1/15 Hi , I'm Bob Wong , a behavioural ecologist based at @MonashBiol. In my #AnimBehav2021 plenary titled, "Drugs in our waterways: Nature's high?", I'll be telling you about some of our research in the #BobWongLab on how pollution affects behaviour.

2/15. In my career, I've had the chance to do fieldwork in some pretty amazing places around the. However, even in really remote regions (e.g. Australian ), it was obvious that humans were having a huge effect. I started to: what are the behavioural impacts? #AnimBehav2021

3/15. Changes to animal behaviour are often the first responses we see when environments are altered. In a rapidly changing , these adjustments (if they occur at all) can determine why some animals are able to cope, or even thrive, while others flounder. #AnimBehav2021

4/15. One of the most insidious forms of human-induced environmental change is pollution. In particular, powerful chemicals released into the environment are disrupting the balance of ecosystems, threatening the health of humans and wildlife everywhere. #AnimBehav2021

5/15. As one area of concern, vast quantities of taken by humans and animals end up in rivers, lakes, and even drinking water. This is because many of our remain bioactive when excreted and are not properly removed during wastewater treatment. #AnimBehav2021

6/15. Once in the environment, many are highly resistant to degradation. They can bioconcentrate and bioaccumulate in the food chain. Alarmingly, they are now being detected in the tissues of wildlife everywhere (e.g. fish and invertebrates in Antarctica). #AnimBehav2021

7/15. Many work by targeting receptors that are evolutionarily conserved across vertebrates. This means that designed for and often affect non-target organisms too. #AnimBehav2021

8/15. Members of the #BobWongLab have been investigating behavioural impacts of wildlife exposure to fluoxetine (marketed as Prozac), one of the 's most commonly prescribed antidepressants and an environmental contaminant detected in surface waters everywhere. #AnimBehav2021

9/15. We found that short-term (30 day) exposure to fluoxetine affected mechanisms of sexual selection in mosquitofish. High-fluoxetine exposed exhibited copulatory behaviour compared to unexposed . Fluoxetine exposed also had sperm counts. #AnimBehav2021

10/15. In a separate study, we found that short-term exposure affected activity levels, with mosquitofish being more active, even when there were predatory dragonfly nymphs present. However, effects were non-monotonic, with impacts seen only in low-exposed fish. #AnimBehav2021

11/15. We also found that mosquitofish spent time engaged in freezing behaviour (a common antipredator response) after a simulated predator strike. Interestingly, we found sex-specific differences and, again, evidence of a non-monotonic effect (in ). #AnimBehav2021

12/15. Ok, so short-term exposure affects behaviour, but what about longer term consequences given that in the are often highly persistent? To address this, we have been exposing , in this case guppies, to fluoxetine for multiple generations in mesocosms. #AnimBehav2021

13/15. We found that multigenerational exposure to fluoxetine eroded among-individual variation in behaviour (activity). This is alarming since variation is important in mediating the response of populations to environmental change. #AnimBehav2021

14/15. So, in conclusion, both short- and long-term exposure to pollutants can have important effects on ecologically relevant behaviours. These effects can also be non-monotonic and sex-specific. #AnimBehav2021

For more, see: http://bobwonglab.org 

15/15. Thanks @AnimBehSociety and @asab_tweets, @arc_gov_au for funding, & co-authors, especially @MichaelGBertram, @Martin_J_M_34 & @giovin85 who led the studies discussed. #AnimBehav2021

See you in Melbourne, Australia, for @ISBE2022

http://Isbe2022.com