St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

A deepening understanding of animal culture suggests lessons for conservation

Thumbnail
View/Open
Brakes_2021_PRSB_Animalculture_CC.pdf (762.2Kb)
Date
28/04/2021
Author
Brakes, Philippa
Carroll, Emma L.
Dall, Sasha
Keith, Sally
McGregor, Peter
Mesnick, Sarah
Noad, Michael
Rendell, Luke
Robbins, Martha
Rutz, Christian
Thorton, Alex
Whiten, Andrew
Whiting, Martin
Aplin, Lucy
Bearhop, Stuart
Ciucci, Paolo
Fishlock, Vicki
Ford, John
Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe
Simmonds, Mark
Spina, Fernando
Wade, Paul
Whithead, Hal
Williams, James
Garland, Ellen C.
Funder
BBSRC
The Royal Society
Grant ID
BB/S018484/1
UF160081
Keywords
Cultural transmission
Social learning
Conservation management
Evolutionary significant units
Human-wildlife conflict
Population viability
QH301 Biology
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
A key goal of conservation is to protect biodiversity by supporting the long-term persistence of viable, natural populations of wild species. Conservation practice has long been guided by genetic, ecological and demographic indicators of risk. Emerging evidence of animal culture across diverse taxa and its role as a driver of evolutionary diversification, population structure and demographic processes may be essential for augmenting these conventional conservation approaches and decision-making. Animal culture was the focus of a ground-breaking resolution under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an international treaty operating under the UN Environment Programme. Here, we synthesise existing evidence to demonstrate how social learning and animal culture interact with processes important to conservation management. Specifically, we explore how social learning might influence population viability, be an important resource in response to anthropogenic change and provide examples of how it can result in phenotypically distinct units with different, socially learnt behavioural strategies. Whilst identifying culture and social learning can be challenging, indirect identification and parsimonious inferences may be informative. Finally, we identify relevant methodologies and provide a framework for viewing behavioural data through a cultural lens which might provide new insights for conservation management.
Citation
Brakes , P , Carroll , E L , Dall , S , Keith , S , McGregor , P , Mesnick , S , Noad , M , Rendell , L , Robbins , M , Rutz , C , Thorton , A , Whiten , A , Whiting , M , Aplin , L , Bearhop , S , Ciucci , P , Fishlock , V , Ford , J , Notarbartolo di Sciara , G , Simmonds , M , Spina , F , Wade , P , Whithead , H , Williams , J & Garland , E C 2021 , ' A deepening understanding of animal culture suggests lessons for conservation ' , Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , vol. 288 , no. 1949 , 20202718 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2718
Publication
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2718
ISSN
0962-8452
Type
Journal item
Rights
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Description
Funding and support as follows: Whale and Dolphin Conservation to P.B.; Royal Society New Zealand Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to E.L.C; Radcliffe Fellowship, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant no. [BB/S018484/1]to C.R.; Human Frontier Science Program grant no. [RGP00049] to A.T.; Royal Society University Research Fellowship grant no. [UF160081] to E.C.G.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5365209.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/23070

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter