Behavior (how animals interact with other organisms and the environment) is critical for individual survival and reproduction, the persistence of populations/species, and the health of ecosystems. Behavioral studies seek to understand how and why animals act differently within and between populations, and to identify factors that drive the evolution of new behaviors. Yet while the current and historical distributions of species are an integral context for understanding behavioral evolution, they are often neglected in behavioral studies. Similarly, the field of biogeography ⎯ how and why biological diversity, or biodiversity, varies across the Earth ⎯ seeks to understand how biodiversity responds to natural and human-mediated change; however, such studies often do not take the behaviors that shape population- and species-level interactions into account. This project lays the foundation for developing an Institute focused on the biogeography of behavior, through the development of a shared and integrative framework for both fields that will enhance our understanding of behavioral evolution, conservation, and ecosystem processes. Activities undertaken by the Institute will include recruitment and training for students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty; development of formal case studies and activities for K-12 and undergraduate classrooms; implementation of a Broadening Bioinformatics Workshop geared towards high school students; and Institute planning activities and pilot projects. The Biogeography of Behavior Institute will merge expertise in the fields of animal behavior and biogeography to develop new empirical tests, mathematical models, and theory to enhance understanding of when and how organisms respond to rapidly changing environments.
Behavior is critical for individual fitness, and ultimately, species’ survival, and it is often an organisms’ immediate response to its biotic and abiotic environment. The historical and current geographic distributions of species are integral to understanding the evolution, development, function, and mechanisms of behavior, and behavior (dispersal, interactions within- and across-species, etc.) is in turn critical for understanding patterns in biogeography. Yet few studies of behavior integrate the biogeographic context and vice versa, leaving major gaps in our ability to interpret empirical results and develop novel hypotheses. The Biogeography of Behavior Institute will bring together scientists from multiple disciplines to develop a comprehensive foundation for integrating the fields of animal behavior and biogeography. Through such integration, the Institute will span questions from cellular to global scales, examining links between genotype and phenotype, adaptability and resiliency across communities, and developing predictions for shifts in populations in response to rapid environmental change. The Institute aims to 1) foster interactions among biologists working in the evolution, development, function, and mechanisms of animal behavior and biogeography, 2) design experiments to explore geographical aspects of behavior and vice versa, and 3) bring together specialists from multiple fields to directly address questions related to large-scale geographic shifts in species distributions or behavioral patterns resulting from climate change, urbanization, and habitat destruction.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
