Individual to group level behaviour in animals

Research focusing on how individual characteristics may impact group level behaviour
Shoal of fish.
Our research focuses on individual characteristics, specifically whether there are consistent differences between individuals and how this may link to group level behaviour. We are also interested in understanding how cooperation and conflict shape interactions within groups; from closely-related families living in stable structured groups, through to unrelated individuals existing in large, dynamic and ephemeral social aggregations.
Dr Nikolaus von Engelhardt studies the shaping of individual development by early environmental effects, especially social influences and how individual differences in behaviour relate to physiological differences, especially in the endocrine system.
Dr Mark Whiteside uses a novel system, pheasant rearing, to research how social environments (sex ratios; group sizes) can influence the cognitive (associative learning, memory), physiological (colouration, secondary sexual traits) and behavioural (vigilance patterns, aggression levels) development and how in turn, these can shape social structures (sexual segregation, affiliation, networks) and interactions (mate preference).
Dr Alexander Wilson's research is focused on understanding how individual-level attributes (behaviour, physiology, morphology, personality) influence higher-level (groups, populations) processes in terms of ecology and evolution.
Professor Mark Briffa investigates how consistent individual variation in behaviour underlies interactions between individuals and whether this variation is adaptive.
PhD student Ari Drummond examines the effects of biotic interactions and abiotic variability on the behaviour (e.g. information processing, animal personality, and competition) of intertidal hermit crabs, and the (eco-) physiological and anatomical correlates of that behaviour.
PhD student (Supervisor Dr Alexander Wilson ) Ben Ellis's research focuses on the influence of individual differences in personality on the reproductive behaviour of corkwing wrasse, a nest building fish. As well as the role of individual recognition in informing the behavioural response of parental males of this species to threats posed by sneaker males.
Small bird (Zebra Finch or Taenopygia guttata) perched on the top of a log

Key papers

Key research papers relating to individual to group level behaviour in animals

  • Wilson ADM, Schaerf TM & Ward AJW 2022 'Individual and collective behaviour of fish subject to differing risk-level treatments with a sympatric predator' Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 76, (12) , DOI Open access
  • Beardsworth CE, Whiteside MA, Capstick LA, Laker PR, Langley EJG, Nathan R, Orchan Y, Toledo S, van Horik JO & Madden JR 2021 'Spatial cognitive ability is associated with transitory movement speed but not straightness during the early stages of exploration' Royal Society Open Science 8, (3) 201758-201758 , DOI Open access
  • Beardsworth CE, Whiteside MA, Laker PR, Nathan R, Orchan Y, Toledo S, Horik JO & Madden JR 2021 'Is habitat selection in the wild shaped by individual‐level cognitive biases in orientation strategy?' Ecology Letters 24, (4) 751-760 , DOI Open access
  • Langley EJG, van Horik JO, Whiteside MA, Beardsworth CE, Weiss MN & Madden JR 2020 'Early‐life learning ability predicts adult social structure, with potential implications for fitness outcomes in the wild' Journal of Animal Ecology 89, (6) 1340-1349 Publisher Site , DOI
  • Whiteside MA, Bess MM, Frasnelli E, Beardsworth CE, Langley EJG, van Horik JO & Madden JR 2020 'No evidence that footedness in pheasants influences cognitive performance in tasks assessing colour discrimination and spatial ability' Learning & Behavior 48, (1) 84-95 Publisher Site , DOI Open access
  • Wilson ADM, Burns ALJ, Crosato E, Lizier J, Prokopenko M, Schaerf TM & Ward AJW 2019 'Conformity in the collective: differences in hunger affect individual and group behavior in a shoaling fish' Behavioral Ecology , DOI Open access
  • Wilson ADM & Kelly CD 2019 'Do alternative reproductive strategies in the Wellington tree weta represent different behavioural types?' Ethology 125, (6) 380-391 , DOI Open access
  • Whiteside MA, van Horik JO, Langley EJG, Beardsworth CE, Capstick LA & Madden JR 2018 'Patterns of association at feeder stations for Common Pheasants released into the wild: sexual segregation by space and time' Ibis 161, (2) 325-336 Publisher Site , DOI
  • Finger JS, Guttridge TL, Wilson ADM, Gruber SH & Krause J 2017 'Are some sharks more social than others? Short- and long-term consistencies in the social behavior of juvenile lemon sharks' Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72, (1) , DOI Open access
  • Bölting S & von Engelhardt N 2017 'Effects of the social environment during adolescence on the development of social behaviour, hormones and morphology in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)' Frontiers in Zoology 14, (1) , DOI Open access
  • Meise K, von Engelhardt N, Forcada J & Hoffman JI 2016 'Offspring Hormones Reflect the Maternal Prenatal Social Environment: Potential for Foetal Programming?' PLOS ONE 11, (1) e0145352-e0145352 Publisher Site , DOI Open access