While many species are declining, others are expanding their distributions. These changes have important consequences: some species escape old enemies, while others are moving into new areas with novel threats and opportunities. The propensity to move, however, is likely to vary as it does in humans; ‘shy' animals remain close to home while ‘bold' individuals explore. Here we will test how the mix of individuals' behaviours and genetic backgrounds (their ‘social' and ‘genetic' environments) determine how species respond to threats. We will focus on reed warblers, a small bird that inhabits wetlands across Europe but has been breeding in Finland for only 100 years. We will map observations of birds across Europe, coupled with genomic data that provide clues to an individual's origin, and then conduct experiments where we manipulate the social environment using models and song playbacks to establish if it is neighbours that determine the success of moving to new locations.

2025

2029