The role of substrate-borne vibrations in the behavioural ecology of animals is commonly underresearched, despite indications that many animals (if not most!) can sense and use these vibrations to some extent.
In collaboration with the Save the Elephants conservation charity I aim to research the role of ground vibrations, or seismic vibrations, in behavioural ecology using African elephants as a model.
Due to the large size of African elephants they produce high-energy seismic vibrations whilst walking or vocalising. Although there are good indications that elephants can use these seismic vibrations to communicate with conspecifics, including over long distances, much remains unknown about this mode of communication.
To research how African elephants use seismic vibrations I will perform a series of in-situ seismic playback experiments in which vibrations are seismically recorded from one herd or other seismic source, and later played back to another herd. Additionally I will examine the behaviour of elephants in response to seismic signals that were naturally generated by distant herds of elephants. Finally the spatial behaviour of elephants in response to natural environmental seismic sources will be explored with positional collar data collected by Save the Elephants.
Collectively this work may give an initial indication of how seismic vibrations contribute to the (spatial) behaviour of elephants - invaluable information in a place where conflicts between people and travelling elephants are increasingly common.
