Behavioral Ecology
Our first line of research focuses on understanding the ecology and evolution of non-breeding and helping strategies. Such strategies are seen in cooperatively breeding birds, mammals and eusocial insects and they have been of interest to evolutionary biologists ever since Darwin pointed out the difficulties that they posed for his theory of natural selection. We have conducted some of the first investigations of non-breeding strategies in marine fishes: the anemonefish Amphiprion percula, in Papua New Guinea, and the goby Paragobiodon xanthosomus, in Australia. In both cases we have demonstrated that non-breeders tolerate their situation because they will inherit territories in the future and there are strong ecological and social constraints. Our work illustrates the importance of understanding future benefits and hidden threats if we are to understand the behavior of individuals in animal societies.
Relevant publications
2014 Buston, P. M. & Wong, M. Y. L. Why some animals forgo reproduction in complex societies.
American Scientist 102: 290-297. (Nominated by Editor of American Scientist for an APEX Award)
2013 Wong, M. Y. L. & Buston, P. M. Social systems of habitat specialist reef fishes: tests of key
concepts in evolutionary ecology.
2013 Wong, M. Y. L., Medina, A., Uppaluri, C., Arnold S., Seymour, J. & Buston, P. M. Consistent
behavioral traits and behavioral syndromes in pairs of the false clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris.
2012 Wong, M. Y. L., Fauvelot, C., Planes, S. & Buston, P. M. Discrete and continuous reproductive
tactics in a hermaphroditic society.
2011 Buston, P. & Elith J. Determinants of reproductive success in dominant pairs of clownfish:
a boosted regression tree analysis.
Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 528-538.
2009 Buston, P. Fauvelot, C. Wong, M. & Planes, S. Genetic relatedness in groups of humbug
damselfish Dascyllus aruanus: small, similarly-sized individuals are close kin.
Molecular Ecology 18: 4707-4715. (Cover photo).
of transactional and tug-of-war models.
Behavioral Ecology 20: 672-684. (Cover photo).
2008 Wong, M., Munday, P., Buston, P. & Jones, G. Fasting or feasting in a fish social hierarchy.
Current Biology 18: R372-R373.
2008 Wong, M. Y. L., Munday, P. L., Buston, P. M. & Jones, G. P. Monogamy when there is the
potential for polygyny: tests of multiple hypotheses in a group-living fish.
Behavioral Ecology 19: 353-361.
2007 Buston, P. M. & Balshine, S. Cooperating in the face of uncertainty: a consistent framework for
understanding the evolution of cooperation.
Behavioural Processes 76: 152-159. (Cover photo).
2007 Buston, P. M., Bogdanowicz, S. M., Wong, A. & Harrison, R. G. Are clownfish groups composed of
relatives? Analysis of microsatellite DNA variation in Amphiprion percula.
Molecular Ecology 16: 3671-3678. (Cover photo).
2007 Buston, P. M. & García, M. B. An extraordinary life span estimate for the clown anemonefish.
2007 Buston, P., Reeve, K., Cant, M., Vehrencamp, S. & Emlen, S. Reproductive skew and evolution of
group dissolution tactics: a synthesis of concession & restraint models.
Animal Behaviour 74: 1643-1654.
2007 Wong, M. Y. L., Buston, P. M., Munday, P. & Jones, G. P. The threat of punishment enforces
peaceful cooperation and stabilizes queues in a coral reef fish.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 274: 1093-1099.
2006 Buston, P. M. & Cant M. A. A new perspective on size hierarchies in nature: patterns
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 89-95.
2004 Buston, P. M., Munday, P. L. & Warner, R. R. Sex change and body size in animals.
2004 Buston, P. M. Territory inheritance in the clown anemonefish.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B (Suppl.) 271: S252-S254.
2004 Buston, P. Does the presence of non-breeders enhance the fitness of breeders? An experimental
analysis in the clown anemonefish Amphiprion percula.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 57: 23-31.
2003 Buston, P. M. Size and growth modification in clownfish.
2003 Buston, P. Forcible eviction and prevention of recruitment in the clown anemonefish.
Behavioral Ecology 14: 576-582.
2003 Buston, P. Mortality is associated with social rank in the clown anemonefish.
Cooperation, Conflict and Negotiations in Animal Societies
