Abstract
Wildlife species are harvested for a variety of purposes. This is known to drive phenotypic change, particularly in the context of exploitative harvesting. As the impact of invasive alien species grows, and new conflicts with nuisance species arise, management of these problematic species has emerged as a key topic. Yet there is little to no attention directed to whether and how species are changing as a consequence of lethal control, particularly in terms of their behavior. In this synthesis, we draw attention to the fact that nuisance and invasive species undergoing control are likely to exhibit behavioral change. First, we highlight the potential consequences of behavioral responses to control on species’ management and ecological impact. Second, we provide a framework of mechanisms that can lead to behavioral responses to lethal control. Three categories are described: evolutionary mechanisms, cognitive mechanisms and stress mechanisms. Understanding which mechanism underlies a behavioral response is paramount as it allows to predict how prevalent the response will be in the population. We argue for increased monitoring of behavior by managers and more research efforts into the mechanisms of behavioral responses to novel threats in order to better predict and mitigate unforeseen and unwanted behavioral change.
Highlights
Humans have had profound effects on wildlife for millennia (Burney and Flannery, 2005; Sullivan et al, 2017), yet anthropogenic impacts are reaching unprecedented global scales
Well documented examples include trophy hunting, which has led to the evolution of smaller horns in bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis (Pigeon et al, 2016), and passive fishing gear, such as angling and gill-netting, which induces behavioral timidity in harvested fish populations (Díaz Pauli et al, 2015; Arlinghaus et al, 2017; Andersen et al, 2018)
Despite being an evolutionarily more recent form of anthropogenic predation than exploitative harvesting, wildlife control is, as we argue here, likely to produce phenotypical trait change
Summary
Humans have had profound effects on wildlife for millennia (Burney and Flannery, 2005; Sullivan et al, 2017), yet anthropogenic impacts are reaching unprecedented global scales. The first and most obvious type of behavioral response is one that reduces the likelihood that individuals are removed or captured, thereby jeopardizing the long-term sustainability of management interventions. This effect is well documented in the context of exploitative harvesting, but is not being considered in a management context. The third and potentially most concerning category of behavioral responses to control includes behavioral changes that modify, potentially for the worse, the impact of the very species for which control is being undertaken. Managers need to become aware that such changes in behavior are possible, but likely
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