Predicting the Ability of Marine Mammal Populations to Compensate for Behavioral Disturbances

This project aims to develop new prospective analytical tools to determine the ability of marine mammal populations to compensate for behavioural disturbances. We aim for these tools to be generic and applicable in data-poor situations. To do so, we will extend on recent advances in behavioral ecological modelling in which behavioral strategies are defined using hierarchical models where behavior is a state emerging from a number of hidden processes. This hidden process is formalised as a system of linear equations in which motivations and condition influences behavior and behavior feeds back on motivation levels and condition. We focus on defining the state resilience of behavioral strategies by analyzing the transient dynamics of those behavioral strategies (system of linear equations). This will provide a framework to inform the propensity for population consequences to emerge from behavioral disturbances.