Here we present the workflows and datasets used in the analyses conducted for the journal article Gee et al. (in prep) "Ranging after reintroduction: do behavioural traits predict dispersal into new territory?".
Reintroductions are an important tool for reversing biodiversity loss, and there is increasing evidence that individual behavioural syndromes (e.g., personality and plasticity) of founders can drive their outcomes. Despite this, there are no known documented cases of selecting founders based on personality and plasticity, perhaps because this can be laborious and costly.
To address this, we developed a rapid, field-based behavioural assay method and trialled it on eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) from two self-selecting populations: (1) the original safe haven where the species was reintroduced, and (2) a new, adjacent haven that eastern quolls could disperse to but not leave. We aimed to determine whether rapid field assays could detect behavioural differences between these populations, and whether these differences influence these populations’ dynamics and traits.
We found significant demographic, morphological, and behavioural differences between the two populations, with those in the original haven being more likely to be behaviourally proactive (i.e., lower latencies to emerge, greater activity levels) and plastic (more able to change behaviour over time). Those in the new haven were more likely to be reactive (greater latencies to emerge, and lower activity levels) and rigid, have greater body weights and condition scores, and be aged 1–2 years old (as opposed to the original haven where their ages ranged the full life expectancy of <4 years old).
We have demonstrated a novel method for conducting rapid field-based behavioural assessments of a reactive mammal, and provided researchers with a practical a tool to explore behavioural syndromes and how they influence reintroduction outcomes and population dynamics.
This repository follows an organised structure for clarity and reproducibility:
archive\: superseded datasets and workflowsinput\: raw and reference datasets (e.g., tables, spatial files)output\: results from analyses (e.g., tables, plots, maps)metadata\: API key, citation, and licence files.gitattributes: repository-specific Git settings.gitignore: files to exclude from version controlanalyses.Rmd: R Markdown with analysis workflowsproject.Rproj: RStudio project file for consistent setupREADME.md: project overview and usage guidetutorial.html: rendered summary of analyses and results
Unless otherwise stated, all code in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. We kindly ask that you cite the relevant publication(s) or this repos if you reuse or adapt our code.