A. GRUNST BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY & ECOPHYSIOLOGY LAB
Indiana State University
Welcome to my Research Page! Below, I describe my behavioral ecological research in three central areas.
Behavioral diversity in multiple stressor landscapes
The overarching objective of my research is to understand how behavioral diversity arises and is maintained within animal populations, and to explore implications for individual and population-level responses to multiple environmental stressors. In some species, alternative behavioral strategies are relatively discrete, and connected to genetic polymorphisms. In others, behavioral strategies are strongly condition- or age-dependent. Often, both genetics and condition-dependence contributes to variation in behavior, with the potential for gene-by-environment interactive effects. My research has involved understanding the connection between sexually selected plumage pigmentation, physiological condition and reproductive strategies in yellow warblers (Setophagia petechia), and exploring fitness and life-history ramifications (patterns of aging) associated with alternative behavioral strategies in dimorphic white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicolis). Furthermore, a major component of my research involves exploring selective pressures and physiological mechanisms underlying variation in animal personality traits and behavioral syndromes, especially in the context of multiple stressor exposure (e.g. predation, resource limitation, human disturbance). I conduct work on this topic in urban bird populations (also see the urban research section) that are exposed to changing stressor landscapes, and in populations inhabiting environments less influenced by human activities. Please contact me with questions!
Arctic seabird behavioral ecology & ecotoxicology in the context of climate change
Global climate change driven by anthropogenic emissions is transforming abiotic conditions and biotic interactions at unprecedented rates, challenging organisms’ capacity to keep pace through microevolution. Climate change is amplified in the marine-dominated Arctic, where modified oceanic heat transport and elevation of albedo by melting of the cryosphere (sea ice, glaciers) are propelling rates of warming ~4 times the global average. Rapid warming is altering Arctic ecosystem structure, function and phenology, challenging behavioral, physiological and bioenergetic coping mechanisms of Arctic organisms.
Moreover, climate change is also altering exposure of the Arctic biota to chemical contaminants. Though remote from primary emission sources, the Arctic serves as a sink for non-volatile contaminants, including mercury (Hg) and persistant organic pollutants (POPs), which biomagnify through marine food chains. Climate change is leading to release of contaminants from the melting cryosphere, changes in foraging patterns that affect contaminant uptake, and altered contaminant biochemical cycling, including increased methylmercury (MeHg) synthesis in warming oceans. Mounting contamination levels are resulting in some Arctic animals, including many seabirds, leading to the concerning contingency that contamination could limit resiliency to climate change.
As a behavioral ecologist and multiple stressor researcher, I am interested in understanding animal behavioral and bioenergetic responses to Arctic climate change, and in investigating climate change-by-chemical contaminant interactive effects from neglected behavioral ecological and bioenergetic perspectives. Specifically, I am assessing how species differences in ecological energetics and life-history might shape behavioral plasticity in response to climate change, and which physiological (e.g. corticosterone, thyroid hormones) systems and patterns of gene expression might facilitate plasticity. Furthermore, I am also exploring the hypothesis that chemical contamination might inhibits behavioral plasticity in response to climate change in Arctic seabirds, focusing on contaminants of paramount concern in the warming Arctic, including mercury (Hg) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). My postdoctoral research initiative BehavToxArc (funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship from the European Commission; no. 896866) investigated this hypothesis using a keystone, sea ice-adapted Arctic seabird, the dovekie (Alle alle), as a model system. This work was in collaboration with scientists from the French National Science Center and La Rochelle University (see collaborators page) and has provided some of the first evidence that Hg contamination might affect behavioral responses of marine predators to Arctic climate change (Fig. 1 below). I am currently working to expand my research involving behavioral and bioenergetic responses of seabirds to rapid climate change to other study areas and species. Please contact me if you are a student or potential collaborator interested in this project.
Fig. 1. Interaction between dive duration and blood Hg concentrations in predicting inter-dive durations for dovekies, Ukaleqarteq, East Greenland. Open triangles are predicted values with 95% CIs for birds varying in Hg levels across the observed range. Closed points are observed values. Dovekies with high Hg contamination increased inter-dive duration with dive duration, whereas less contaminated individuals did not.
*This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 896866.
Behavioral ecology and ecophysiology in urban environments
Urbanization is a major source of habitat alteration across the planet, and as such a growing factor influencing population dynamics and evolution. Urban animals are exposed to new environmental conditions, including frequent human disturbance, light and noise pollution, chemical contaminants, altered thermal conditions, and changes in resource distribution and predation pressure. Many of these factors can act as stressors, and promote evolution of new physiological and behavioral patterns to promote better adaptation to the urban environment. As a behavioral ecologist, I am particularly interested in understanding how multiple stressors within urban landscapes affect the evolution and phenotypic expression of animal behavior (especially animal personality) and cognition, and which phsyiological mechanisms are implicated. Moreover, I am interested in understanding the fitness ramifications of urban life, and whether urban animals exhibit changes in life-history strategy relative to rural counterparts, such as changes in reproductive rates or rates of senescence.
My past work in this area has involved studying animal personality variation (repeatable among individual differences in behavior) in suburban Belgian great tits at the University of Antwerp (see collaborator page for information about the research group) with respect to levels of metal (lead, cadmium) pollution and urban disturbance (proximity to roads, trails, human distrubance) on territories. My work in this study system has provided some of the first evidence that exposure to chemical contaminants might affect expression of personality traits in urban animals, and has yielded interested insights into how neophobia, problem-solving performance and behavioral plasticity vary across urbanization gradients.