Animal behavior has become a frequently used tool in modern ecology and ecotoxicology, where laboratory behavioral traits are recognized as sensitive endpoints for assessing natural behavior or non-lethal effects of pollutants on animals. Within these research fields, behavioral traits measured in laboratory environments have been used to formulate predictions of ecological consequences that accompany specific behavior. However, the predictive power of behavioral traits measured in simplified laboratory environments for complex natural aquatic ecosystems has been questioned. In this study, I have examined to what extent behavioral changes, noted in laboratory settings in response to chemical stressors (an anxiolytic drug) or visual cues of black and white bottom substrates, are also expressed in the wild. In my first experiment, I scrutinized whether reduced social behavior previously shown to occur in the lab for European perch (Perca fluvatilis) in response to oxazepam also occurs within a natural lake subjected to oxazepam. The in situ behavior was measured using high temporal resolution (3 sec) acoustic telemetry. In my second experiment, I assessed if the Atlantic salmon’s (Salmo salar) preference for black bottom substrates (scototaxis) in laboratory assays could be utilized for guiding migrating Atlantic salmon in situ. I show that: i) Oxazepam does not affect the social (association) behavior or the social network structure of perch in natural settings, in contrast to laboratory-based predictions; ii) Atlantic salmon show a preference for black bottom substrates both in laboratory- and natural environments. My study with oxazepam underlines that abiotic environmental factors and collective decision making in-situ, can override the anti-social behavioral effects of oxazepam on perch in a natural Lake. However, there seems to be potential in using laboratory behavioral assays to predict behavior in the wild, given that there is a tendency for migrating salmon to follow black bottom substrates both in laboratory environments and in streams.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-172154 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Veenstra, Arno |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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