Uncovering the effects of pharmaceuticals in the wild, beyond individuals to animal communities

Purpose and goal:

This project was terminated early because it is now being financed by the European Commission. Therefore, none of the project objectives have been completed yet. However, for the period of time Vinnova was funding the project experiments for work package 2 were completed. The objective of work package 2, was to identfy whether and how behavioural changes on individuals scale up to shape animal collective behaviour.

Expected results and effects:

Preliminary analysis of the experiments from work package 2 suggest that exposure to pharmaceutical mixtures have anxiolytic behavioural effects on salmon. It is likely that these effects will also lead to a breakdown in collective behaviour. Moreover, in the presence of a predator, unexposed groups will exhibit tighter schools, whereas exposed groups will exhibit significantly looser and less coordinated schools.

This will have implications for the survival of salmon. This will have implications for the survival of salmon during their migration to the sea Approach and implementation:

This project was terminated early because it is now being financed by the European Commission. Therefore, no analysis of the project has begun