Behavioural Ecology of Reef Sharks 

Understanding the behavioural ecology of animals and especially how individual behaviour affects population organization and structure is important for our understanding of population functioning and vulnerability assessment. To understand how shark populations function at an island scale, it is important to apprehend and integrate the different components of their behavioural ecology, including for example movement patterns, social organization, reproductive ecology or genetic population structure, as well as the links between these components. Non-invasive tools are now available to marine biologists who want to investigate the complexity of their population structure as well as determining their trophic role in the ecosystem and determining their vulnerability to anthropogenic and environmental pressures. This course therefore presents a quick overview of methods and approaches to investigate shark behavioural ecology.