Good news: Animal behaviour study could help early detection of environment change
Last updated 8/5/2010 9:29:08 AM
Animal behaviour study could help early detection of environment change
New research is to investigate how the behaviour of animals can be used to allow earlier detection and warnings of environmental change.
"Animals can respond almost immediately to deteriorating environments by altering their behaviour, so studying behaviours can provide early warning of environmental impacts," explained Glasgow University researcher Dr Ross Macleod. "This can potentially allow time for us to respond to and reduce harmful effects before they become critical."
A Royal Society of Edinburgh fellowship will provide five years funding for Ross to research this fascinating area of science. The research could help develop monitoring methods that would of the impacts that climate and other changes are having on the biodiversity of our natural environments.
"This fellowship is an exciting opportunity for me to develop ecological theory with the potential to help us better understand and predict how the natural world will respond to human driven environmental changes," Ross said.