Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2022-2023)

My research program examines the role of behavioural flexibility, specifically learning, in the development of conflict vs. cooperation between people and wild animals. My work contributes to a known gap in applying relevant research on animal behaviour to pressing problems in wildlife conservation and management. My decades of experience at this interface position me to make highly innovative contributions with applications to both threatened and expanding species. I focus on behavioural flexibility because it underlays two common types of learning, habituation and sensitization, that influence both conflict and coexistence. Although behavioural flexibility is partly a product of learning, it is also dependent on inherited tendencies and the environment, particularly during development. I will integrate these sources to measure, and then manipulate, variation in behaviour in one or more of the cognitive stages involved in learning. My specific objectives are to: (a) identify novel methods for measuring and interpreting behavioural flexibility in wildlife; (b) explore flexibility, both within and among individuals, that is related to the processes of perception, interpretation, activation, and memory; (d) determine how differences in learning among individuals, contexts, and time periods generates tendencies to avoid, adapt, or exploit human-dominated environments; and (c) use that information to foster coexistence by increasing tolerance in vulnerable species and decrease it in invasive species. manipulating environmental stimuli, habitats, and individuals. I will address these objectives by continuing previous work on urban coyotes in Edmonton, habituated ungulates in the mountain parks, and vulnerable carnivores in complex landscapes. Our methods will include measurement of individual behaviour and environments, laboratory analyses of wildlife products (e.g., hair and scat), and integration of diverse biotic and abiotic information with spatial tools and statistical modelling. I will also engage the public, provide opportunities for training, collaborate with others, and solicit additional funding. This work has high potential impact because variation in types and rates of learning among individuals of the same population is almost completely unstudied in the contexts of wildlife conservation and management. Learning capacity has enormous relevance to interactions between wild animals and people in modern, rapidly-changing environments, provided we have techniques to measure and manipulate it, followed by rigorous evaluation of the consequences of behavioural flexibility in diverse species, conservation problems, and jurisdictions.