ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4444-4450
Current Organisation
University of Aberdeen
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Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 08-05-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-01-2019
DOI: 10.1111/EVO.13674
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-01-2019
DOI: 10.1111/EVO.13679
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 20-11-2018
DOI: 10.1101/475087
Abstract: Reproductive success is often highly skewed in animal populations. Yet the processes leading to this are not always clear. Similarly, connections in animal social networks are often non-randomly distributed, with some in iduals with many connections and others with few, yet whether there are simple explanations for this pattern has not been determined. Numerous social interactions involve dyads embedded within a wider network. As a result, it may be possible to model which in iduals accumulate social interaction through a more general understanding of the social network’s structure, and how this structure changes over time. We analysed fighting and mating interactions across the breeding season in a population of wild field crickets under surveillance from a network of video cameras. We fitted stochastic actor-oriented models to determine the dynamic process by which networks of cricket fighting and mating interactions form, and how they co-influence each other. We found crickets tended to fight those in close spatial proximity to them, and those possessing a mutual connection in the fighting network, and heavier crickets fought more often. We also found that crickets who mate with many others tended to fight less in the following time period. This demonstrates that a mixture of spatial constraints, characteristics of in iduals and characteristics of the immediate social environment are key for determining social interactions. The mating interaction network required very few parameters to understand its growth and so structure only homophily by mating success was required to simulate the skew of mating interactions seen in this population. This demonstrates that relatively simple, but dynamic processes can give highly skewed distributions of mating success.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-07-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-08-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0951-X
Abstract: Extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, are destructive and influential forces. However, observing and recording the ecological effects of these statistically improbable, yet profound 'black swan' weather events is logistically difficult. By anticipating the trajectory of tropical cyclones, and s ling populations before and after they make landfall, we show that these extreme events select for more aggressive colony phenotypes in the group-living spider Anelosimus studiosus. This selection is great enough to drive regional variation in colony phenotypes, despite the fact that tropical cyclone strikes are irregular, occurring only every few years, even in particularly prone regions. These data provide compelling evidence for tropical cyclone-induced selection driving the evolution of an important functional trait and show that black swan events contribute to within-species ersity and local adaptation.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.217075
Abstract: Intra-group social stability is important for the long-term productivity and health of social organisms. We evaluated the effect of group size on group stability in the face of repeated social perturbations using a cooperatively breeding fish, Neol rologus pulcher. In a laboratory study, we compared both the social and physiological responses of in iduals from small versus large groups to the repeated removal and replacement of the most dominant group member (the breeder male), either with a new male (treatment condition) or with the same male (control condition). In iduals living in large groups were overall more resistant to instability but were seemingly slower to recover from perturbation. Members of small groups were more vulnerable to instability but recovered faster. Breeder females in smaller groups also showed greater physiological preparedness for instability following social perturbations. In sum, we discover both behavioral and physiological evidence that living in larger groups helps to d en the impacts of social instability in this system.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-04-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ETH.12735
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2019.04.009
Abstract: Rigorously evaluating of the ecological impacts of cyclones is logistically challenging. Here we issue a call-to-action to organize a global collaboration initiative to advance cyclone ecology. If successful, this will allow the international community to pose some of the most exciting questions in ecology and provide definitive answers.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-06-2015
Abstract: Examining the relevance of ‘animal personality’ involves linking consistent among- and within-in idual behavioural variation to fitness in the wild. Studies aiming to do this typically assay personality in captivity and rely on the assumption that measures of traits in the laboratory reflect their expression in nature. We examined this rarely tested assumption by comparing laboratory and field measurements of the behaviour of wild field crickets ( Gryllus c estris ) by continuously monitoring in idual behaviour in nature, and repeatedly capturing the same in iduals and measuring their behaviour in captivity. We focused on three traits that are frequently examined in personality studies: shyness, activity and exploration. All of them showed repeatability in the laboratory. Laboratory activity and exploration predicted the expression of their equivalent behaviours in the wild, but shyness did not. Traits in the wild were predictably influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and sunlight, but only activity showed appreciable within-in idual repeatability. This suggests that some behaviours typically studied as personality traits can be accurately assayed in captivity, but the expression of others may be highly context-specific. Our results highlight the importance of validating the relevance of laboratory behavioural assays to analogous traits measured in the wild.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 03-04-2019
Abstract: Life-history theories of senescence are based on the existence of a trade-off in resource allocation between body maintenance and reproduction. This putative trade-off means that environmental and demographic factors affecting the costs of reproduction should be associated with changes in patterns of senescence. In many species, competition among males is a major component of male reproductive investment, and hence variation in the sex ratio is expected to affect rates of senescence. We test this prediction using nine years of demographic and behavioural data from a wild population of the annual field cricket Gryllus c estris. Over these generations, the sex ratio at adulthood varied substantially, from years with an equal number of each sex to years with twice as many females as males. Consistent with the predictions of theory, we found that in years with a greater proportion of females, both sexes experienced a slower increase in mortality rate with age. Additionally, phenotypic senescence in males was slower in years when there were more females. Sex ratio did not affect the baseline mortality rate in males, but females suffered higher age-independent mortality rates when males were in short supply.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2016
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for David Fisher.