fisheries, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Mesnick
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A.|Applied Animal Ecology Division, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027-7000, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Megan A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.affiliation: Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, 8499000, Israel.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saltz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Colleen Cassady
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: St Claire
authors.affiliation: Applied Animal Ecology Division, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027-7000, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Ronald R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Swaisgood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004463:Ecology; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: aprendizaje; captive breeding; comportamiento en la conservacion, dispersion; conservation behavior, dispersal; especies invasoras; foraging; forrajeo; heat map; invasive species; learning; mapa de calor; reintroducción; reintroduction; reproducción en cautiverio