Behavioural Diversity of Fishes: Concepts, Drivers and Its Role in Conservation and Management
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT Human activity has altered nearly all ecosystems on Earth, contributing to substantial biodiversity loss across taxonomic, genetic and functional dimensions, from the intraspecific to the ecosystem scale. Yet some components of biodiversity remain hidden or underappreciated, including behavioural diversity. Behaviour is often among the earliest whole‐organism responses to environmental change, and diversity in behaviour can occur within individuals, among individuals, among populations and across communities and ecosystems. This variation may influence growth, survival, reproduction, ecological interactions and responses to anthropogenic pressures, although its effects on population stability and resilience are likely context‐, scale‐ and component‐dependent. In this review, we examine behavioural diversity in fishes, defined here as variation in behavioural traits across levels of biological organisation, from individuals to ecosystems. Our review has two complementary aims. First, we provide a conceptual overview of behavioural diversity, clarify how it differs from related constructs such as personality, plasticity, and behavioural syndromes, and summarise the evolutionary, ontogenetic, ecological, stochastic and anthropogenic processes that generate or erode it. Second, we evaluate why behavioural diversity matters for fish ecology, fisheries management, aquaculture, restoration and conservation. We conclude by identifying key research needs, including improved quantification, stronger empirical links between behavioural diversity and ecological outcomes, and the development of management approaches sensitive to behavioural diversity. More explicit consideration of behavioural diversity should improve our ability to predict fish behavioural diversity responses and to design conservation and management measures that account for variation rather than only average behavioural responses.
Source: Fish and Fisheries
DOI: 10.1111/faf.70107
Authors: Marie Prchalová, Robert Arlinghaus, Samuel Westrelin, Ivan Jarić, Michael G. Bertram, Josep Alós, Henrik Baktoft, Jack A. Brand, Tomas Brodin, Adolfo Cordero‐Rivera, Carlina Feldmann, Ryo Futamura, Stefan Hont, Pascal Klamser, Cecilie Iden Nilsen, Johann Mourier, Karl Øystein Gjelland, Esben Moland Olsen, Polona Pengal, Rubén Rabaneda‐Bueno, Milan Říha, Theresa Rueger, Holger Schielzeth, Marco Signaroli, Marija Smederevac‐Lalić, Christopher T. Monk
Institutions: Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Aix-Marseille Université, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Risques, écosystèmes, vulnérabilité, environnement, résilience, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Ecologie, Société, Evolution, Stockholm University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Monash University, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, Technical University of Denmark, Zoological Society of London, Universidade de Vigo, Bielefeld University, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development, Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences, Technische Universität Dresden, NORCE Research AS, University of Bergen, Ifremer, Université de Montpellier, Marine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, Newcastle University, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, University of Belgrade, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,000
Funders: Biodiversa+, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Národní Agentura pro Zemědělský Výzkum, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G1107399257, G1688211261, G1964854886, G209558301, G2777400950, G2948344765, G324233806, Broken barriers: the impact of mitochondrial introgression on the life-history and behaviour of threatened Atlantic salmon, G410571670, G451917667, G4617990, G5632166549, G5967599077, FZT 118: Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung (iDiv), Brain teaser: are impacts of pharmaceutical pollution on wildlife mediated by brain size?, G6731467812, G6937304458, G7835756285, G8663450563, G929308097
OpenAlex ID: W7204994781