MISS LEAH GRAY

Biography

PhD Student researching the impacts of agricultural wetland management and predation pressure on the breeding success of wading birds on the Orkney Islands, with specific focus on the effects of the ongoing stoat invasion and eradication scheme. The islands support internationally important densities of breeding waders, and my project aims to advise the development of effective agricultural wetland management to improve breeding wader outcomes. The project is in collaboration with the RSPB, NatureScot, and The Orkney Native Wildlife Project. 

Before starting my PhD, I graduated in Zoology from The University of St Andrews beginning research in nest building behaviour in blue tits, specifically demonstrating how temperature changes influenced the timing of nest building behaviours. Continuing on to a Masters by Research project, my research focussed on group anti-predator behaviour in flocks of Eurasian oystercatchers on Eden Estuary, demonstrating how oystercatchers transfer departure information between group members and how the group processes departure information to co-ordinate decisions. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347223001331

I am passionate about conserving Scotland’s avian biodiversity and connecting people to nature through bird watching. In my free time I most enjoy being outside with my dog, usually with binoculars in hand. I am also training as a bird ringer, monitoring the survival of important Scottish bird species such as crossbills.

Prizes and Awards

Deans Award 2019 & 2021. University of St Andrews. Awarded to undergraduate students who demonstrated a high level of academic achievement 

Current Research

Developing effective agricultural wetland management to reduce predation and improve wader breeding outcomes

This project seeks to understand the key drivers of breeding success and population change in nationally important, yet declining, wading bird populations on the Orkney islands. Specifically, the influences of predation and land management intensity. Anthropogenic changes are driving biodiversity losses worldwide with habitat degradation causing many of these declines, however, the extent to which impacts are direct (loss of foraging or breeding locations) or indirect (altering predation through habitat simplification or fragmentation) often remains unclear. In wading birds, population declines are largely underpinned by widespread decreases in breeding success, likely driven by widespread intensification of agricultural practices beginning in the second half of the 20th century. 

This work will address critical questions in predator-prey ecology and conservation management, aiming to advise the development of effective agricultural wetland management to improve breeding wader outcomes. This research will contribute to our understanding of ongoing wader declines, and how management of wetland areas  within the broader farmed landscape can address this, with applications for Scotland, the UK, and Europe. 

Past Research

Social Information Transmission and False Alarms

This research focussed on the social transfer of predator information in groups of prey animals, with specific highlight on the surprisingly low reliability of social predator information in many group living species. False alarms (alarm behaviours without genuine threat) are frequent across a range of species and are likely a significant but underappreciated cost of group living. Alarm information from conspecifics can vary greatly in accuracy, and in some species alarm information is false more often than not. How animals react to perceived predator threats - both real and imagined - has clear impacts on survival, and understanding how animals make decisions when information is of ambiguous quality is of importance to both behavioural theorists and ecologists. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12932

In observational studies in flocks of roosting Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), it was demonstrated that individuals transfer departure information locally between neighbouring birds and that mass group decisions are likely regulated through consensus (the quorum response). The use of consensus decision making allows animals to dampen the spread of poor information by decreasing the influence of a small number of misinformed individuals. In lab experiments, three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were used to experimentally alter factors which were theorised to influence false alarm rate including group size, predator vulnerability, and visual background complexity. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347223001331

Supervisor: Dr Mike Webster (The University of St Andrews)

St Andrews Blue Tit Project - Nest Building

This research focussed on the temporal aspects of nest building, specifically demonstrating how lower temperatures correlated with the pausing of nest construction during in blue tits. With nest building decisions tied to temperature in terms of both temporal aspects (nest initiation, pausing behaviour) and physical nest characteristics (nest weight, proportion of insulation material), shifting temperatures could significantly alter nest building dynamics in blue tits. 

Supervisor: Dr Sophie Edwards and Dr Sue Healy (The University of St Andrews)

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Guest Presentation - University of St Andrews Taught Masters Course.

Laboratory demonstrator and tutor - University of St Andrews - First year biology laboratory skills, Statistics and R, Ecology, Comparative Physiology, Evolution