Considering affective state as a central component of the response of animals to environmental changes

Michaël Beaulieu
Written By Michaël Beaulieu

Authored by Wild Animal Initiative Research Manager Michaël Beaulieu, this paper was published in the January 2026 issue of Biology Letters.

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Abstract

Current environmental changes are often considered as negatively impacting the affective state of animals. Yet, the interplay between environmental conditions and affective state should rather be viewed as a reciprocal and dynamic relationship, as variation in affective state likely determines how animals decide to respond to environmental changes. Here, I illustrate how affective states may contribute to determining how animals respond to environmental changes through phenotypic plasticity, environmental modification or dispersal. A condition for future studies to examine this hypothesis will be to consider the response of animals in parallel with valid indicators of affective state reflecting different affective dimensions (valence, arousal) over different timescales. Moreover, considering affective state as a central component of the response of animals to environmental changes implies that a condition to realistically investigate this response is to provide animals with the freedom to decide between options associated with different affective values.

Michaël Beaulieu

Michaël is the Research Manager at Wild Animal Initiative. Michaël completed his veterinary studies at the University of Nantes and his PhD on the ecophysiology and behavioral ecology of penguins at the University of Strasbourg. In his post-docs, he mostly worked on songbirds and butterflies. He has taught animal ecology and conservation, and organized ornithological excursions. Michaël has spent much time in polar regions (as a researcher and a naturalist guide) and is currently located in Germany.

michael.beaulieu@wildanimalinitiative.org

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