Project: Sociality in the Anthropocene: an experimental study of (pre)dispersal strategies in a cooperative-breeding bird

2024-01-01 – 2027-12-31

Abstract

The ability of species to respond to rapid environmental change is a major concern in current biology. However, how this affects the dispersal strategies of highly social species remains poorly known. Based on life-history theory, it can be predicted that global habitat degradation will reduce the adaptive value of delayed dispersal, through increased competition for critical resources, and that conflicts between parents and offspring will increase, resulting in earlier dispersal into more degraded habitats. Since the transition from environmental change to dispersal decisions is physiological, experimental manipulation of the physiological state of individuals can be used as a novel tool to simulate the effects of habitat degradation on dispersal decisions. We will conduct our experiments on a cooperatively breeding songbird living in a well-studied, human disturbed cloud forest archipelago in south-eastern Kenya. Building on a unique 20-year dataset, we will (i) manipulate the physiological state of individuals using CORT implants, (ii) use state-of-the-art high-resolution radio-tracking to monitor their dispersal behaviour, and (iii) model different pathways through which habitat degradation can modulate dispersal strategies in tropical cooperative breeders. Long-term studies such as these are crucial to better understand anthropogenic impacts on the world's most biodiverse ecosystems.