Study of Intrapopulation Variation in Movement and Habitat Use in a Stream Fish (Cottus Perifretum): Integrating Behavioural, Ecological and Genetic Data
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Faculteit Wetenschappen Departement Biologie Study of intrapopulation variation in movement and habitat use in a stream fish (Cottus perifretum): integrating behavioural, ecological and genetic data Studie van individuele verschillen in verplaatsingsgedrag en habitatkeuze van een riviervis (Cottus perifretum): integratie van gedrag, ecologische en genetische data Dissertation for the degree of Doctor in Science: Biology at the University of Antwerp to be defended by ALEXANDER KOBLER Promotor: Prof. Dr. Marcel Eens Antwerpen, 2012 Doctoral Jury Promotor Prof. Dr. Marcel Eens Chairman Prof. Dr. Erik Matthysen Jury members Prof. Dr. Lieven Bervoets Prof. Dr. Gudrun de Boeck Prof. Dr. Filip Volckaert Dr. Gregory Maes Dr. Michael Ovidio ISBN: 9789057283864 © Alexander Kobler, 2012. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. A naturalist’s life would be a happy one if he had only to observe and never to write. Charles Darwin Acknowledgments My Ph.D. thesis was made possible through a FWO (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen) project-collaboration between the University of Antwerp and the Catholic University of Leuven. First of all, I wish to thank Marcel Eens, the head of the Biology-Ethology research group in Antwerp, who supervised me during all phases of my thesis. Marcel, I am very grateful for your trust and patience. You gave me confidence and incentive during this difficult journey. Hartelijk bedankt! In Leuven, I was guided by Filip Volckaert, the head of the Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics research group, and Gregory Maes. I truly appreciate all your time, patience, knowledge, spontaneous inputs and happy welcomes that you gave me. I learned a lot; also things that go beyond this thesis and are not included in it. Cheers! I also wish to thank my other jury and committee members. Thanks Lieven Bervoets, Gudrun de Boeck, Erik Matthysen and Michael Ovidio for your contribution. I really appreciate it. In the first two months of my work for this thesis, I had also a co-supervisor, Guy Knaepkens, who had initiated the FWO project together with Greg. Although our collaboration was only of short duration, I am happy to have met you. Thanks for believing in my abilities to achieve this high goal. Jammer dat we samen niet meer donderpadden konden vangen. In Leuven, I met Alexandros Triantafyllidis, who was in Filip’s lab for a half year sabbatical. You invested a large part of your time into the “bullhead research”, I am grateful for all your interest and your help to guide me into the world of population genetics. I also met Bart Hellemans in Leuven, a very nice person and true connoisseur of genetic techniques and theory. I learned a lot and really enjoyed working together with you in the laboratory. I got much support from the Ethology research group and I want to name the people that had their part in this thesis, motivated me, taught me Dutch and/or gave me friendship: Berber De Jong (Smakelijk!), Geert Eens, Igor Eulaers, Laszlo Garamszegi (Egészségedre!), Ann Geens (was good to have a nice fairy in the office!), Hector Rivera Gutierrez, Veerle Jaspers, Stefanie Lahaye (keep me updated about the villa), Carsten Lucass, Josie Meaney-Ward, Wendt Müller, Rianne Pinxten, Maud Poisbleau, Peter Scheys (Petri Heil!), Jeff Van Camp, Evi Van 4 den Steen (was wel een leuke tijd), Alain Van Hout, Jonas Vergauwen. Thanks a lot, I have lovely memories of all of you. During my thesis I also shared great moments with the students that I supervised. Big cheers goes out to Dimitri Geelhand de Merxem, Katia Geudens, Yves Humblet and Sofie Vanwetswinkel. I was always warm-hearted welcomed in the Leuven lab. I still see the smiles of Alessia Cariani, Conny Coeckelberghs, Auguste Chocha Manda, Eveline Diopere, Sarah Geldof, Pascal Habluetzel, Tine Huyse, Nellie Konijnendijk, Maarten Larmuseau, Joost Raeymaekers, Jo-Ann De Roos, Dirk Schaerlaekens, Sara Vandamme, Frederik Van den Broeck, Maarten Vanhove and Jeroen Van Houdt. I contemplated about science and biology and lived together with Stuart Baird, Joelle Gouy de Bellocq and Loran Crespin. You were very important to me in my scientific but also personal development. Thanks for sharing life and living room. It was great! Sabine Convent, thanks for having been such as nice landlady, you provided me best circumstances to start a new stage of my life here in Flanders. I also received great support of many other friends and I want to name a few of them: Cordula Altendorf, Volker Huckstorf, Cecilia Iribarren, Karoline Kühnelt, Vito Martorana, Stefan, Susi and Simon Scharpf (the S-family), Solveig Schröder, the triathlon companions Jeroen Bartels, Bob Dejongh, Dieter Delbaere, Fritz Gerhart, Dave Lietaert, Xenia Luxem, Yeray Luxem, Joris Peeters, Bart Van de Velde and Andreas Vicic, and the fishing buddies Mathias Birkle, Lawrence De Geyseleer, Jan Hallerman, Daniel Hammer, Mattias Hempel, Gilles Lambert, Wulf Plickat, Bastian Reetz, Jan-Simon Saamen, Hendrik Schuster, Giovanni Vanhooren and Jens Verschaeren. Good to have friends like you! Many thanks also to Anne’s family, Martine Gijsbrechts and Frederik Moonen, which always supported me and gave me a home in Turnhout. Many thanks! My parents Christine and Georg Kobler, my sister Katja and her love Mark Dongus, my brother Matthias and my grandparents Hilde and Reinhold Rall encouraged and supported me during school, study and Ph.D. It was a long educational journey and I am endlessly grateful that you made this possible. I love you. My girlfriend Anne shared with me the sweet as well as the bitter days during the writing of this thesis. Anne, je was een heel belangrijke (en zo mooie) steun tijdens moeilijke perioden. Zonder jou zal dit nooit zo leuk geweest zijn. Daarvoor ben ik jou oneindig dankbaar. Dikke kus, ik hou van jou. 5 Table of Contents Summary .............................................................................................. 8 Samenvatting ..................................................................................... 10 General Introduction .......................................................................... 13 Intrapopulation heterogeneity in behaviour ............................................. 15 Individual differences in movement behaviour ......................................... 16 Intra-population heterogeneity in habitat use .......................................... 18 Temperament traits ................................................................................. 19 Study species ............................................................................................ 20 Passive integrated transponder telemetry ................................................ 21 Objectives and thesis outline .................................................................... 22 Comparison of laboratory and field behaviour .................................... 27 Abstract .................................................................................................... 29 Introduction ............................................................................................. 30 Materials and methods ............................................................................ 31 Results ..................................................................................................... 33 Discussion ................................................................................................ 35 Temperament traits and habitat use .................................................. 39 Abstract .................................................................................................... 41 Introduction ............................................................................................. 42 Materials and methods ............................................................................ 44 Results ..................................................................................................... 54 Discussion ................................................................................................ 59 Diel movement of bullhead ................................................................ 63 Abstract .................................................................................................... 65 Introduction ............................................................................................. 66 Materials and Methods ............................................................................ 68 Results ..................................................................................................... 71 Discussion ................................................................................................ 75 Period-dependent sex-biased movement ........................................... 79 Abstract .................................................................................................... 81 Introduction ............................................................................................. 82 Materials and methods ............................................................................ 84 Results ..................................................................................................... 88 Discussion ...............................................................................................