Research
Behavioural drivers of predator-prey interactions
Interactions between species are mediated by the behaviour of both agents. Interacting species are entangled in behavioural co-evolutionary arms races. My research aims to uncover the behavioural mechanisms that structure predator-prey interactions, from individuals to populations.
Selected publications:
Wooster, E.I.F.; Gaynor, K.M.; Carthey, A.J.R.; Wallach, A.D.; Stanton, L.A.; Ramp, D.; Lundgren E.J. (2023) Animal cognition and culture mediate predator-prey interactions. Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
Wooster, E.I.F.; Ramp, D.; Lundgren, E.J.; Ben-Ami, D.; Bonsen, G.T.; Carroll S.; Carthey, A.J.R; Geisler-Edge, A.; Keynan O.; Olek, Y.; O’Neill, A.J.; Shanas, U.; Wallach, A.D. (2024). Prey responses to foxes are not determined by nativeness. Ecography.
Wooster, E.I.F.; Ramp, D.; Lundgren, E.J.; O’Neill, A.J.; Wallach, A.D. (2021). Red foxes avoid apex predation without increases in fear. Behavioral Ecology.
Advancing ecological and behavioural theory
Predator-prey interactions in the Anthropocene
Humans are reshaping species interactions by driving decline and extinction, destroying habitats and altering animal behaviour. My research looks to uncover how animals, their ecological interactions and ecosystems adapt to human disturbance and the consequences of novel interactions across levels of biological organisation.
Selected publications:
Wooster, E.I.F.; Middleton, O.; Wallach, A.D.; Ramp, D.; Harris, V.K.; Rowan, J.; Schowanek, S.D.; Gordon, C.E.; Svenning, J.C.; Davis, M.; Scharlemann, J.P.W.; Nimmo D.G; Lundgren, E.J.; Sandom, C.J. (2024). Australia’s recently established predators restore complexity to food webs simplified by extinction. Current Biology.
Wooster, E.I.F.; Ramp, D.; Lundgren, E.J.; O’Neill, A.J.; Bonsen, G.T.; Yanco E.; Wallach, A.D. (2022). Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear. Oikos.
Gaynor, K.M.; Wooster, E.I.F.; Martinig, A.; Green, J.; Chen, A.; Cuadros, S.; Gill, R.; Khanal, G.; Love, N.; Marcus, R.; Mills, CL.; Wrensford, K.C.; Wright, N.S.; Mezzini, S.; Marley, Jessa.; Noonan, M.J. (2025). The human shield hypothesis: does predator avoidance of humans create refuges for prey? Ecology Letters.
How and why does behaviour vary through space and time? Uncovering how behavioural variation between and among species evolved remains a central question to biology. My research aims to use synthesis, meta-analysis and macro-ecological, -evolutionary and -behavioural analysis to search for generality and avenues forward in behavioural ecology.
Selected publications:
Wooster, E.I.F.; Whiting, M.J.; Nimmo, D.G.; Sayol, F.; Carthey A.J.R.; Stanton, L.A.; Ashton B.J. Predator-prey interactions as drivers of cognitive evolution. Nature Reviews Biodiversity. In revision. Preprint: https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/9520/
Wooster, E.I.F.; Nimmo, D.G. (2024). Functional trait databases for Macrobehaviour. Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
Wooster, E.I.F.; Lundgren, E.J.; Rowan, J.; Balisi, M.; Svenning, J.C.; Scharlemann, J.P.W.; Sandom, C.J. et al. (2024). The functional traits of the worlds late quaternary mammalian terrestrial predators. Global Ecology and Biogeography.