The movements of two vervet monkey troops were studied to determine whether they optimize their rate of food intake in relation to seasonal energy availability. The effect of variation in habitat structure on the troops’ foraging strategies while utilizing temporally and spatially distributed resources was determined. Troop home range boundaries were delineated, the various plant communities and species utilised by the troops identified and classified, and variations in home range and vegetation structure were reported. The diets of the troops were determined and compared. Effects of coexistence on competition were assessed. Vervet food trees were randomly selected, marked and seasonal phenological data collected. Samples of food items constituting the two troops diets were collected for energy analysis. Using geostatistical interpolation techniques, monthly energy values were extrapolated onto home range grids for the two vervet monkey troops. Grids were stored as database files that were interrogated through GIS simulation models. Using the stochastic processes inherent in Markov chain theory, a series of non-returning random walks were simulated for comparison to original routes taken by the two troops. Results from comparisons of home range energy, day range lengths and areas, shortest route energy to actual route energy, time spent in high energy areas, and energy utilisation from actual and randomly generated routes indicated that the two troops optimize resource energy available to them by adopting flexible foraging strategies. In environments where temporal and spatial variations in habitat structure affect the distribution of resources, it is essential that animals develop optimal foraging strategies to survive. For the two troops investigated, foraging strategies fluctuate between being time minimizers in more heterogeneous environments where resources are abundant, and energy maximisers in homogeneous environments where resources are constrained by low diversity and seasonality. / Environmental Sciences (Department) / D.Litt et Phil (Environmental Management)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study tested the proposal that fleshy-fruited alien shrubs competed more effectively for avian dispersal services than indigenous shrubs. Several different quantitative measures of increasing complexity were applied to test bird foraging preferences for fruits of two established alien shrubs (Lantana camara, Solanum mauritianum), two emergent alien shrubs (Myoporum tenuifolium, Pittisporum undulatum) and two indigenous shrubs (Chrysanthemoides monilifera, Olea europaea subsp. africana). Overall the simplest quantitative measure, namely that of bird visitation frequency identified foraging preferences of individual bird species for fruits of alien and indigenous shrubs. Moreover, even the more complex measures of numbers of foraging birds, foraging times and products of these in the computed consumption intensity and seed dispersal efficiency were positively correlated to visitation frequency. There was a distinct preference of several, especially heavily fugivorous, bird species for fruits of established alien than indigenous shrubs and several moderately fugivorous bird species preferred fruits of emergent than established alien shrubs. Intricate photographic and experimental approaches were applied to obtain precise numerical data on seed removal rates by birds from the alien and indigenous shrubs. Deficiencies associated with the experimental approach included its inability to discriminate between asynchronous fruit production and fruit ripening, individual foraging bird species, and fruit consumption by other fruit foraging vertebrates. The advantages of the photographic approach were in its provision of a detailed permanent record of individual foraging bird species, their total numbers and precise foraging times and the proportions of whole fruits consumed, as well as other behavioural foraging traits. Tested also was the proposal that frugivorous birds remove larger amounts of fruits from plants with high fruit production and nutritional contents and that the germination of the bird-ingested seeds is enhanced. In compliance with this proposal, canopy fruit mass and monosaccharide content were all positively correlated with the total numbers of seeds removed by birds and viable seeds excreted by birds. Only defecated seeds of the indigenous C. monilifera and alien L. camara displayed enhanced germination following their ingestion by birds Seed dispersal distances of alien and indigenous shrubs by birds were estimated from published records of bird body masses, gut retention times of consumed seed and flight speeds. Estimated seed dispersal distances ranged between 0.41 and 0.81 km for the subset of heavily and moderately frugivorous bird species examined. However, their foraging distances derived from birdring recapture records were much greater, these peaking between 2.5 and 50 km in some heavily frugivorous bird species. It is concluded 1. that bird visitation frequency be applied as the most efficient and practical quantitative measure for gauging bird foraging preferences in future surveys which should involve large complements of indigenous, emergent and established alien species, 2. that flight speeds and gut passage times of ingested alien and indigenous seeds need to be measured in local bird species so long distance seed dispersal potentials can be more precisely determined and 3. that control measures should be focused on eradicating especially emergent alien species with fleshy fruits from urban environments to prevent their transport by birds into adjacent natural areas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het die voorstel getoets dat uitheemse vlesige-vrug struike meer effektief kompeteer vir voël verspreidingsdienste as inheemse vlesige-vrug struike. Verskeie kwantitatiewe maatstawwe van toenemende kompleksiteit was toegepas om die voedingsvoorkeure van voëls vir vrugte van twee gevestigde uitheemse struike (Lantana camara, Solanum mauritianum), twee ontluikende uitheemse struike (Myoporum tenuifolium, Pittisporum undulatum) en twee inheemse struike (Chrysanthemoides monilifera, Olea europaea subsp. africana) te toets. Algeheel het die eenvoudigste kwantitatiewe maatstaf, naamlik voël besoek frekwensie, voedingsvoorkeure van individuele voël spesies vir vrugte van uitheemse en inheemse struike geïdentifiseer. Addisioneel het die meer komplekse maatstawwe soos voël getalle, voedings tye, asook produkte hiervan in die berekende verbruiks intensiteit en saadverspreiding effektiwiteit almal positiewe korrelasies met besoek frekwensie. Predominant vrugtevretende voël spesies het ‘n duidelike voorkeur getoon vir vrugte van gevestigde uitheemse eerder as inheemse struike. Verskeie meer gematigde vrugtevretende voël spesies het egter vrugte van ontluikende eerder as gevestigde uitheemse struike verkies. Ingewikkelde fotografiese en eksperimentele benaderings was gebruik om presiese numeriese data van saad verwyderingstempo’s deur voëls vanaf die bestudeerde struike te bekom. Tekortkominge geassosieerd met dié eksperimentele benadering sluit in die onvermoë om te onderskei tussen asinkrone vrug produksie en vrug rypwording, individuele kos soekende voël spesies, asook vrug verbruik deur ander vrugvretende werweldiere. Die voordele van die fotografiese benadering was die verskaffing van ‘n gedetailleerde permanente rekord van individuele kos soekende voël spesies, hul totale getalle, presiese voedingstye, proporsie heel vrugte verbruik, asook ander voedingsgedrag eienskappe. Ook getoets was die voorstel dat vrugtevretende voëls groter hoeveelhede vrugte verwyder van plante met hoë vrugproduksie en hoë nutriënt inhoud, en dat ontkieming van voëlingeneemde sade verhoogd is. In nakoming met die voorstel, was blaredak vrugte massa en monosakkaried inhoud albei positief gekorreleer met totale aantal sade verwyder deur voëls en lewensvatbare sade uitgeskei deur voëls. Slegs sade van die inheemse C. monilifera en die uitheemse L. camara het verhoogde ontkieming gewys na inname deur voëls. Saadverspreiding afstande van uitheemse asook inheemse struike deur voëls was bepaal vanaf gepubliseerde rekords van liggaams massa, saad behoud tye in die maag na inname, en vliegspoed. Beraamde saadverspreiding afstande het gestrek tussen 0.41 en 0.81 km vir dié subgroep van predominant en gematigde vrugtevretende voël spesies bestudeer. Nogtans was voedings afstande, afgelei van geringde voël hervangs rekords, veel groter, en het gepiek tussen 2.5 en 50 km vir sommige predominant vrugtevretende spesies. Gevolglik weet ons nou dat 1) voël besoek frekwensie toegepas kan word as die mees effektiewe en praktiese kwantitatiewe maatstaf vir die bepaling van voël voedings voorkeure in toekomstige opnames waar komplementêre groepe inheemse, ontluikende en gevestigde uitheemse spesies bestudeer word; 2) vliegspoed en maag passeer tye van ingeneemde uitheemse en inheemse sade gemeet moet word in plaaslike voël spesies sodat langafstand saadverspreiding potensiaal meer presies bepaal kan word; en 3) beheer maatstawwe moet fokus op die verwydering van spesifiek ontluikende uitheemse vlesige-vrug spesies vanuit stedelike omgewings, om sodoende saad vervoer deur voëls na naasliggende natuurlike areas the verhoed.

Clonal plants may be able to cope with spatial heterogeneity due to the physiological integration of ramets. Previous studies demonstrated that benefits of clonal integration increase with patch contrast between individual ramets. However, the same magnitude of contrast may be perceived differently in rich and poor environments. According to the theoretical work of Caraco and Kelly (1991), I expected these benefits to be the greatest in overall poor conditions and high between-patch contrast. To test this hypothesis, I conducted experiments with pairs of ramets of a stoloniferous grass, Agrostis stolonifera, grown in variously nutrient rich conditions. The experiment with pairs of ramet of similar developmental age showed only very weak effect of integration on growth of ramets, although integration significantly improved survival of ramets and also affected root-shoot ratio of ramets. Nevertheless, there were considerable benefits of integration in the experiment with developmentally older mother ramets and their daughter ramets. Contrary to the predictions, the benefits of integration were bigger in rich conditions and they decreased with increasing between-patch contrast. In addition, effect of integration on root-shoot ratio of ramets was opposite to the expected specialization for acquisition...

L’Astyanax mexicanus est un poisson téléostéen utilisé dans les études de microévolution. Au sein de la même espèce, il existe plusieurs populations. Des poissons de surface (SF), vivant en banc dans les rivières d’Amérique Centrale et plusieurs populations cavernicoles (CF), vivant dans l’obscurité des grottes mexicaines. La majorité des populations cavernicoles sont indépendantes et ont dérivé des populations de surface depuis environ un million d’années. Les CF sont aveugles et dépigmentés. D’un point de vue comportemental, les CF ont, entre autres, perdu l’agressivité qui est un caractère important des SF. Ce travail caractérise finement les différences comportementales entre poissons de surface et cavernicoles, et analyse les modifications des circuits neuronaux qui sont à l’origine de la perte du comportement agressif chez les poissons cavernicoles. Les tests d’agressivité montrent que deux SF s’attaquent dix fois plus que deux CF. La distribution temporelle des attaques diffère également entre les populations. En effet, la majorité des attaques entre CF ont lieu lors des premières minutes du test, alors que chez les SF la fréquence des attaques augmente au cours du temps. L’étude de l’agressivité de SF rendu aveugle ou dans le noir montre que la perte d’agressivité chez les CF n’est pas due au phénotype aveugle. De plus, l’agressivité des poissons hybrides suggère que le comportement agressif des SF est génétiquement codé. Après des expériences pharmacologiques utilisant des composés interférant avec le système sérotoninergique ou soumettant les SF et les CF à différents régimes alimentaires, nous faisons l’hypothèse selon laquelle la perte d’agressivité des CF est une adaptation à la vie cavernicole, ceux-ci recherchant en permanence de la nourriture. En revanche, l’agressivité des SF est étroitement reliée à la hiérarchie existant au sein du banc, la dominance étant elle-même liée en partie à la concentration de la sérotonine présente au niveau du raphé. La concentration de sérotonine est inversement corrélée à l’agressivité. D’un point de vue neuroanatomique, l’organisation du système sérotoninergique est similaire entre les populations. Cependant, l’un des noyaux hypothalamiques est plus large chez les CF et contient plus de neurones. Par ailleurs, l’agressivité et le taux de sérotonine sont connus pour être inversement corrélés chez les vertébrés. De fait, des traitements pharmacologiques augmentant le taux de sérotonine diminuent l’agressivité des SF et modifient leur profil d’agressivité, mimant celui des CF. Cependant, le système sérotoninergique n’est pas le seul à être modifié dans le système nerveux des CF. En réalité, les dosages HPLC montrent que l’ensemble des systèmes aminergiques est amplifié chez les CF, conduisant à l’apparition d’un phénotype « hyper-aminergique ». Les études neuro-anatomiques et enzymologiques des systèmes sérotoninergiques et catécholaminergiques montrent que des variations du nombre de neurones et de l’activité des enzymes de dégradation des neurotransmetteurs aminergiques convergent vers cette amplification et sont à l’origine de ce phénotype. Par ailleurs, et en parallèle, les méthodes de transgénèses stables ont été testées chez l’Astyanax. Cette étude montre que l’utilisation des méganucléases et des transposons sont utilisables chez notre poisson modèle et permettent l’établissement de lignées transgéniques. Cet outil permettra de tester à l’avenir l’importance et la fonction des gènes d’intérêt lors du développement du système nerveux, ainsi que lors de la mise en place des comportements. / Astyanax mexicanus is a teleost fish model used for evolution studies. Among the same species, there are several populations of sighted surface fish (SF) that live in Mexican rivers and at least twenty nine populations of blind cavefish (CF) that live in perpetual darkness. Several of these cave populations are independently-evolved, and they derived from surface fish-like ancestors. CF have lost their eyes and their pigmentation, and they have also evolved a number of behavioral traits. Most CF populations have lost the aggressive behavior that is a trademark of their SF counterparts. Here we characterized behavioural differences between SF and CF and we investigated the modifications of neural networks responsible for the loss of aggressiveness in cavefish. We first characterized aggressive behavior in Astyanax. Using an “intruder assay”, we found that SF not only attack ten times more during a one hour period, but also show a significantly different pattern in the temporal distribution of their attacks: while two CF attack mostly during the first minutes, SF attack more and more frequently as time goes by during the test. Then we demonstrated that the loss of aggressiveness in CF is not due to their blind phenotype, and using hybrids and independently-evolved populations of CF we could suggest that aggressive behavior in SF is genetically-encoded. After pharmacological experiments using compounds modulating serotonin levels or using SF and CF receiving different food regimes, we hypothesized that the loss of aggressiveness of CF may correspond to an adaptation to cave life, as they spend most of their time looking for food. On the other hand, the aggressiveness of SF is closely connected to the hierarchy within the school, dominance itself being mainly due to the levels of serotonin in the raphe. Thus, serotonin levels are inversely correlated with agonistic behavior. Neuroanatomical analyses on SF and CF brains showed an identical organization of their serotonin neuronal networks, but one of the serotonergic hypothalamic nucleus was significantly larger in CF and contained more neurons. Treatments of embryos with cyclopamine, an inhibitor of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, showed that this enlargement is induced by the Shh signaling pathway, itself known to be amplified during the development of the CF. In fact, the serotonergic system is not only one that is changed in the nervous system of CF. HPLC measurements showed that all aminergic systems are amplified in CF, which show a sort of “hyper-aminergic” phenotype. Studies comparing the neuroanatomy of aminergic systems and the activity of amine-degrading enzymes between SF and CF showed that variations in both the number of neurons and the activity of degrading enzymes converge towards an amplification of aminergic neurotransmission and are responsible for the phenotype. In parallel, we established transgenesis methods in Astyanax. We showed that techniques using meganuclease or transposons are valuable with our fish species to generate transgenic lines. This tool will be used to test the importance and function of genes of interest in the development of the nervous system and associated behaviors.

Ce travail propose une contribution originale à la compréhension du comportement spatial des pêcheurs, basée sur les paradigmes de l'écologie comportementale et de l'écologie du mouvement. En s'appuyant sur des données du 'Vessel Monitoring System', nous étudions le comportement des pêcheurs d'anchois du Pérou à des échelles différentes: (1) les modes comportementaux au sein des voyages de pêche (i.e. recherche, pêche et trajet), (2) les patrons comportementaux parmi les voyages de pêche, (3) les patrons comportementaux par saison de pêche conditionnés par des scénarios écosystémiques et (4) les patrons spatiaux des positions de modes comportementaux, que nous utilisons pour la création de cartes de probabilité de présence d'anchois. Pour la première échelle, nous comparons plusieurs modèles Markoviens (modèles de Markov et semi-Markov cachés) et discriminatifs (forêts aléatoires, machines à vecteurs de support et réseaux de neurones artificiels) pour inférer les modes comportementaux associés aux trajectoires VMS. L'utilisation d'un ensemble de données pour lesquelles les modes comportementaux sont connus (grâce aux données collectées par des observateurs embarqués), nous permet d'entraîner les modèles dans un cadre supervisé et de les valider. Les modèles de semi-Markov cachés sont les plus performants, et sont retenus pour inférer les modes comportementaux sur l'ensemble de données VMS. Pour la deuxième échelle, nous caractérisons chaque voyage de pêche par plusieurs descripteurs, y compris le temps passé dans chaque mode comportemental. En utilisant une analyse de classification hiérarchique, les patrons des voyages de pêche sont classés en groupes associés à des zones de gestion, aux segments de la flottille et aux personnalités des capitaines. Pour la troisième échelle, nous analysons comment les conditions écologiques donnent forme au comportement des pêcheurs à l'échelle d'une saison de pêche. Via des analyses de co-inertie, nous trouvons des associations significatives entre les dynamiques spatiales des pêcheurs, des anchois et de l'environnement, et nous caractérisons la réponse comportementale des pêcheurs selon des scénarios environnementaux contrastés. Pour la quatrième échelle, nous étudions si le comportement spatial des pêcheurs reflète dans une certaine mesure la répartition spatiale de l'anchois. Nous construisons un indicateur de la présence d'anchois à l'aide des modes comportementaux géo-référencés inférés à partir des données VMS. Ce travail propose enfin une vision plus large du comportement de pêcheurs: les pêcheurs ne sont pas seulement des agents économiques, ils sont aussi des fourrageurs, conditionnés par la variabilité dans l'écosystème. Pour conclure, nous discutons de la façon dont ces résultats peuvent avoir de l'importance pour la gestion de la pêche, des analyses de comportement collectif et des modèles end-to-end. / This work proposes an original contribution to the understanding of fishermen spatial behavior, based on the behavioral ecology and movement ecology paradigms. Through the analysis of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data, we characterized the spatial behavior of Peruvian anchovy fishermen at different scales: (1) the behavioral modes within fishing trips (i.e., searching, fishing and cruising); (2) the behavioral patterns among fishing trips; (3) the behavioral patterns by fishing season conditioned by ecosystem scenarios; and (4) the computation of maps of anchovy presence proxy from the spatial patterns of behavioral mode positions. At the first scale considered, we compared several Markovian (hidden Markov and semi-Markov models) and discriminative models (random forests, support vector machines and artificial neural networks) for inferring the behavioral modes associated with VMS tracks. The models were trained under a supervised setting and validated using tracks for which behavioral modes were known (from on-board observers records). Hidden semi-Markov models performed better, and were retained for inferring the behavioral modes on the entire VMS dataset. At the second scale considered, each fishing trip was characterized by several features, including the time spent within each behavioral mode. Using a clustering analysis, fishing trip patterns were classified into groups associated to management zones, fleet segments and skippers' personalities. At the third scale considered, we analyzed how ecological conditions shaped fishermen behavior. By means of co-inertia analyses, we found significant associations between fishermen, anchovy and environmental spatial dynamics, and fishermen behavioral responses were characterized according to contrasted environmental scenarios. At the fourth scale considered, we investigated whether the spatial behavior of fishermen reflected to some extent the spatial distribution of anchovy. Finally, this work provides a wider view of fishermen behavior: fishermen are not only economic agents, but they are also foragers, constrained by ecosystem variability. To conclude, we discuss how these findings may be of importance for fisheries management, collective behavior analyses and end-to-end models.

L'objectif principal de cette thèse est d'étudier comment la sélection naturelle façonne les traits d'histoire de vie et le comportement des animaux en fonction de l'environnement écologique dans lequel ils évoluent. Ce cadre théorique soulève des hypothèses spécifiques concernant les processus de reproduction, de dispersion et d'approvisionnement chez le parasitoïde Ibalia leucospoides. Les expériences d'écologie comportementale et d'écophysiologie menées sur des parasitoïdes femelles d' Ibalia leucospoides démontrent principalement que (1) la proportion d'oeufs matures que possède la femelle à l'émergence est élevée par rapport à sa fécondité potentielle : I. Leucospoides adopte une stratégie proovigénique ; (2) l'alimentation a un effet négligeable sur les femelles adultes : elle n'influence ni la maturation des oeufs, ni la survie, ni les capacités de vol ; (3) dans nos conditions expérimentales, la capacité de vol dépend des caractéristiques morphologiques du parasitoïde (taille et charge alaire) ; et (4) concernant la recherche d'hôtes, les femelles sont capables de discerner des différences dans la qualité des patchs d'hôtes à distance, sans les échantillonner. D'autre part, le temps d'exploitation d'un patch dépend des informations obtenues des patchs voisins. Le succès reproductif du parasitoïde proovigénique Ibalia leucospoides, n'est pas limité par le manque de nourriture chez l'adulte. La stratégie d'allocation des ressources entre les différentes fonctions biologiques, ainsi que le comportement d'approvisionnement adopté par cette espèce de parasitoïde pourraient vraisemblablement être une réponse aux caractéristiques de l'habitat, telle que la distribution fortement agrégée des Sirex noctilio, l'hôte, ainsi que la disponibilité des ressources (i.e. hôtes et nourriture) / The central aim of this thesis is to explore how natural selection shapes life history traits and behaviuors according to the ecological environment in which an animal exists. This overall framework leads to specific hypotheses concerning the reproductive, dispersal and foraging processes in the parasitoid Ibalia leucospoides. The experiments in behavioural ecology and eco-physiology in female parasitoids of Ibalia leucospoides show as main results, that (1) the proportion of the potential lifetime eggs complement that is mature at female emergence is high; (2) low dependency on adult female feeding, not only for egg maturation but also for survival and flight; (3) under our experimental conditions flight capacity depends on the morphological characteristics of the parasitoid (size and wing loading); and (4) regarding host foraging, females accurately assess differences in host patch quality from a distance without the need of displaying a sampling process; in addition that patch exploitation times depend on the information obtained from the surrounding patches. The reproductive success of I. leucospoides, a proovigenic parasitoid, is not constrained by adult food deprivation. Both the resource allocation strategy toward the different biological functions and the foraging behaviour adopted by this parasitoid species may well be in respond to habitat characteristics, such as a strongly aggregated distribution of Sirex noctilio, the host, as well as to the resources availability (i.e. host and food)

Comprendre les décisions prises par les organismes pour s’approvisionner en nourriture est essentiel pour anticiper leurs réactions aux changements de l’environnement. Les oiseaux marins en reproduction partent s’alimenter en mer depuis leur colonie. L’utilisation de GPS miniatures révèle qu’ils effectuent des trajets de dizaines jusqu’à des milliers de kilomètres en quête de proies pour lesquelles nous disposons de très peu d’informations. Les stratégies comportementales qu’ils utilisent pour augmenter leurs chances de rencontrer des proies dans l’environnement marin, et les implications que cela peut avoir vis-à-vis des activités humaines de pêche qui semblent attirer de nombreux oiseaux sont encore très partiellement comprises. Cette thèse propose de réexaminer ces questions en trois chapitres, à travers des simulations théoriques, l’analyse empirique de trajets enregistrés par GPS sur diverses espèces et populations d’oiseaux marins, et le croisement des trajets simultanés d’oiseaux et de bateaux de pêche. Premièrement, les simulations théoriques de marches aléatoires montrent qu’on ne peut pas se servir des phases de ligne droite dans un trajet pour conclure si les oiseaux anticipent où sont leurs proies, ce qui vient nuancer les conclusions de nombreuses études précédentes. L’analyse des biais dans les directions suivies par les oiseaux permet en revanche de comprendre les informations qu’ils utilisent pour décider où s’approvisionner. Deuxièmement, les stratégies de fidélité spatiale individuelle sont comparées entre espèces, populations et contextes écologiques à l’aide de modèles statistiques multivariés (GLMM). De nombreux oiseaux marins font en effet preuve de fidélité individuelle dans la direction qu’ils prennent pour s’approvisionner depuis la colonie, suggérant l’utilisation de mémoire. Nous montrons que c’est également le cas de nombreuses populations et espèces d’oiseaux marins tropicaux, qui restent fidèles à une direction pendant plusieurs jours successifs. Ces résultats sont surprenants et difficiles à expliquer car la plupart des espèces étudiées ciblent des proies très dynamiques et disponibles à un endroit de façon très éphémère. Cela suggère que la mémoire pourrait être plus fréquemment utilisée par les oiseaux marins que ce que l’on supposait, au moins à large échelle spatiale. Finalement, nos analyses sur les réponses des albatros aux bateaux de pêche suggèrent que les albatros modulent leurs réponses en fonction de l’espèce et des contraintes énergétiques, et que les rencontres de bateaux ont peu d’influence sur les stratégies suivies par les individus lors de leur trajet suivant. Ainsi le comportement d’attraction aux bateaux de pêche pourrait être un phénomène local (à l’échelle du rayon de perception) et largement opportuniste. Globalement, nos résultats empiriques ancrés dans un socle théorique solide suggèrent que l’approvisionnement des oiseaux marins ne peut pas se résumer à rencontrer des ressources rares et imprévisibles, et semble pouvoir impliquer des processus de sélection des ressources rencontrées et/ou de choix entre utilisation de mémoire individuelle ou d’information publique. Les ressources anthropiques à ce titre pourraient ne constituer que des ressources parmi d’autres. De nombreux outils d’analyses utilisés ici sont facilement transférables à d’autres oiseaux marins ou d’autres prédateurs à place centrale. Élargir les comparaisons à d’autres organismes est en effet nécessaire pour mieux comprendre les variations complexes mises en évidence ici dans la plasticité comportementale et leurs conséquences vis-à-vis des changements environnementaux. / It is essential to understand how animals make foraging decisions to acquire food in order to better anticipate their responses to environmental changes. Breeding seabirds make central-place foraging trips at sea, from their colony. The deployment of small GPS devices on them reveals that they travel for tens to thousands of kilometers, in search of prey for which very little information is known. The behavioural strategies they use to increase their chances to encounter prey, and the implications of these strategies with regards to human fishing activities remain open questions. This thesis offers to examine these questions in three chapters, through theoretical simulations, empirical analyses of foraging trips of various species and populations of seabirds, and the spatiotemporal matching of seabirds and fishing vessels movements. First, our random walk simulations indicate that straight-line phases within path are not sufficient to conclude that seabirds anticipate where to find their prey, contrary to previous conclusions proposed in the literature. However it is possible and easy to analyze biases in the directions individuals follow when they forage, to infer which sources of information they use to decide where to forage. Second, we compare individual fidelity strategies between species, populations and/or ecological contexts through the use of multivariate statistical models (GLMM). Many seabirds display individual fidelity in the direction they forage from the colony, suggesting they rely on memory. Our results show that this is also the case in different species and populations of tropical seabirds, where individuals can remain faithful to a foraging direction for several consecutive days. These results are surprising and difficult to explain as the species we studied are targeting prey whose distribution is supposedly very stochastic and ephemeral. It suggests that the use of memory might be much more widespread in foraging seabirds than anticipated, at least for decisions at large spatial scales. Finally, our analyses on the responses of albatrosses to fishing boats suggest that their responses can be modulated according to species and energetic constraints, and that encounters of fishing boats during a foraging trip have little influence on the strategy used by individuals on their next foraging trip. The attraction of albatrosses to boats might be mainly a local process (at the scale of the perception range) and may be largely opportunistic. Overall, our empirical results anchored in a solid theoretical framework suggest that seabird’s foraging cannot be summarized as encountering rare and unpredictable resources, but might imply resource selection processes after resources are encountered, and/or a decision as to rely either on memory or public information. With that regard, anthropic resources may only be one type of resources among others for seabirds. Many of the analytical tools used here could be transferred to other seabirds and other central place foragers. Indeed, a wider comparative approach is necessary to understand the complex variations in behavioural plasticity observed here, and their consequences regarding future environmental changes.

Birds are a major pest in vineyards both in New Zealand and overseas. There is a need for new behavioural research on birds' foraging habits and feeding preferences in vineyards, as much of the literature to date is anecdotal. Research on cues to birds' feeding will provide a basis on which new deterrent and control strategies can be devised. Spatial-and temporal bird damage in a small vineyard block was mapped to find if damage was correlated with grape maturity and environmental factors. Vineyard and field observations of bird behaviour using video technology combined with preference experiments aimed to establish the relative roles of grape sugar concentration and colour in avian selection. Proximity of vineyards to bird roosts affects damage levels, regardless of differing maturity between locations. The rate of damage tends to increase exponentially once grape maturity has passed a threshold of 13 °Brix. Bunches positioned closest to the ground receive more damage if blackbirds or song thrushes are the predominant pests. Both sugar concentration and grape colour were found to affect birds' feeding preference, but the importance of the two factors varied between years. Black and green grape varieties were differentially preferred by blackbirds (Turdus merula) and song thrushes (Turdus philomelos) while silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) appeared to have no strong colour preference. It was apparent that there were other, not assessed, grape factors that also affect selection. In small unprotected vineyards that are adjacent to bird roosts the entire grape crop can be taken by bird pests. Besides removing the roosts, which can be beneficial shelterbelts in regions exposed to high winds, growers currently may have no alternative other than to use exclusion netting to keep crops intact. The differential preferences between bird species for variety characteristics suggest that any new deterrents and other strategies to deflect birds from grape crops may need to be species-specific.

This study attempted to explain an apparent inverse relationship between pack ice proximity and breeding success of Black Guillemots (Cepphus grylle) on Cooper Island, a barrier island in the western Beaufort Sea near Barrow, AK. I elucidated the first linear relationship between energy density and body size for the elusive Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida). I discovered and ground-truthed the existence of previously unknown guillemot foraging habitat on small 50 m2 ice floes distant from the pack ice. I developed new daily metrics for quantifying the provisioning to linear (8 d – 18 d) and Post-Linear (19 d – fledge) chicks. I found daily consensus between Linear and Post-Linear chicks about the level of provisioning at the colony. Finally, I explained those daily changes with significant correlations with wind speed and direction. / October 2007

Increased afforestation and protective legislation in the latter half of the 20th Century allowed the British pine marten Martes martes population to recover from near extinction. Although still largely confined to northern Scotland, the marten population is expanding its size and range by utlising coniferous plantation forests which have become increasingly available. However, little is known about the marten’s ecology in plantation forestry, and less about how they may adapt to changing silvicultural trends. This study investigated aspects of pine marten ecology within Morangie forest, a managed plantation in NE Scotland, with the ultimate aim of formulating management guidelines for modern plantation forests. During the course of the study 11 pine marten were radiotracked and their home ranges mapped to examine marten-habitat associations at several spatial scales. Compositional analysis of habitat based on dominant vegetation type showed that martens established their home ranges in areas dominated by mature forest, whilst showing relative avoidance for open heath moor and grazed pasture. Within home ranges, foraging martens utilised patches of graminoid vegetation, such as those typically associated with Microtus voles, in areas with little or no tree canopy cover. These findings provide unequivocal evidence that fine-scale patches of non-forested habitat provide crucial foraging resources for marten, and therefore ought to be provisioned for in forest management plans. To assist the implementation of these requirements in forest planning, a model was developed to predict the fine scale distribution of Microtus-rich foraging habitat for marten using GIS-based habitat variables that are routinely available to forest managers: topographic wetness index, stand tree height and stand basal area. Management recommendations of ways to improve wind-firm plantation forests as habitats for pine marten are provided. To augment the investigation of marten spatial ecology, the diet of martens was examined seasonally through the analysis of contents from c. 2450 scats, 86 % of which were genetically identified as being pine marten in origin. Marten diets displayed marked seasonality, but small mammals, berries and small birds were the principal foods consumed based on both frequency of occurrence and estimated weight of biomass ingested. Comparison of the relative composition of small mammal species in the diet with those available in the environment revealed that marten displayed an indisputable preference for Microtus voles. Such habits demonstrate that the niche of Scottish martens has diverged from those in mainland populations which predominantly prey upon Clethrionomys voles. A comparison of the marten’s winter diet with those found in studies at similar latitudes (58°N) demonstrated that the Scottish diet was more similar to diets at more southerly latitudes as they contained more fruit and fewer large mammals than typically boreal diets. Investigation of inter-annual variation of the marten’s spring diet from five successive years revealed that Microtus were consistently the most important prey species in the diet each year. Indirect evidence of the relative abundance of Microtus suggested that Microtus populations were non-cyclic. Findings are discussed with reference to the unique ecological circumstances confronting marten in the Scotland; typical of insular populations the UK has a depauperate native fauna in comparison with mainland Europe, in addition to this, mild climatic conditions, particularly over winter, and a historically fragmented landscape appear to have allowed the niche of the Scottish marten to diverge from that considered typical elsewhere in its range. The Scottish marten is dependent on both forested and open habitats, and is both a Microtus specialist and trophic generalist.