Long-term environmental unpredictability increases social information use in zebrafish

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Animal Cognition
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Human-induced environmental changes create unpredictable conditions, challenging animal adaptation.
• Unpredictability may reduce the reliability of independently acquired information, increasing reliance on social information.
• Recency of information becomes crucial for reliability in shifting environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how environmental unpredictability affects the inherent value of information in animals.
• To determine if long-term exposure to unstable conditions alters decision-making strategies.
• To assess changes in social information processing and collective behavior under unpredictable conditions.

Main Methods:

• Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were housed for 3 months in either Dynamic (unpredictable) or Stable environments.
• Environmental variables included water temperature, feeding times, habitat complexity, group size, and membership.
• Behavioral assays assessed information-seeking, social cue sensitivity, decision-making, and schooling coordination.

Main Results:

• Fish in Dynamic conditions exhibited increased information-seeking and attention to social stimuli.
• Dynamic condition zebrafish showed greater sensitivity to social cues and prioritized recent social information over personal information when conflicting.
• Unpredictable environments led to less coordinated but closer shoaling behavior.

Conclusions:

• Long-term housing in unpredictable environments diminishes the value of older information and increases the value of recent social information for faster updating.
• Decision-making strategies shift towards prioritizing social cues, independent of information quality.
• Environmental unpredictability fundamentally alters collective behavior and may impact how animal collectives navigate changing worlds.