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Email anne.besson@otago.ac.nzAnneBesson

Phone 64-3-479-4038

Google Scholar Profile

Research Interests

I am an ecophysiologist and evolutionary ecologist interested in quantifying the physiological and behavioural responses of individuals to disturbance (human and natural) and determining how these responses affect survival and reproduction.

Current research projects:

Do personality traits co-vary with baseline concentrations of glucocorticoids in a viviparous lizard?
Collaborators: Sheri Johnson, U. of Otago , Shinichi Nakagawa, U. of NSW, Australia , Sandrine Meylan, U. of Sorbonne, France , Alison Cree, U. of Otago.

Lizard numerical response to fluctuation in abundance of multiple predators in a grassland region
Collaborators: Jo Monks, Department of Conservation and U. of Otago.

Meta-analysis reveals weak relationships between among-individual variation in behaviour and fitness at multiple hierarchical levels
Collaborators: Kimberley Mathot, U. of Alberta , Shinichi Nakagawa, U. of NSW, Australia, Elene Haave-Audet (MSc student), U. of Alberta.

Teaching

Labs

  • ZOOL 221 Animal Designs for Living
  • ZOOL 222 Evolutionary Biology
  • ZOOL 223 Animal Physiology

Lectures

  • ZOOL 315 ZOOL 315 Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology
  • ZOOL 313 Animal Function and Environment

Publications

Besson, A., Johnson, S. L., Nakagawa, S., Meylan, S., & Cree, A. (2023). Do personality traits co-vary with baseline concentrations of glucocorticoids in a viviparous lizard? In D. J. Wilson & J. M. Monks (Eds.), Recent developments in research on the herpetofauna of Aotearoa New Zealand: Proceedings of the 18th Biennial Conference of the Society for Research on Amphibians and Reptiles in New Zealand (SRARNZ) 2021: DOC Research and Development Series 369. 2.4. Retrieved from https://www.doc.govt.nz/about-us/science-publications/series/doc-research-and-development-series Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Monks, J. M., Besson, A. A., & O'Donnell, C. F. J. (2023). Landscape scale control of selected mammalian predators fails to protect lizards. Biological Invasions. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s10530-023-03160-x Journal - Research Article

Ragsdale, A., Ortega-Recalde, O., Dutoit, L., Besson, A. A., Chia, J. H. Z., King, T., Nakagawa, S., Hickey, A., Gemmell, N. J., Hore, T., & Johnson, S. L. (2022). Paternal hypoxia exposure primes offspring for increased hypoxia resistance. BMC Biology, 20, 185. doi: 10.1186/s12915-022-01389-x Journal - Research Article

Haave-Audet, E., Besson, A. A., Nakagawa, S., & Mathot, K. J. (2022). Differences in resource acquisition, not allocation, mediate the relationship between behaviour and fitness: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Biological Reviews, 97, 708-731. doi: 10.1111/brv.12819 Journal - Research Article

Ragsdale, A. K., Dutoit, L., Besson, A. A., King, T., Gemmell, N. J., Hore, T., & Johnson, S. L. (2020). Paternal hypoxia exposure primes offspring for increased hypoxia resistance. Integrative & Comparative Biology, 60(Suppl. 1), (pp. E192). doi: 10.1093/icb/icaa006 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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