Apex predators, or organisms at the top of the food chain, are a prominent example of how animal movement can significantly impact the health of an ecosystem. These predators hunt to remove diseased or weak individuals from the habitat. They also ensure that prey populations do not exceed a level that can be sustained by the ecosystem. Scientifically, this is known as “top-down trophic regulation” (trophic levels refer to levels of the food chain).
Read MoreOverfishing has already reduced marine predator populations worldwide. This has become such an area of concern that in 2015, the National Research Council (USA) identified the role of apex predators as an area of scientific focus for the next decade.1 To conserve these organisms, we certainly must understand where they are. First, however, we must determine how they move.
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Many marine species can be difficult to study, as they remain hidden from the human eye during significant components of their life cycle. Behavioral studies in particular have thus been heavily skewed toward organisms that we can observe for long...
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For any mobile organism, movement is one of the most informative behaviors that we can study. Particularly in the underwater environment, where observation may be limited, movement is often the only behavior that we can consistently examine. Understanding how and why an...
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As the sun rose over the flat sand road, I ran past dilapidated houses and piles of trash, sidestepping the occasional dead snake. I never feared for my safety on these runs – the concept of early-morning exercise was as...
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