Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A deepening understanding of animal culture suggests lessons for conservation
AU - Brakes, P.
AU - Carroll, E.L.
AU - Dall, S.R.X.
AU - Keith, S.A.
AU - McGregor, P.K.
AU - Mesnick, S.L.
AU - Noad, M.J.
AU - Rendell, L.
AU - Robbins, M.M.
AU - Rutz, C.
AU - Thornton, A.
AU - Whiten, A.
AU - Whiting, M.J.
AU - Aplin, L.M.
AU - Bearhop, S.
AU - Ciucci, P.
AU - Fishlock, V.
AU - Ford, J.K.B.
AU - Notarbartolo di Sciara, G.
AU - Simmonds, M.P.
AU - Spina, F.
AU - Wade, P.R.
AU - Whitehead, H.
AU - Williams, J.
AU - Garland, E.C.
PY - 2021/4/21
Y1 - 2021/4/21
N2 - 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 synthesize 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 and 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. While 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.
AB - 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 synthesize 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 and 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. While 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.
KW - conservation management
KW - cultural transmission
KW - evolutionary significant units
KW - human–wildlife conflict
KW - population viability
KW - social learning
KW - article
KW - migratory species
KW - nonhuman
KW - wild animal
KW - wildlife
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2020.2718
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2020.2718
M3 - Journal article
VL - 288
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1949
M1 - 20202718
ER -