Animal Behavior and Wildlife Conservation

Efforts to conserve wildlife populations and preserve biological diversity are often hampered by an inadequate understanding of animal behavior. How do animals react to gaps in forested lands, or to sport hunters? Do individual differences-in age, sex, size, past experience-affect how an animal reacts to a given situation? Differences in individual behavior may determine the success or failure of a conservation initiative, yet they are rarely considered when strategies and policies are developed.

Animal Behavior and Wildlife Conservation explores how knowledge of animal behavior may help increase the effectiveness of conservation programs. The book brings together conservation biologists, wildlife managers, and academics from around the world to examine the importance of general principles, the role played by specific characteristics of different species, and the importance of considering the behavior of individuals and the strategies they adopt to maximize fitness.
Each chapter begins by looking at the theoretical foundations of a topic, and follows with an exploration of its practical implications. A concluding chapter considers possible future contributions of research in animal behavior to wildlife conservation. Adaptive behavior and population viability / Leonard Morris Gosling Dispersal and conservation: a behavioral perspective on metapopulation persistence / Rosie Woodroffe Migration and conservation: the case of sea turtles / Paolo Luschi Bridging the gap: linking individual bird movement and territory establishment rules with their patterns of distribution in fragmented forests / André Desrochers Knowledge of reproductive behavior contributes to conservation programs / Isabelle M. Côté Foraging behavior, habitat suitability, and translocation success, with special reference to large mammalian herbivores / Norman Owen-Smith Variation in life history traits and realistic population models for wildlife management: the case of ungulates / Jean-Michel Gaillard, Anne Loison, and Carole Toïgo Through the eyes of prey: how the extinction and conservation of North America's large carnivores alter prey systems and biodiversity / Joel Berger ... [et al.] Behavioral aspects of conservation and management of European mammals / Marco Appollonio, Bruno Bassano, and Andrea Mustoni Implications of sexually selected infanticide for the hunting of large carnivores / Jon E. Swenson Exploitative wildlife management as a selective pressure for the life-history evolution of large mammals / Marco Festa-Bianchet Social groups, genetic structure, and conservation / F. Stephen Dobson and Bertram Zinner Pathogen-driven sexual selection for "good genes" versus genetic variability in small populations / Claus Wedekind Measuring idividual quality in conservation and behavior / Brian M. Steele and John T. Hogg Individual quality, environment, and conservation / Peter Arcese Where do we go from here? / Marco Festa-Bianchet "Efforts to conserve wildlife populations and preserve biological diversity are often hampered by an inadequate understanding of animal behavior. How do animals react to gaps in forested lands, or to sport hunters? Do individual differences-in age, sex, size, past experience-affect how an animal reacts to a given situation? Differences in individual behavior may determine the success or failure of a conservation initiative, yet they are rarely considered when strategies and policies are developed. Animal Behavior and Wildlife Conservation explores how knowledge of animal behavior may help increase the effectiveness of conservation programs. The book brings together conservation biologists, wildlife managers, and academics from around the world to examine the importance of general principles, the role played by specific characteristics of different species, and the importance of considering the behavior of individuals and the strategies they adopt to maximize fitness. Each chapter begins by looking at the theoretical foundations of a topic, and follows with an exploration of its practical implications. A concluding chapter considers possible future contributions of research in animal behavior to wildlife conservation."--Source inconnue Annotation Efforts to conserve wildlife populations and preserve biological diversity are often hampered by an inadequate understanding of animal behavior. How do animals react to gaps in forested lands, or to sport hunters? Do individual differences--in age, sex, size, past experience--affect how an animal reacts to a given situation? Differences in individual behavior may determine the success or failure of a conservation initiative, yet they are rarely considered when strategies and policies are developed. "Animal Behavior and Wildlife Conservation" explores how knowledge of animal behavior may help increase the effectiveness of conservation programs. The book brings together conservation biologists, wildlife managers, and academics from around the world to examine the importance of general principles, the role played by specific characteristics of different species, and the importance of considering the behavior of individuals and the strategies they adopt to maximize fitness. Each chapter begins by looking at the theoretical foundations of a topic, and follows with an exploration of its practical implications. A concluding chapter considers possible future contributions of research in animal behavior to wildlife conservation Many of the species with whom we share our planet are going extinct because we overexploit them or destroy their habitat (Ehrlich and Wilson 1991, Caughley 1994).