Dr. Grant Brown is a Professor of Biology at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. His research group focuses on the chemical, behavioural, and cognitive ecology within freshwater ecosystems. Using a combination of field and controlled laboratory experiments, Dr. Brown’s research aims to shed light on the evolutionary arms race between predator and prey by exploring key questions relating to the ways in which prey assess and respond to variable predation threats and the techniques by which predators compete for food based on variable information. To date, Dr. Brown has published over a total of 180 highly cited (> 9000 citations) peer-reviewed publications in high-profile journals such as Fish and Fisheries, Proceedings of the Royal Society, and Ecological Monographs. He has given 43 invited talks and over 140 conference presentations. Dr. Brown obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of Lethbridge (Comparative Psychology and Neuroscience) and a Ph.D. from Memorial University of Newfoundland (Biopsychology).
Title of talk:
The cognitive ecology of predator-prey Interactions and why it matters.
Abstract
Predation exerts an unforgiving and pervasive selection pressure on prey populations, forcing them to make behavioural trade-offs between the successful detection and avoidance of acute threats and a suite of fitness-related activities such as foraging, courtship, and/or territorial defence. Prey individuals rely on a suite of risk assessment cues to balance such trade-offs and make context-appropriate behavioural decisions. However, conditions of uncertain or unpredictable predation risks can dramatically increase the costs associated with behavioural decisions. Recently, our group has focussed on what biotic and abiotic factors contribute to increasing ‘ecological uncertainty’ among prey populations and how prey respond to increasingly uncertain conditions. Additionally, anthropogenic stressors such as elevated temperature, turbidity, or ambient pH are known to disrupt the availability of risk assessment information; further increasing ‘ecological uncertainty’. My talk will describe some of our recent work, highlighting the sophistication of prey information assessment and decision-making and why predicting the impact of multiple (and interacting) anthropogenic stressors on the decision-making process among prey populations is a critically important question.