1
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Mitchell DJ, Beckmann C, Biro PA. Maintenance of Behavioral Variation under Predation Risk: Effects on Personality, Plasticity, and Predictability. Am Nat 2024; 203:347-361. [PMID: 38358809 DOI: 10.1086/728421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
AbstractClassic evolutionary theory predicts that predation will shift trait means and erode variance within prey species; however, several studies indicate higher behavioral trait variance and trait integration in high-predation populations. These results come predominately from field-sampled animals comparing low- and high-predation sites and thus cannot isolate the role of predation from other ecological factors, including density effects arising from higher predation. Here, we study the role of predation on behavioral trait (co)variation in experimental populations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) living with and without a benthic ambush predator (Jaguar cichlid) to better evaluate the role of predation and where density was equalized among replicates twice per year. At 2.5 years after introduction of the predators (∼10 overlapping generations), 40 males were sampled from each of the six replicate populations and extensively assayed for activity rates, water column use, and latency to feed following disturbance. Individual variation was pronounced in both treatments, with substantial individual variation in means, temporal plasticity, and predictability (inverse residual variance). Predators had little effect on mean behavior, although there was some evidence for greater use of the upper water column in predator-exposed fish. There was greater variance among individuals in water column use in predator-exposed fish, and they habituated more quickly over time; individuals higher in the water column fed slower and had a reduced positive correlation with activity, although again this effect was time specific. Predators also affected the integration of personality and plasticity-among-individual variances in water column use increased, and those in activity decreased, through time-which was absent in controls. Our results contrast with the extensive guppy literature showing rapid evolution in trait means, demonstrating either increases or maintenance of behavioral variance under predation.
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2
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Westneat DF. Biological Links between Personality and Plasticity: Testing Some Alternative Hypotheses. Am Nat 2024; 203:174-188. [PMID: 38306285 DOI: 10.1086/727700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
AbstractWhen organisms respond behaviorally to a stimulus, they exhibit plasticity, but some individuals respond to the same stimulus consistently differently than others, thereby also exhibiting personality differences. Parent house sparrows express individual differences in how often they feed offspring and how that feeding rate changes with nestling age. Mean feeding rate and its slope with respect to nestling age were positively correlated at median nestling ages but not at hatching, indicating that individuality is primarily in plasticity. Individual differences could arise because of (1) interactions between environmental variables, (2) differences in underlying state or "quality," or (3) differences in the ability to update cues of changing nestling demand. Individual slopes were modestly repeatable across breeding attempts, hinting at the likely action of additional environmental variables, but only brood size was important. I also found few correlates suggesting quality differences. I used short-term brood size manipulations at two nestling ages to test divergent predictions between the three hypotheses. The pattern of correlations between response to the manipulation and individual slope did not fit any single hypothesis. Patterns of sparrow parental care reveal that personality and plasticity are not cleanly separable, and their biology is likely intertwined. New thinking may be needed about the factors parents use in decisions about care and the relevant fitness consequences.
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3
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McKinnon RA, Hawkshaw K, Hedlin E, Nakagawa S, Mathot KJ. Peregrine falcons shift mean and variance in provisioning in response to increasing brood demand. Behav Ecol 2024; 35:arad103. [PMID: 38144905 PMCID: PMC10746350 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The hierarchical model of provisioning posits that parents employ a strategic, sequential use of three provisioning tactics as offspring demand increases (e.g., due to increasing brood size and age). Namely, increasing delivery rate (reducing intervals between provisioning visits), expanding provisioned diet breadth, and adopting variance-sensitive provisioning. We evaluated this model in an Arctic breeding population of Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus tundrius) by analyzing changes in inter-visit-intervals (IVIs) and residual variance in IVIs across 7 study years. Data were collected using motion-sensitive nest camera images and analyzed using Bayesian mixed effect models. We found strong support for a decrease in IVIs (i.e., increase in delivery rates) between provisioning visits and an increase in residual variance in IVIs with increasing nestling age, consistent with the notion that peregrines shift to variance-prone provisioning strategies with increasing nestling demand. However, support for predictions made based on the hierarchical model of tactics for coping with increased brood demand was equivocal as we did not find evidence in support of expected covariances between random effects (i.e., between IVI to an average sized brood (intercept), change in IVI with brood demand (slope) or variance in IVI). Overall, our study provides important biological insights into how parents cope with increased brood demand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebekah A McKinnon
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
- Nunavut Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, Universiy of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9,Canada
| | - Kevin Hawkshaw
- Nunavut Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, Universiy of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9,Canada
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, GSB 751, Edmonton, AB T6G 0N4, Canada
| | - Erik Hedlin
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, GSB 751, Edmonton, AB T6G 0N4, Canada
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences North, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Kimberley J Mathot
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
- Canada Research Chair in Integrative Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
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4
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Horváth G, Garamszegi LZ, Herczeg G. Phylogenetic meta-analysis reveals system-specific behavioural type-behavioural predictability correlations. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230303. [PMID: 37680498 PMCID: PMC10480700 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
The biological significance of behavioural predictability (environment-independent within-individual behavioural variation) became accepted recently as an important part of an individual's behavioural strategy besides behavioural type (individual mean behaviour). However, we do not know how behavioural type and predictability evolve. Here, we tested different evolutionary scenarios: (i) the two traits evolve independently (lack of correlations) and (ii) the two traits' evolution is constrained (abundant correlations) due to either (ii/a) proximate constraints (direction of correlations is similar) or (ii/b) local adaptations (direction of correlations is variable). We applied a set of phylogenetic meta-analyses based on 93 effect sizes across 44 vertebrate and invertebrate species, focusing on activity and risk-taking. The general correlation between behavioural type and predictability did not differ from zero. Effect sizes for correlations showed considerable heterogeneity, with both negative and positive correlations occurring. The overall absolute (unsigned) effect size was high (Zr = 0.58), and significantly exceeded the null expectation based on randomized data. Our results support the adaptive scenario: correlations between behavioural type and predictability are abundant in nature, but their direction is variable. We suggest that the evolution of these behavioural components might be constrained in a system-specific way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gergely Horváth
- Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
- ELKH-ELTE-MTM Integrative Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - László Zsolt Garamszegi
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Alkotmány u. 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
- National Laboratory for Health Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gábor Herczeg
- Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
- ELKH-ELTE-MTM Integrative Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
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5
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Pick JL, Khwaja N, Spence MA, Ihle M, Nakagawa S. Counter culture: causes, extent and solutions of systematic bias in the analysis of behavioural counts. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15059. [PMID: 37033727 PMCID: PMC10081455 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
We often quantify the rate at which a behaviour occurs by counting the number of times it occurs within a specific, short observation period. Measuring behaviour in such a way is typically unavoidable but induces error. This error acts to systematically reduce effect sizes, including metrics of particular interest to behavioural and evolutionary ecologists such as R2, repeatability (intra-class correlation, ICC) and heritability. Through introducing a null model, the Poisson process, for modelling the frequency of behaviour, we give a mechanistic explanation of how this problem arises and demonstrate how it makes comparisons between studies and species problematic, because the magnitude of the error depends on how frequently the behaviour has been observed as well as how biologically variable the behaviour is. Importantly, the degree of error is predictable and so can be corrected for. Using the example of parental provisioning rate in birds, we assess the applicability of our null model for modelling the frequency of behaviour. We then survey recent literature and demonstrate that the error is rarely accounted for in current analyses. We highlight the problems that arise from this and provide solutions. We further discuss the biological implications of deviations from our null model, and highlight the new avenues of research that they may provide. Adopting our recommendations into analyses of behavioural counts will improve the accuracy of estimated effect sizes and allow meaningful comparisons to be made between studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel L. Pick
- University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Nyil Khwaja
- University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Michael A. Spence
- University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, United Kingdom
| | - Malika Ihle
- University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
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6
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Cornwell T, Mitchell D, Beckmann C, Joynson A, Biro P. Multilevel repeatability shows selection may act on both personality and predictability, but neither is state dependent. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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7
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Velasque M, Denton JA, Briffa M. Under the influence of light: How light pollution disrupts personality and metabolism in hermit crabs. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 316:120594. [PMID: 36370979 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic disturbances are known to cause significant physiological and behavioural changes in animals and, thus, are the critical focus of numerous studies. Light pollution is an increasingly recognised source of disturbance that has the potential to impact animal physiology and behaviour. Here, we investigate the effect of constant light on a personality trait and metabolic rate in the European hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus. We used Bayesian mixed models to estimate average behavioural change (i.e. sample mean level behavioural plasticity) and between- and within-individual variation in boldness in response to laboratory light. Hermit crabs experiencing constant light were consistently less bold and had a higher metabolic rate than those kept under a standard laboratory light regime (12:12 h light/dark). However, there was no effect of light on individual consistency in behaviour. As boldness is associated with coping with risk, hermit crabs exposed to light pollution at night may experience increased perceived predation risk, adjusting their behaviour to compensate for the increased conspicuousness. However, reduced boldness could lead to lower rates of foraging and this, in combination with elevated metabolic rate, has the potential for a reduction in energy balance.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Velasque
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom; Genomics & Regulatory Systems Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology, Okinawa, Japan; The Experimental Evolutionary Biology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
| | - J A Denton
- The World Mosquito Program, Institute of Vector-borne Disease, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - M Briffa
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
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8
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Occhiuto F, Vázquez-Diosdado JA, Carslake C, Kaler J. Personality and predictability in farmed calves using movement and space-use behaviours quantified by ultra-wideband sensors. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:212019. [PMID: 35706665 PMCID: PMC9174733 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.212019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Individuals within a population often show consistent between individual differences in their average behavioural expression (personality), and consistent differences in their within individual variability of behaviour around the mean (predictability). Where correlations between different personality traits and/or the predictability of traits exist, these represent behavioural or predictability syndromes. In wild populations, behavioural syndromes have consequences for individuals' survival and reproduction and affect the structure and functioning of groups and populations. The consequences of behavioural syndromes for farm animals are less well explored, partly due to the challenges in quantifying behaviour of many individuals across time and context in a farm setting. Here, we use ultra-wideband location sensors to provide precise measures of movement and space use for 60 calves over 40-48 days. We are the first livestock study to demonstrate consistent within and between individual variation in movement and space use with repeatability values of up to 0.80 and CVp values up to 0.49. Our results show correlations in personality and predictability, indicating the existence of 'exploratory' and 'active' personality traits in farmed calves. We consider the consequences of such individual variability for cattle behaviour and welfare and how such data may be used to inform management decisions in farm animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Occhiuto
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Jorge A. Vázquez-Diosdado
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Charles Carslake
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Jasmeet Kaler
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK
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9
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Hutfluss A, Bermúdez-Cuamatzin E, Mouchet A, Briffa M, Slabbekoorn H, Dingemanse NJ. Male song stability shows cross-year repeatability but does not affect reproductive success in a wild passerine bird. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:1507-1520. [PMID: 35509187 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Predictable behaviour (or "behavioural stability") might be favoured in certain ecological contexts, e.g. when representing a quality signal. Costs associated with producing stable phenotypes imply selection should favour plasticity in stability when beneficial. Repeatable among-individual differences in degree of stability are simultaneously expected if individuals differ in ability to pay these costs, or in how they resolve cost-benefit trade-offs. Bird song represents a prime example, where stability may be costly yet beneficial when stable singing is a quality signal favoured by sexual selection. Assuming energetic costs, ecological variation (e.g. in food availability) should result in both within- and among-individual variation in stability. If song stability represents a quality signal, we expect directional selection favouring stable singers. For a three-year period, we monitored 12 nest box plots of great tits Parus major during breeding. We recorded male songs during simulated territory intrusions, twice during their mate's laying stage, and twice during incubation. Each preceding winter, we manipulated food availability. Assuming that stability is costly, we expected food-supplemented males to sing more stable songs. We also expected males to sing more stable songs early in the breeding season (when paternity is not decided), and stable singers to have increased reproductive success. We found strong support for plasticity in stability for two key song characteristics: minimum frequency and phrase length. Males were plastic because they became more stable over the season, contrary to expectations. Food-supplementation did not affect body condition but increased stability in minimum frequency. This treatment effect occurred only in one year, implying that food supplementation affected stability only in interaction with (unknown) year-specific ecological factors. We found no support for directional, correlational, or fluctuating selection on the stability in minimum frequency (i.e., the song trait whose stability exhibited cross-year repeatability): stable singers did not have higher reproductive success. Our findings imply that stability in minimum frequency is not a fitness quality indicator unless males enjoy fitness benefits via pathways not studied here. Future studies should thus address the mechanisms shaping and maintaining individual repeatability of song stability in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Hutfluss
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), Martinsried, Germany
| | | | - Alexia Mouchet
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), Martinsried, Germany.,Laboratoire Evolution Génomes Comportement et Ecologie (EGCE), UMR Université Paris-Saclay-CNRS-IRD, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mark Briffa
- School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Animal Behaviour Research Group, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, UK
| | - Hans Slabbekoorn
- Behavioural Biology, Institute of Biology, BE, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), Martinsried, Germany
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10
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O'Dea RE, Noble DWA, Nakagawa S. Unifying individual differences in personality, predictability and plasticity: A practical guide. Methods Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rose E. O'Dea
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre School of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney NSW Australia
- Diabetes and Metabolism Division Garvan Institute of Medical Research Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Daniel W. A. Noble
- Division of Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre School of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney NSW Australia
- Diabetes and Metabolism Division Garvan Institute of Medical Research Sydney NSW Australia
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11
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Coomes JR, Davidson GL, Reichert MS, Kulahci IG, Troisi CA, Quinn JL. Inhibitory control, exploration behaviour and manipulated ecological context are associated with foraging flexibility in the great tit. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:320-333. [PMID: 34693529 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Organisms are constantly under selection to respond effectively to diverse, sometimes rapid, changes in their environment, but not all individuals are equally plastic in their behaviour. Although cognitive processes and personality are expected to influence individual behavioural plasticity, the effects reported are highly inconsistent, which we hypothesise is because ecological context is usually not considered. We explored how one type of behavioural plasticity, foraging flexibility, was associated with inhibitory control (assayed using a detour-reaching task) and exploration behaviour in a novel environment (a trait closely linked to the fast-slow personality axis). We investigated how these effects varied across two experimentally manipulated ecological contexts-food value and predation risk. In the first phase of the experiment, we trained great tits Parus major to retrieve high value (preferred) food that was hidden in sand so that this became the familiar food source. In the second phase, we offered them the same familiar hidden food at the same time as a new alternative option that was visible on the surface, which was either high or low value, and under either high or low perceived predation risk. Foraging flexibility was defined as the proportion of choices made during 4-min trials that were for the new alternative food source. Our assays captured consistent differences among individuals in foraging flexibility. Inhibitory control was associated with foraging flexibility-birds with high inhibitory control were more flexible when the alternative food was of high value, suggesting they inhibited the urge to select the familiar food and instead selected the new food option. Exploration behaviour also predicted flexibility-fast explorers were more flexible, supporting the information-gathering hypothesis. This tendency was especially strong under high predation risk, suggesting risk aversion also influenced the observed flexibility because fast explorers are risk prone and the new unfamiliar food was perceived to be the risky option. Thus, both behaviours predicted flexibility, and these links were at least partly dependent on ecological conditions. Our results demonstrate that an executive cognitive function (inhibitory control) and a behavioural assay of a well-known personality axis are both associated with individual variation in the plasticity of a key functional behaviour. That their effects on foraging flexibility were primarily observed as interactions with food value or predation risk treatments also suggest that the population-level consequences of some behavioural mechanisms may only be revealed across key ecological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny R Coomes
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.,Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Gabrielle L Davidson
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael S Reichert
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Ipek G Kulahci
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Galvin Life Science Centre, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
| | - Camille A Troisi
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - John L Quinn
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.,Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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12
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Mitchell DJ, Beckmann C, Biro PA. Understanding the unexplained: The magnitude and correlates of individual differences in residual variance. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:7201-7210. [PMID: 34188806 PMCID: PMC8216950 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Behavioral and physiological ecologists have long been interested in explaining the causes and consequences of trait variation, with a focus on individual differences in mean values. However, the majority of phenotypic variation typically occurs within individuals, rather than among individuals (as indicated by average repeatability being less than 0.5). Recent studies have further shown that individuals can also differ in the magnitude of variation that is unexplained by individual variation or environmental factors (i.e., residual variation). The significance of residual variation, or why individuals differ, is largely unexplained, but is important from evolutionary, methodological, and statistical perspectives. Here, we broadly reviewed literature on individual variation in behavior and physiology, and located 39 datasets with sufficient repeated measures to evaluate individual differences in residual variance. We then analyzed these datasets using methods that permit direct comparisons of parameters across studies. This revealed substantial and widespread individual differences in residual variance. The magnitude of individual variation appeared larger in behavioral traits than in physiological traits, and heterogeneity was greater in more controlled situations. We discuss potential ecological and evolutionary implications of individual differences in residual variance and suggest productive future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. Mitchell
- Centre for Integrative EcologySchool of Life & Environmental SciencesDeakin UniversityGeelongVICAustralia
- Department of Zoology/EthologyStockholm UniversityStockholmSweden
| | - Christa Beckmann
- Centre for Integrative EcologySchool of Life & Environmental SciencesDeakin UniversityGeelongVICAustralia
- School of Science and HealthWestern Sydney UniversityParramattaNSWAustralia
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney UniversityPenrithNSWAustralia
| | - Peter A. Biro
- Centre for Integrative EcologySchool of Life & Environmental SciencesDeakin UniversityGeelongVICAustralia
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13
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Hertel AG, Royauté R, Zedrosser A, Mueller T. Biologging reveals individual variation in behavioural predictability in the wild. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:723-737. [PMID: 33301175 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Recent research highlights the ecological importance of individual variation in behavioural predictability. Individuals may not only differ in their average expression of a behavioural trait (their behavioural type) and in their ability to adjust behaviour to changing environmental conditions (individual plasticity), but also in their variability around their average behaviour (predictability). However, quantifying behavioural predictability in the wild has been challenging due to limitations of acquiring sufficient repeated behavioural measures. We here demonstrate how common biologging data can be used to detect individual variation in behavioural predictability in the wild and reveal the coexistence of highly predictable individuals along with unpredictable individuals within the same population. We repeatedly quantified two behaviours-daily movement distance and diurnal activity-in 62 female brown bears Ursus arctos tracked across 187 monitoring years. We calculated behavioural predictability over the short term (50 consecutive monitoring days within 1 year) and long term (across monitoring years) as the residual intra-individual variability (rIIV) of behaviour around the behavioural reaction norm. We tested whether predictability varies systematically across average behavioural types and whether it is correlated across functionally distinct behaviours, that is, daily movement distance and amount of diurnal activity. Brown bears showed individual variation in behavioural predictability from predictable to unpredictable individuals. For example, the standard deviation around the average daily movement distance within one monitoring year varied up to fivefold from 1.1 to 5.5 km across individuals. Individual predictability for both daily movement distance and diurnality was conserved across monitoring years. Individual predictability was correlated with behavioural type where individuals which were on average more diurnal and mobile were also more unpredictable in their behaviour. In contrast, more nocturnal individuals moved less and were more predictable in their behaviour. Finally, individual predictability in daily movement distance and diurnality was positively correlated, suggesting that individual predictability may be a quantitative trait in its own regard that could evolve and is underpinned by genetic variation. Unpredictable individuals may cope better with stochastic events and unpredictability may hence be an adaptive behavioural response to increased predation risk. Coexistence of predictable and unpredictable individuals may therefore ensure adaptable and resilient populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne G Hertel
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt (Main), Germany.,Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø, Norway
| | - Raphaël Royauté
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Andreas Zedrosser
- Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø, Norway.,Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Mueller
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt (Main), Germany.,Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt (Main), Germany
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14
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Maák I, Trigos-Peral G, Ślipiński P, Grześ IM, Horváth G, Witek M. Habitat features and colony characteristics influencing ant personality and its fitness consequences. Behav Ecol 2020; 32:124-137. [PMID: 33708007 PMCID: PMC7937185 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2019] [Revised: 08/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Several factors can influence individual and group behavioral variation that can have important fitness consequences. In this study, we tested how two habitat types (seminatural meadows and meadows invaded by Solidago plants) and factors like colony and worker size and nest density influence behavioral (activity, meanderness, exploration, aggression, and nest displacement) variation on different levels of the social organization of Myrmica rubra ants and how these might affect the colony productivity. We assumed that the factors within the two habitat types exert different selective pressures on individual and colony behavioral variation that affects colony productivity. Our results showed individual-/colony-specific expression of both mean and residual behavioral variation of the studied behavioral traits. Although habitat type did not have any direct effect, habitat-dependent factors, like colony size and nest density influenced the individual mean and residual variation of several traits. We also found personality at the individual-level and at the colony level. Exploration positively influenced the total- and worker production in both habitats. Worker aggression influenced all the productivity parameters in seminatural meadows, whereas activity had a positive effect on the worker and total production in invaded meadows. Our results suggest that habitat type, through its environmental characteristics, can affect different behavioral traits both at the individual and colony level and that those with the strongest effect on colony productivity primarily shape the personality of individuals. Our results highlight the need for complex environmental manipulations to fully understand the effects shaping behavior and reproduction in colony-living species.
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Affiliation(s)
- István Maák
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Science, Wilcza 64, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Gema Trigos-Peral
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Science, Wilcza 64, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Piotr Ślipiński
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Science, Wilcza 64, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Irena M Grześ
- Department of Environmental Zoology, Institute of Animal Sciences, Agricultural University, Al. Mickiewicza 24/28, Kraków, Poland
| | - Gergely Horváth
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Egyetem tér 1-3, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Magdalena Witek
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Science, Wilcza 64, Warszawa, Poland
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15
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Henriksen R, Höglund A, Fogelholm J, Abbey-Lee R, Johnsson M, Dingemanse NJ, Wright D. Intra-Individual Behavioural Variability: A Trait under Genetic Control. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21218069. [PMID: 33138119 PMCID: PMC7663371 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21218069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2020] [Revised: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When individuals are measured more than once in the same context they do not behave in exactly the same way each time. The degree of predictability differs between individuals, with some individuals showing low levels of variation around their behavioural mean while others show high levels of variation. This intra-individual variability in behaviour has received much less attention than between-individual variability in behaviour, and very little is known about the underlying mechanisms that affect this potentially large but understudied component of behavioural variation. In this study, we combine standardized behavioural tests in a chicken intercross to estimate intra-individual behavioural variability with a large-scale genomics analysis to identify genes affecting intra-individual behavioural variability in an avian population. We used a variety of different anxiety-related behavioural phenotypes for this purpose. Our study shows that intra-individual variability in behaviour has a direct genetic basis that is largely unique compared to the genetic architecture for the standard behavioural measures they are based on (at least in the detected quantitative trait locus). We identify six suggestive candidate genes that may underpin differences in intra-individual behavioural variability, with several of these candidates having previously been linked to behaviour and mental health. These findings demonstrate that intra-individual variability in behaviour appears to be a heritable trait in and of itself on which evolution can act.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rie Henriksen
- AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; (A.H.); (R.A.-L.); (M.J.)
- Correspondence: (R.H.); (D.W.)
| | - Andrey Höglund
- AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; (A.H.); (R.A.-L.); (M.J.)
| | - Jesper Fogelholm
- AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; (A.H.); (R.A.-L.); (M.J.)
| | - Robin Abbey-Lee
- AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; (A.H.); (R.A.-L.); (M.J.)
| | - Martin Johnsson
- AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; (A.H.); (R.A.-L.); (M.J.)
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Niels J. Dingemanse
- Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), 82152 Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany;
| | - Dominic Wright
- AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden; (A.H.); (R.A.-L.); (M.J.)
- Correspondence: (R.H.); (D.W.)
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16
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Okuyama T. State-dependent mortality can enhance behavioral unpredictability. BMC Ecol 2020; 20:34. [PMID: 32586382 PMCID: PMC7315534 DOI: 10.1186/s12898-020-00303-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Although behavioral unpredictability is widely described within-individual variability in behavior, its adaptive significance is little understood. Using a dynamic state variable model, this study investigated the conditions under which behavioral unpredictability (a component of within-individual variability) in foraging behavior is advantageous. The model considers a situation in which a forager forages for a fixed period, represented by discrete time steps. The outcome of foraging may change the level of a state (e.g., size and fat storage) of the forager at each time step, and variability in the foraging outcome is assumed to be positively correlated with behavioral unpredictability. The probability of death at each time step is influenced by the state at the same time step. Reproduction occurs after all the foraging steps and is influenced by the state level of a forager at the time of reproduction. According to the expected utility hypothesis, the relationship (e.g., curvature) between the state and fitness will determine the role of behavioral unpredictability. In the model, the relationship was obtained by using the backward iteration method for each foraging time step. Results State-dependent mortality adds curvature to the relationship between the state and fitness, which makes the effect of behavioral unpredictability on fitness either positive or negative. This conclusion holds for any state-dependent mortality (i.e., as long as mortality is not independent of the state factor). Given that state-dependent mortality is commonly described, conditions that benefit behavioral unpredictability are likely also common. Conclusions When mortality depends on a state that is influenced by behavior, conditions that favor behavioral unpredictability may become common. How behavioral unpredictability influences the variability of behavioral outcomes is as important as how it influences the expectation of behavioral outcomes when studying the adaptive significance of behavioral unpredictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshinori Okuyama
- Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, 106, Taiwan.
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17
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Wetzel DP, Mutzel A, Wright J, Dingemanse NJ. Novel sources of (co)variation in nestling begging behavior and hunger at different biological levels of analysis. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Biological hypotheses predicting patterns of offspring begging typically concern the covariance with hunger and/or development at specific hierarchical levels. For example, hunger drives within-individual patterns of begging, but begging also drives food intake among individuals within broods, and begging and food intake can covary positively or negatively among genotypes or broods. Testing biological phenomena that occur at multiple levels, therefore, requires the partitioning of covariance between traits of interest to ensure that each level-specific relationship is appropriately assessed. We performed a partial cross-fostering study on a wild population of great tits (Parus major), then used multivariate mixed models to partition variation and covariation in nestling begging effort and two metrics of nestling hunger within versus among individual nestlings and broods. At the within-individual level, we found that nestlings begged more intensely when hungrier (positive correlation between begging and hunger). However, among individuals, nestlings that were fed more frequently also begged more intensely on average (negative correlation between begging and hunger). Variation in nestling mass did not give rise to the negative correlation between begging and hunger among nestlings, but we did find that lighter nestlings begged more intensely than their heavier biological siblings, suggesting that this effect may be driven by a genetic component linked to offspring size. Our study illustrates how patterns of covariance can differ across biological levels of analysis and addresses biological mechanisms that could produce these previously obscured patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel P Wetzel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ariane Mutzel
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Jonathan Wright
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
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18
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Prentice PM, Houslay TM, Martin JGA, Wilson AJ. Genetic variance for behavioural 'predictability' of stress response. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:642-652. [PMID: 32022966 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Revised: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Genetic factors underpinning phenotypic variation are required if natural selection is to result in adaptive evolution. However, evolutionary and behavioural ecologists typically focus on variation among individuals in their average trait values and seek to characterize genetic contributions to this. As a result, less attention has been paid to if and how genes could contribute towards within-individual variance or trait 'predictability'. In fact, phenotypic 'predictability' can vary among individuals, and emerging evidence from livestock genetics suggests this can be due to genetic factors. Here, we test this empirically using repeated measures of a behavioural stress response trait in a pedigreed population of wild-type guppies. We ask (a) whether individuals differ in behavioural predictability and (b) whether this variation is heritable and so evolvable under selection. Using statistical methodology from the field of quantitative genetics, we find support for both hypotheses and also show evidence of a genetic correlation structure between the behavioural trait mean and individual predictability. We show that investigating sources of variability in trait predictability is statistically tractable and can yield useful biological interpretation. We conclude that, if widespread, genetic variance for 'predictability' will have major implications for the evolutionary causes and consequences of phenotypic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela M Prentice
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, UK
| | | | | | - Alastair J Wilson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, UK
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19
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Lejeune L, Savage JL, Bründl AC, Thiney A, Russell AF, Chaine AS. Environmental Effects on Parental Care Visitation Patterns in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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20
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Filipe JA, Kyriazakis I. Bayesian, Likelihood-Free Modelling of Phenotypic Plasticity and Variability in Individuals and Populations. Front Genet 2019; 10:727. [PMID: 31616460 PMCID: PMC6764410 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a paradigm shift from the traditional focus on the "average" individual towards the definition and analysis of trait variation within individual life-history and among individuals in populations. This is a result of increasing availability of individual phenotypic data. The shift allows the use of genetic and environment-driven variations to assess robustness to challenge, gain greater understanding of organismal biological processes, or deliver individual-targeted treatments or genetic selection. These consequences apply, in particular, to variation in ontogenetic growth. We propose an approach to parameterise mathematical models of individual traits (e.g., reaction norms, growth curves) that address two challenges: 1) Estimation of individual traits while making minimal assumptions about data distribution and correlation, addressed via Approximate Bayesian Computation (a form of nonparametric inference). We are motivated by the fact that available information on distribution of biological data is often less precise than assumed by conventional likelihood functions. 2) Scaling-up to population phenotype distributions while facilitating unbiased use of individual data; this is addressed via a probabilistic framework where population distributions build on separately-inferred individual distributions and individual-trait interpretability is preserved. The approach is tested against Bayesian likelihood-based inference, by fitting weight and energy intake growth models to animal data and normal- and skewed-distributed simulated data. i) Individual inferences were accurate and robust to changes in data distribution and sample size; in particular, median-based predictions were more robust than maximum- likelihood-based curves. These results suggest that the approach gives reliable inferences using few observations and monitoring resources. ii) At the population level, each individual contributed via a specific data distribution, and population phenotype estimates were not disproportionally influenced by outlier individuals. Indices measuring population phenotype variation can be derived for study comparisons. The approach offers an alternative for estimating trait variability in biological systems that may be reliable for various applications, for example, in genetics, health, and individualised nutrition, while using fewer assumptions and fewer empirical observations. In livestock breeding, the potentially greater accuracy of trait estimation (without specification of multitrait variance-covariance parameters) could lead to improved selection and to more decisive estimates of trait heritability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joao A.N. Filipe
- Agriculture, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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21
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Horváth G, Garamszegi LZ, Bereczki J, Urszán TJ, Balázs G, Herczeg G. Roll with the fear: environment and state dependence of pill bug (Armadillidium vulgare) personalities. Naturwissenschaften 2019; 106:7. [PMID: 30729319 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-019-1602-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Most studies on animal personality evaluate individual mean behaviour to describe individual behavioural strategy, while often neglecting behavioural variability on the within-individual level. However, within-individual behavioural plasticity (variation induced by environment) and within-individual residual variation (regulatory behavioural precision) are recognized as biologically valid components of individual behaviour, but the evolutionary ecology of these components is still less understood. Here, we tested whether behaviour of common pill bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) differs on the among- and within-individual level and whether it is affected by various individual specific state-related traits (sex, size and Wolbachia infection). To this aim, we assayed risk-taking in familiar vs. unfamiliar environments 30 times along 38 days and applied double modelling statistical technique to handle the complex hierarchical structure for both individual-specific trait means and variances. We found that there are significant among-individual differences not only in mean risk-taking behaviour but also in environment- and time-induced behavioural plasticity and residual variation. Wolbachia-infected individuals took less risk than healthy conspecifics; in addition, individuals became more risk-averse with time. Residual variation decreased with time, and individuals expressed higher residual variation in the unfamiliar environment. Further, sensitization was stronger in females and in larger individuals in general. Our results suggest that among-individual variation, behavioural plasticity and residual variation are all (i) biologically relevant components of an individual's behavioural strategy and (ii) responsive to changes in environment or labile state variables. We propose pill bugs as promising models for personality research due to the relative ease of getting repeated behavioural measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gergely Horváth
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary.
| | - László Zsolt Garamszegi
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary.,Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Donaña-CSIC, c/ Americo Vespucio, 26, 41092, Seville, Spain.,MTA-ELTE, Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary
| | - Judit Bereczki
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, Institute of Biology and Ecology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Debrecen, H-4032, Hungary
| | - Tamás János Urszán
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary
| | - Gergely Balázs
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary
| | - Gábor Herczeg
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary
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22
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Fox RJ, Head ML, Barber I. Good parenting may not increase reproductive success under environmental extremes. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:1638-1646. [PMID: 30063102 PMCID: PMC6849592 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
For species exhibiting parental care, the way in which parents adjust care behaviour to compensate for environmental change potentially influences offspring survival and, ultimately, population viability. Using the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) - a species in which males provide parental care by building and tending a nest and fanning the eggs - we examined how low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels affect paternal care, embryo development and survival. Although levels of nest tending were unaffected by DO level, we found that larger males fanned their embryos more under low oxygen conditions. This resulted in faster rates of embryo development within the clutches of these larger males, but reduced embryo survival at 7 days post-fertilization compared to clutches of smaller males. Our results suggest that although parents may attempt to compensate for environmental change via alterations to care behaviour, their ability to do so can be dependent on parental phenotype. This sets up the potential for oxygen levels to act on the strength and direction of selection within populations. We discuss possible explanations for the surprising result that supposedly adaptive changes in care behaviour by large males (i.e. increased fanning) led to reduced embryo survival at 7 days post-fertilization, and whether, as a consequence, acute environmental conditions may have the potential to overwhelm selection on sexual traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca J Fox
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.,Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Megan L Head
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Iain Barber
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.,School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottinghamshire, UK
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23
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Biro PA, Garland T, Beckmann C, Ujvari B, Thomas F, Post JR. Metabolic Scope as a Proximate Constraint on Individual Behavioral Variation: Effects on Personality, Plasticity, and Predictability. Am Nat 2018; 192:142-154. [PMID: 30016170 DOI: 10.1086/697963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral ecologists have hypothesized that among-individual differences in resting metabolic rate (RMR) may predict consistent individual differences in mean values for costly behaviors or for behaviors that affect energy intake rate. This hypothesis has empirical support and presently attracts considerable attention, but, notably, it does not provide predictions for individual differences in (a) behavioral plasticity or (b) unexplained variation (residual variation from mean individual behavior, here termed predictability). We outline how consideration of aerobic maximum metabolic rate (MMR) and particularly aerobic scope (= MMR - RMR) can be used to simultaneously make predictions about mean and among- and within-individual variation in behavior. We predict that while RMR should be proportional to an individual's mean level of sustained behavioral activity (one aspect of its personality), individuals with greater aerobic scope will also have greater scope to express behavioral plasticity and/or greater unpredictability in behavior (=greater residual variation). As a first step toward testing these predictions, we analyze existing activity data from selectively bred lines of mice that differ in both daily activity and aerobic scope. We find that replicate high-scope mice are more active on average and show greater among-individual variation in activity, greater among-individual variation in plasticity, and greater unpredictability. These data provide some tentative first support for our hypothesis, suggesting that further research on this topic would be valuable.
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24
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Schell CJ, Young JK, Lonsdorf EV, Mateo JM, Santymire RM. It takes two: Evidence for reduced sexual conflict over parental care in a biparental canid. J Mammal 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyx150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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25
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Environment-dependence of behavioural consistency in adult male European green lizards (Lacerta viridis). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0187657. [PMID: 29112964 PMCID: PMC5675404 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the background mechanisms affecting the emergence and maintenance of consistent between-individual variation within population in single (animal personality) or across multiple (behavioural syndrome) behaviours has key importance. State-dependence theory suggests that behaviour is ‘anchored’ to individual state (e.g. body condition, gender, age) and behavioural consistency emerges through behavioural-state feedbacks. A number of relevant state variables are labile (e.g. body condition, physiological performance) and expected to be affected by short-term environmental change. Yet, whether short-term environmental shifts affect behavioural consistency during adulthood remains questionable. Here, by employing a full-factorial laboratory experiment, we explored if quantity of food (low vs. high) and time available for thermoregulation (3h vs. 10h per day) had an effect on activity and risk-taking of reproductive adult male European green lizards (Lacerta viridis). We focussed on different components of behavioural variation: (i) strength of behavioural consistency (repeatability for animal personality; between-individual correlation for behavioural syndrome), (ii) behavioural type (individual mean behaviour) and (iii) behavioural predictability (within-individual behavioural variation). Activity was repeatable in all treatments. Risk-taking was repeatable only in the low basking treatments. We found significant between-individual correlation only in the low food × long basking time group. The treatments did not affect behavioural type, but affected behavioural predictability. Activity predictability was higher in the short basking treatment, where it also decreased with size (≈ age). Risk-taking predictability in the short basking treatment increased with size under food limitation, but decreased when food supply was high. We conclude that short-term environmental change can alter various components of behavioural consistency. The effect could be detected in the presence/absence patterns of animal personality and behavioural syndrome and the level of individual behavioural predictability, but not in behavioural type.
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26
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Zsebők S, Herczeg G, Blázi G, Laczi M, Nagy G, Szász E, Markó G, Török J, Garamszegi LZ. Short- and long-term repeatability and pseudo-repeatability of bird song: sensitivity of signals to varying environments. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2379-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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27
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Mitchell DJ, Biro PA. Is behavioural plasticity consistent across different environmental gradients and through time? Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:20170893. [PMID: 28794220 PMCID: PMC5563805 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite accumulating evidence for individual variation in behavioural plasticity, there is currently little understanding of the causes and consequences of this variation. An outstanding question is whether individual reaction norm (RN) slopes are consistent across different environmental variables-that is, whether an individual that is highly responsive to one environmental variable will be equally responsive to a second variable. Another important and related question is whether RNs are themselves consistently expressed through time or whether they are simply state dependent. Here, we quantified individual activity rates of zebrafish in response to independent manipulations of temperature and food availability that were repeated in discrete 'bursts' of sampling through time. Individuals that were thermally responsive were not more responsive to food deprivation, but they did exhibit greater unexplained variation. Individual RN slopes were consistent (repeatable) over time for both temperature (Rslope = 0.92) and food deprivation responses (Rslope = 0.4), as were mean activity rates in the standard environment (Rintercept = 0.83). Despite the high potential lability of behaviour, we have demonstrated consistency of behavioural RN components and identified potential energetic constraints leading to high consistency of thermal RNs and low consistency of food deprivation RNs.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Mitchell
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
| | - Peter A Biro
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
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28
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Mathot KJ, Olsen AL, Mutzel A, Araya-Ajoy YG, Nicolaus M, Westneat DF, Wright J, Kempenaers B, Dingemanse NJ. Provisioning tactics of great tits (Parus major) in response to long-term brood size manipulations differ across years. Behav Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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29
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Westneat DF, Mutzel A, Bonner S, Wright J. Experimental manipulation of brood size affects several levels of phenotypic variance in offspring and parent pied flycatchers. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2315-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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30
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Martin JGA, Pirotta E, Petelle MB, Blumstein DT. Genetic basis of between-individual and within-individual variance of docility. J Evol Biol 2017; 30:796-805. [PMID: 28182325 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2016] [Revised: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Between-individual variation in phenotypes within a population is the basis of evolution. However, evolutionary and behavioural ecologists have mainly focused on estimating between-individual variance in mean trait and neglected variation in within-individual variance, or predictability of a trait. In fact, an important assumption of mixed-effects models used to estimate between-individual variance in mean traits is that within-individual residual variance (predictability) is identical across individuals. Individual heterogeneity in the predictability of behaviours is a potentially important effect but rarely estimated and accounted for. We used 11 389 measures of docility behaviour from 1576 yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) to estimate between-individual variation in both mean docility and its predictability. We then implemented a double hierarchical animal model to decompose the variances of both mean trait and predictability into their environmental and genetic components. We found that individuals differed both in their docility and in their predictability of docility with a negative phenotypic covariance. We also found significant genetic variance for both mean docility and its predictability but no genetic covariance between the two. This analysis is one of the first to estimate the genetic basis of both mean trait and within-individual variance in a wild population. Our results indicate that equal within-individual variance should not be assumed. We demonstrate the evolutionary importance of the variation in the predictability of docility and illustrate potential bias in models ignoring variation in predictability. We conclude that the variability in the predictability of a trait should not be ignored, and present a coherent approach for its quantification.
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Affiliation(s)
- J G A Martin
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - E Pirotta
- School of Mathematics, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA
| | - M B Petelle
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State Qwaqwa, Phuthaditjhaba, South Africa
| | - D T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO, USA
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Han CS, Dingemanse NJ. You are what you eat: diet shapes body composition, personality and behavioural stability. BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:8. [PMID: 28073352 PMCID: PMC5223362 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0852-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2016] [Accepted: 12/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Behavioural phenotypes vary within and among individuals. While early-life experiences have repeatedly been proposed to underpin interactions between these two hierarchical levels, the environmental factors causing such effects remain under-studied. We tested whether an individual's diet affected both its body composition, average behaviour (thereby causing among-individual variation or 'personality') and within-individual variability in behaviour and body weight (thereby causing among-individual differences in residual within-individual variance or 'stability'), using the Southern field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus as a model. We further asked whether effects of diet on the expression of these variance components were sex-specific. METHODS Manipulating both juvenile and adult diet in a full factorial design, individuals were put, in each life-stage, on a diet that was either relatively high in carbohydrates or relatively high in protein. We subsequently measured the expression of multiple behavioural (exploration, aggression and mating activity) and morphological traits (body weight and lipid mass) during adulthood. RESULTS Dietary history affected both average phenotype and level of within-individual variability: males raised as juveniles on high-protein diets were heavier, more aggressive, more active during mating, and behaviourally less stable, than conspecifics raised on high-carbohydrate diets. Females preferred more protein in their diet compared to males, and dietary history affected average phenotype and within-individual variability in a sex-specific manner: individuals raised on high-protein diets were behaviourally less stable in their aggressiveness but this effect was only present in males. Diet also influenced individual differences in male body weight, but within-individual variance in female body weight. DISCUSSION This study thereby provides experimental evidence that dietary history explains both heterogeneous residual within-individual variance (i.e., individual variation in 'behavioural stability') and individual differences in average behaviour (i.e., 'personality'), though dietary effects were notably trait-specific. These findings call for future studies integrating proximate and ultimate perspectives on the role of diet in the evolution of repeatedly expressed traits, such as behaviour and body weight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang S Han
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. .,Current address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia.
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
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32
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Osborn A, Briffa M. Does repeatable behaviour in the laboratory represent behaviour under natural conditions? A formal comparison in sea anemones. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.10.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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33
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34
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White SJ, Briffa M. How do anthropogenic contaminants (ACs) affect behaviour? Multi-level analysis of the effects of copper on boldness in hermit crabs. Oecologia 2016; 183:391-400. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-016-3777-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2014] [Accepted: 11/12/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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35
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Allegue H, Araya‐Ajoy YG, Dingemanse NJ, Dochtermann NA, Garamszegi LZ, Nakagawa S, Réale D, Schielzeth H, Westneat DF. Statistical Quantification of Individual Differences (SQuID): an educational and statistical tool for understanding multilevel phenotypic data in linear mixed models. Methods Ecol Evol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Hassen Allegue
- Marine Mammal Research Unit Department of Zoology Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries University of British Columbia 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver BC Canada, V6T1Z4
| | - Yimen G. Araya‐Ajoy
- Department of Biology Center for Biodiversity Dynamics Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim N‐7491 Norway
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Straße, 82319 Seewiesen Germany
| | - Niels J. Dingemanse
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Straße, 82319 Seewiesen Germany
- Behavioural Ecology Department of Biology Ludwig‐Maximilians University of Munich Grosshadernerstrasse 2 82152 Planegg‐Martinsried Germany
| | - Ned A. Dochtermann
- Department of Biological Sciences North Dakota State University Fargo ND 58108‐6050 USA
| | - László Z. Garamszegi
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana–CSIC c/ Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092 Seville Spain
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
| | - Denis Réale
- Département des Sciences Biologiques Université du Québec A Montréal, CP 8888, Succursale centre‐ville Montréal QC Canada, H3C3P8
| | - Holger Schielzeth
- Department of Evolutionary Biology Bielefeld University Morgenbreede 45, 33615 Bielefeld Germany
- Population Ecology Institute of Ecology Friedrich Schiller University, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena Germany
| | - David F. Westneat
- Department of Biology Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Kentucky Lexington KY 40506‐0225 USA
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36
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Mitchell DJ, Fanson BG, Beckmann C, Biro PA. Towards powerful experimental and statistical approaches to study intraindividual variability in labile traits. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160352. [PMID: 27853550 PMCID: PMC5098975 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 09/19/2016] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
There is a long-standing interest in behavioural ecology, exploring the causes and correlates of consistent individual differences in mean behavioural traits ('personality') and the response to the environment ('plasticity'). Recently, it has been observed that individuals also consistently differ in their residual intraindividual variability (rIIV). This variation will probably have broad biological and methodological implications to the study of trait variation in labile traits, such as behaviour and physiology, though we currently need studies to quantify variation in rIIV, using more standardized and powerful methodology. Focusing on activity rates in guppies (Poecilia reticulata), we provide a model example, from sampling design to data analysis, in how to quantify rIIV in labile traits. Building on the doubly hierarchical generalized linear model recently used to quantify individual differences in rIIV, we extend the model to evaluate the covariance between individual mean values and their rIIV. After accounting for time-related change in behaviour, our guppies substantially differed in rIIV, and it was the active individuals that tended to be more consistent (lower rIIV). We provide annotated data analysis code to implement these complex models, and discuss how to further generalize the model to evaluate covariances with other aspects of phenotypic variation.
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37
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Mulder HA, Gienapp P, Visser ME. Genetic variation in variability: Phenotypic variability of fledging weight and its evolution in a songbird population. Evolution 2016; 70:2004-16. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2015] [Revised: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 07/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Han A. Mulder
- Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre; Wageningen University and Research; P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Philip Gienapp
- Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre; Wageningen University and Research; P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen The Netherlands
- Department of Animal Ecology; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW); P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Marcel E. Visser
- Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre; Wageningen University and Research; P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen The Netherlands
- Department of Animal Ecology; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW); P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB Wageningen The Netherlands
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38
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Alonzo SH. Integrating the how and why of within-individual and among-individual variation and plasticity in behavior. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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39
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Bridger D, Bonner SJ, Briffa M. Individual quality and personality: bolder males are less fecund in the hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus. Proc Biol Sci 2015; 282:20142492. [PMID: 25673676 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
One explanation for animal personality is that different behavioural types derive from different life-history strategies. Highly productive individuals, with high growth rates and high fecundity, are assumed to live life at a fast pace showing high levels of boldness and risk taking, compared with less productive individuals. Here, we investigate among-individual differences in mean boldness (the inverse of the latency to recover from a startling stimulus) and in the consistency of boldness, in male hermit crabs in relation to two aspects of life-history investment. We assessed aerobic scope by measuring the concentration of the respiratory pigment haemocyanin, and we assessed fecundity by measuring spermatophore size. First, we found that individuals investing in large spermatophores also had high concentrations of haemocyanin. Using doubly hierarchical-generalized linear models to analyse longitudinal data on startle responses, we show that hermit crabs vary both in their mean response durations and in the consistency of their behaviour. Individual consistency was unrelated to haemocyanin concentration or spermatophore size, but mean startle response duration increased with spermatophore size. Thus, counter to expectations, it was the most risk-averse individuals, rather than the boldest and most risk prone, that were the most productive. We suggest that similar patterns should be present in other species, if the most productive individuals avoid risky behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Bridger
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL3 8AA, UK
| | - Simon J Bonner
- Department of Statistics, University of Kentucky, 725 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40536-0082, USA
| | - Mark Briffa
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL3 8AA, UK
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40
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Ljungström G, Wapstra E, Olsson M. Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) phenology in a warming world. BMC Evol Biol 2015; 15:206. [PMID: 26446705 PMCID: PMC4597611 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0476-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2015] [Accepted: 09/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Present-day climate change has altered the phenology (the timing of periodic life cycle events) of many plant and animal populations worldwide. Some of these changes have been adaptive, leading to an increase in population fitness, whereas others have been associated with fitness decline. Representing short-term responses to an altered weather regime, hitherto observed changes are largely explained by phenotypic plasticity. However, to track climatically induced shifts in optimal phenotype as climate change proceeds, evolutionary capacity in key limiting climate- and fitness-related traits is likely to be crucial. In order to produce realistic predictions about the effects of climate change on species and populations, a main target for conservation biologists is thus to assess the potential of natural populations to respond by these two mechanisms. In this study we use a large 15-year dataset on an ectotherm model, the Swedish sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), to investigate how higher spring temperature is likely to affect oviposition timing in a high latitude population, a trait strongly linked to offspring fitness and survival. RESULTS With an interest in both the short- and potential long-term effect of rising temperatures, we applied a random regression model, which yields estimates of population-level plasticity and among-individual variation in the average, as well as the plastic, response to temperature. Population plasticity represents capacity for short-term adjustments whereas variation among individuals in a fitness-related trait indicates an opportunity for natural selection and hence for evolutionary adaptation. The analysis revealed both population-level plasticity and individual-level variation in average laying date. In contrast, we found no evidence for variation among females in their plastic responses to spring temperature, which could demonstrate a similarity in responses amongst females, but may also be due to a lack of statistical power to detect such an effect. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that climate warming may have positive fitness effects in this lizard population through an advancement of oviposition date. This prediction is consistent over shorter and potentially also longer time scales as the analysis revealed both population-level plasticity and individual-level variation in average laying date. However, the genetic basis for this variation would have to be examined in order to predict an evolutionary response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella Ljungström
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Medicinaregatan 18A, 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
| | - Erik Wapstra
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 5, 7001, TAS, Hobart, Australia.
| | - Mats Olsson
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Medicinaregatan 18A, 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building A08, 2006, NSW, Sydney, Australia.
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41
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Hierarchical analysis of avian re-nesting behavior: mean, across-individual, and intra-individual responses. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1974-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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42
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Briffa M, Sneddon LU, Wilson AJ. Animal personality as a cause and consequence of contest behaviour. Biol Lett 2015; 11:rsbl.2014.1007. [PMID: 25808004 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.1007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We review the evidence for a link between consistent among-individual variation in behaviour (animal personality) and the ability to win contests over limited resources. Explorative and bold behaviours often covary with contest behaviour and outcome, although there is evidence that the structure of these 'behavioural syndromes' can change across situations. Aggression itself is typically repeatable, but also subject to high within-individual variation as a consequence of plastic responses to previous fight outcomes and opponent traits. Common proximate mechanisms (gene expression, endocrine control and metabolic rates) may underpin variation in both contest behaviour and general personality traits. Given the theoretical links between the evolution of fighting and of personality, we suggest that longitudinal studies of contest behaviour, combining behavioural and physiological data, would be a useful context for the study of animal personalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Briffa
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL3 8AA, UK
| | - Lynne U Sneddon
- Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, BioScience Building, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Alastair J Wilson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
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43
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Cleasby IR, Nakagawa S, Schielzeth H. Quantifying the predictability of behaviour: statistical approaches for the study of between-individual variation in the within-individual variance. Methods Ecol Evol 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ian R. Cleasby
- School of Biology; University of Leeds; Leeds LS2 9JT UK
- Centre of Ecology and Conservation; University of Exeter; Cornwall Campus Penryn TR10 9EZ UK
| | | | - Holger Schielzeth
- Department of Evolutionary Biology; Bielefeld University; Bielefeld Germany
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44
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Westneat DF, Wright J, Dingemanse NJ. The biology hidden inside residual within-individual phenotypic variation. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 90:729-43. [PMID: 25080034 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 166] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2013] [Revised: 06/23/2014] [Accepted: 06/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Phenotypes vary hierarchically among taxa and populations, among genotypes within populations, among individuals within genotypes, and also within individuals for repeatedly expressed, labile phenotypic traits. This hierarchy produces some fundamental challenges to clearly defining biological phenomena and constructing a consistent explanatory framework. We use a heuristic statistical model to explore two consequences of this hierarchy. First, although the variation existing among individuals within populations has long been of interest to evolutionary biologists, within-individual variation has been much less emphasized. Within-individual variance occurs when labile phenotypes (behaviour, physiology, and sometimes morphology) exhibit phenotypic plasticity or deviate from a norm-of-reaction within the same individual. A statistical partitioning of phenotypic variance leads us to explore an array of ideas about residual within-individual variation. We use this approach to draw attention to additional processes that may influence within-individual phenotypic variance, including interactions among environmental factors, ecological effects on the fitness consequences of plasticity, and various types of adaptive variance. Second, our framework for investigating variation in phenotypic variance reveals that interactions between levels of the hierarchy form the preconditions for the evolution of all types of plasticity, and we extend this idea to the residual level within individuals, where both adaptive plasticity in residuals and canalization-like processes (stability) can evolve. With the statistical tools now available to examine heterogeneous residual variance, an array of novel questions linking phenotype to environment can be usefully addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- David F Westneat
- Department of Biology, Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Kentucky, 101 Morgan Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0225, U.S.A
| | - Jonathan Wright
- Department of Biology, Center for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,Evolutionary Ecology of Variation Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
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45
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Eliassen S, Jørgensen C. Extra-pair mating and evolution of cooperative neighbourhoods. PLoS One 2014; 9:e99878. [PMID: 24987839 PMCID: PMC4079691 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Accepted: 05/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
A striking but unexplained pattern in biology is the promiscuous mating behaviour in socially monogamous species. Although females commonly solicit extra-pair copulations, the adaptive reason has remained elusive. We use evolutionary modelling of breeding ecology to show that females benefit because extra-pair paternity incentivizes males to shift focus from a single brood towards the entire neighbourhood, as they are likely to have offspring there. Male-male cooperation towards public goods and dear enemy effects of reduced territorial aggression evolve from selfish interests, and lead to safer and more productive neighbourhoods. The mechanism provides adaptive explanations for the common empirical observations that females engage in extra-pair copulations, that neighbours dominate as extra-pair sires, and that extra-pair mating correlates with predation mortality and breeding density. The models predict cooperative behaviours at breeding sites where males cooperate more towards public goods than females. Where maternity certainty makes females care for offspring at home, paternity uncertainty and a potential for offspring in several broods make males invest in communal benefits and public goods. The models further predict that benefits of extra-pair mating affect whole nests or neighbourhoods, and that cuckolding males are often cuckolded themselves. Derived from ecological mechanisms, these new perspectives point towards the evolution of sociality in birds, with relevance also for mammals and primates including humans.
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46
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Highcock L, Carter AJ. Intraindividual variability of boldness is repeatable across contexts in a wild lizard. PLoS One 2014; 9:e95179. [PMID: 24733271 PMCID: PMC3986370 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2013] [Accepted: 03/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals do not behave in exactly the same way when repeatedly tested in the same context or situation, even once systematic variation, such as habituation, has been controlled for. This unpredictability is called intraindividual variability (IIV) and has been little studied in animals. Here we investigated how IIV in boldness (estimated by flight initiation distances) changed across two seasons--the dry, non-breeding season and the wet, breeding season--in a wild population of the Namibian rock agama, Agama planiceps. We found significant differences in IIV both between individuals and seasons, and IIV was higher in the wet season, suggesting plasticity in IIV. Further, IIV was highly repeatable (r = 0.61) between seasons and we found strong negative correlations between consistent individual differences in flight initiation distances, i.e. their boldness, and individuals' IIVs. We suggest that to understand personality in animals, researchers should generate a personality 'profile' that includes not only the relative level of a trait (i.e. its personality), but also its plasticity and variability under natural conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Highcock
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alecia J. Carter
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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47
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Johnson JC. Debates: Challenging a Recent Challenge to the Aggressive Spillover Hypothesis. Ethology 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- James Chadwick Johnson
- Division of Mathematical & Natural Sciences; Arizona State University at the West Campus; Glendale; AZ; USA
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48
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Nicolaus M, Brommer JE, Ubels R, Tinbergen JM, Dingemanse NJ. Exploring patterns of variation in clutch size-density reaction norms in a wild passerine bird. J Evol Biol 2013; 26:2031-43. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2013] [Revised: 05/27/2013] [Accepted: 05/30/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Nicolaus
- Evolutionary Ecology of Variation Group; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology; Seewiesen Germany
| | - J. E. Brommer
- Bird Ecology Unit; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences; University of Helsinki; Helsinki Finland
| | - R. Ubels
- Animal Ecology Group; Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies; University of Groningen; CC Groningen The Netherlands
| | - J. M. Tinbergen
- Animal Ecology Group; Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies; University of Groningen; CC Groningen The Netherlands
| | - N. J. Dingemanse
- Evolutionary Ecology of Variation Group; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology; Seewiesen Germany
- Department Biologie II; Behavioural Ecology Group; Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich; Planegg-Martinsried Germany
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49
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Briffa M. The Influence of Personality on a Group-Level Process: Shy Hermit Crabs Make Longer Vacancy Chains. Ethology 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark Briffa
- Marine Biology & Ecology Research Centre; Plymouth University; Plymouth; UK
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50
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How does temperature affect behaviour? Multilevel analysis of plasticity, personality and predictability in hermit crabs. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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