Altering reality – sensory tactics to manage wildlife and conserve threatened species

Abstract

Animals interact with their worlds using sensory information (sounds, smells, sights) that is perceived differently by each species. This sensory information and how it is interpreted underpins most behaviours, but especially foraging decisions. Creating sensory misinformation, that is uninformative or unrewarding cues, is a new approach with applications for managing wildlife and conserving threatened species across a range of global contexts. Here we discuss recent research that demonstrates the power of strategically deploying olfactory misinformation to reduce predation on birds by predators, consumption of vulnerable seedlings by herbivores, and seeds by rodents as well as how multimodal misinformation may work. Single and multimodal sensory tactics can alter foraging decisions by both herbivores and predators, with profound consequences for the survival of prey and plants. There remains much to understand regarding sensory perception and learning but results to date suggest there are enormous opportunities to harness innovative sensory tactics in the future to improve many conservation and wildlife management scenarios.