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Petrullo L, Delaney D, Boutin S, Lane JE, McAdam AG, Dantzer B. A future food boom rescues the negative effects of early-life adversity on adult lifespan in a small mammal. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232681. [PMID: 38654643 PMCID: PMC11040256 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Early-life adversity, even when transient, can have lasting effects on individual phenotypes and reduce lifespan across species. If these effects can be mitigated by a high-quality later-life environment, then differences in future resources may explain variable resilience to early-life adversity. Using data from over 1000 wild North American red squirrels, we tested the hypothesis that the costs of early-life adversity for adult lifespan could be offset by later-life food abundance. We identified six adversities that reduced juvenile survival in the first year of life, though only one-birth date-had continued independent effects on adult lifespan. We then built a weighted early-life adversity (wELA) index integrating the sum of adversities and their effect sizes. Greater weighted early-life adversity predicted shorter adult lifespans in males and females, but a naturally occurring food boom in the second year of life ameliorated this effect. Experimental food supplementation did not replicate this pattern, despite increasing lifespan, indicating that the buffering effect of a future food boom may hinge on more than an increase in available calories. Our results suggest a non-deterministic role of early-life conditions for later-life phenotype, highlighting the importance of evaluating the consequences of early-life adversity in the context of an animal's entire life course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Petrullo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, 857192, AZ, USA
| | - David Delaney
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 803023, CO, USA
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, 500114, IA, USA
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2R35, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jeffrey E. Lane
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, S7N 5A26, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - Andrew G. McAdam
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, 500114, IA, USA
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 481097, MI, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 481097, MI, USA
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2
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Mazzamuto MV, Morandini M, Lampman W, Wauters LA, Preatoni D, Koprowski JL, Martinoli A. Use of infrared thermography to detect reactions to stressful events: does animal personality matter? Integr Zool 2024; 19:224-239. [PMID: 37248795 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The study of the relationship between animal stress and personality for free-ranging animals is limited and provides contrasting results. The perception of stressors by an individual may vary due to its personality, and certain personality traits may help individuals to better cope with them. Using non-invasive infrared thermography (IRT), we investigated the link between physiological and behavioral components expressed during an acute stress event by free-ranging Fremont's squirrels (Tamiasciurus fremonti). We expected that, during the acute stress event of being approached by the researcher, individuals that showed a fast pace-of-life syndrome (bolder, more active, and less social/more aggressive) based on an arena test would exhibit stronger sympathetic-adrenal-medullary system reactivity showing a more intense stress-induced hyperthermia (high core body temperature and low peripheral temperature) than individuals with a slow pace of life (shy, less active, and more social). We successfully employed IRT technology to images of Fremont's squirrels with identification of the individuals' body parts (eye, nose, ear, hind foot). However, we found no support for our hypothesis. Squirrels' body surface temperatures told us more about a squirrel's external environment and less about the thermal state of the body in that environment following a stressful event. Further studies need to assess how to make IRT effective and efficient in the field and improve its performance in studying the relationships between physiology and personality in wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto
- School of Natural Resources and Environment, College of Agriculture and Life Science, University of Arizona, Arizona, USA
- Unità di Analisi e Gestione delle Risorse Ambientali, Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche e Applicate, Guido Tosi Research Group, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Marina Morandini
- School of Natural Resources and Environment, College of Agriculture and Life Science, University of Arizona, Arizona, USA
| | - William Lampman
- School of Natural Resources and Environment, College of Agriculture and Life Science, University of Arizona, Arizona, USA
| | - Lucas Armand Wauters
- Unità di Analisi e Gestione delle Risorse Ambientali, Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche e Applicate, Guido Tosi Research Group, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Damiano Preatoni
- Unità di Analisi e Gestione delle Risorse Ambientali, Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche e Applicate, Guido Tosi Research Group, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - John Lad Koprowski
- School of Natural Resources and Environment, College of Agriculture and Life Science, University of Arizona, Arizona, USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Wyoming, USA
| | - Adriano Martinoli
- Unità di Analisi e Gestione delle Risorse Ambientali, Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche e Applicate, Guido Tosi Research Group, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy
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3
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Petrullo L, Delaney D, Boutin S, McAdam AG, Lane JE, Boonstra R, Palme R, Dantzer B. The glucocorticoid response to environmental change is not specific to agents of natural selection in wild red squirrels. Horm Behav 2022; 146:105262. [PMID: 36191397 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary endocrinology aims to understand how natural selection shapes endocrine systems and the degree to which endocrine systems themselves can induce phenotypic responses to environmental changes. Such responses may be specialized in that they reflect past selection for responsiveness only to those ecological factors that ultimately influence natural selection. Alternatively, endocrine responses may be broad and generalized, allowing organisms to cope with a variety of environmental changes simultaneously. Here, we empirically tested whether the endocrine response of female North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) was specialized or generalized. We first quantified the direction and magnitude of natural selection acting on three female life history traits (parturition date, litter size, offspring postnatal growth rate) during 32 years of fluctuations in four potential ecological agents of selection (food availability, conspecific density, predator abundance, and temperature). Only three of the four variables (food, density, and predators) affected patterns of natural selection on female life history traits. We then quantified fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) across 7 years and found that all four environmental variables, regardless of their effects on patterns of selection, were associated with glucocorticoid production. Our results provide support for a generalized, rather than specific, glucocorticoid response to environmental change that can integrate across multiple co-occurring environmental stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Petrullo
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA.
| | - David Delaney
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Andrew G McAdam
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Jeffrey E Lane
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5E2, Canada
| | - Rudy Boonstra
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for the Neurobiology of Stress, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON M1C 1A6, Canada
| | - Rupert Palme
- Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterina ̈rplatz 1, Vienna 1210, Austria
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA
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4
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Personality-dependent passage behaviour of an aquatic invasive species at a barrier to dispersal. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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5
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Beukeboom R, Morel A, Phillips JS, Ólafsdóttir GÁ, Benhaïm D. Activity vs exploration: Locomotion in a known and unknown environment differs in Atlantic cod juveniles (Gadus morhua). Behav Processes 2022; 202:104736. [PMID: 36028060 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Individuals within a population often behave differently and these differences can be consistent over time and/or context, also termed "animal personality". Animal personality has been commonly classified into five axes with studies aiming to validate these axes. One subject that has surprisingly not received full attention yet is the difference between the two personality axes "activity" and "exploration-avoidance", i.e. behaviour in a known vs an unknown environment. Despite this clear difference in definition, many studies measure activity in an unknown environment and term it activity, while underlying motivations between the two environments are different. This study aimed to detect the two personality traits "activity" and "exploration" in Atlantic cod juveniles, and to investigate whether they support the distinctive definitions proposed by previous authors. This study showed significant consistency in locomotion variation in both environments, i.e. personality. In addition, the two environments clearly elicited different behaviours; Atlantic cod juvenile behaviour was more repeatable and they moved more in the known vs the unknown environment, and no correlation of the proportional locomotion between the two was found. This demonstrates that locomotion in both environments, i.e. the personality axes "activity" and "exploration", should not be confused nor treated as if they reflect the same personality trait.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosanne Beukeboom
- University of Iceland, Research Centre of the Westfjords, Bolungarvik, Iceland; Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology, Hólar University, Saudárkrókur, Iceland.
| | - Antoine Morel
- University of Iceland, Research Centre of the Westfjords, Bolungarvik, Iceland
| | - Joseph S Phillips
- Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology, Hólar University, Saudárkrókur, Iceland
| | | | - David Benhaïm
- Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology, Hólar University, Saudárkrókur, Iceland
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6
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Martinig A, Karst H, Siracusa E, Studd E, McAdam A, Dantzer B, Delaney D, Lane J, Pokharel P, Boutin S. Animal personality: a comparison of standardized assays and focal observations in North American red squirrels. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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7
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Bonnet T, Morrissey MB, de Villemereuil P, Alberts SC, Arcese P, Bailey LD, Boutin S, Brekke P, Brent LJN, Camenisch G, Charmantier A, Clutton-Brock TH, Cockburn A, Coltman DW, Courtiol A, Davidian E, Evans SR, Ewen JG, Festa-Bianchet M, de Franceschi C, Gustafsson L, Höner OP, Houslay TM, Keller LF, Manser M, McAdam AG, McLean E, Nietlisbach P, Osmond HL, Pemberton JM, Postma E, Reid JM, Rutschmann A, Santure AW, Sheldon BC, Slate J, Teplitsky C, Visser ME, Wachter B, Kruuk LEB. Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals. Science 2022; 376:1012-1016. [PMID: 35617403 DOI: 10.1126/science.abk0853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothée Bonnet
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | | | - Pierre de Villemereuil
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), École Pratique des Hautes Études, PSL, MNHN, CNRS, SU, UA, Paris, France.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Departments of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Peter Arcese
- Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Liam D Bailey
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Patricia Brekke
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, UK
| | - Lauren J N Brent
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Glauco Camenisch
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anne Charmantier
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Tim H Clutton-Brock
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Andrew Cockburn
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - David W Coltman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Alexandre Courtiol
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Eve Davidian
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Simon R Evans
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - John G Ewen
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, UK
| | | | - Christophe de Franceschi
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Lars Gustafsson
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Oliver P Höner
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas M Houslay
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Lukas F Keller
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Zoological Museum, University of Zurich,, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marta Manser
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Andrew G McAdam
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Emily McLean
- Biology Department, Oxford College, Emory University, Oxford, GA, USA
| | - Pirmin Nietlisbach
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA
| | - Helen L Osmond
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | | | - Erik Postma
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Jane M Reid
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Alexis Rutschmann
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Anna W Santure
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ben C Sheldon
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jon Slate
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Céline Teplitsky
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Marcel E Visser
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Loeske E B Kruuk
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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8
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Eccard JA, Herde A, Schuster AC, Liesenjohann T, Knopp T, Heckel G, Dammhahn M. Fitness, risk taking, and spatial behavior covary with boldness in experimental vole populations. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8521. [PMID: 35154645 PMCID: PMC8829380 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals of a population may vary along a pace-of-life syndrome from highly fecund, short-lived, bold, dispersive "fast" types at one end of the spectrum to less fecund, long-lived, shy, plastic "slow" types at the other end. Risk-taking behavior might mediate the underlying life history trade-off, but empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis is still ambiguous. Using experimentally created populations of common voles (Microtus arvalis)-a species with distinct seasonal life history trajectories-we aimed to test whether individual differences in boldness behavior covary with risk taking, space use, and fitness. We quantified risk taking, space use (via automated tracking), survival, and reproductive success (via genetic parentage analysis) in 8 to 14 experimental, mixed-sex populations of 113 common voles of known boldness type in large grassland enclosures over a significant part of their adult life span and two reproductive events. Populations were assorted to contain extreme boldness types (bold or shy) of both sexes. Bolder individuals took more risks than shyer ones, which did not affect survival. Bolder males but not females produced more offspring than shy conspecifics. Daily home range and core area sizes, based on 95% and 50% Kernel density estimates (20 ± 10 per individual, n = 54 individuals), were highly repeatable over time. Individual space use unfolded differently for sex-boldness type combinations over the course of the experiment. While day ranges decreased for shy females, they increased for bold females and all males. Space use trajectories may, hence, indicate differences in coping styles when confronted with a novel social and physical environment. Thus, interindividual differences in boldness predict risk taking under near-natural conditions and have consequences for fitness in males, which have a higher reproductive potential than females. Given extreme inter- and intra-annual fluctuations in population density in the study species and its short life span, density-dependent fluctuating selection operating differently on the sexes might maintain (co)variation in boldness, risk taking, and pace-of-life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jana A Eccard
- Animal Ecology Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
| | - Antje Herde
- Animal Ecology Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
- Animal Behaviour Faculty of Biology University of Bielefeld Bielefeld Germany
| | - Andrea C Schuster
- Animal Ecology Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland
| | - Thilo Liesenjohann
- Animal Ecology Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
- BioConsult SH GmbH & Co. KG Husum Germany
| | - Tatjana Knopp
- Animal Ecology Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
| | - Gerald Heckel
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland
| | - Melanie Dammhahn
- Animal Ecology Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany
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9
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Dantzer B, Boutin S, Lane JE, McAdam AG. Integrative Studies of the Effects of Mothers on Offspring: An Example from Wild North American Red Squirrels. ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2022; 27:269-296. [PMID: 36169819 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-97762-7_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Animal species vary in whether they provide parental care or the type of care provided, and this variation in parental care among species has been a common focus of comparative studies. However, the proximate causes and ultimate consequences of within-species variation in parental care have been less studied. Most studies about the impacts of within-species variation in parental care on parental fitness have been in primates, whereas studies in laboratory rodents have been invaluable for understanding what causes inter-individual variation in parental care and its influence on offspring characteristics. We integrated both of these perspectives in our long-term study of North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in the Yukon, Canada, where we have focused on understanding the impacts of mothers on offspring. This includes documenting the impacts that mothers or the maternal environment itself has on their offspring, identifying how changes in maternal physiology impact offspring characteristics, the presence of individual variation in maternal attentiveness toward offspring before weaning and its fitness consequences, and postweaning maternal care and its fitness consequences. We provide an overview of these contributions to understanding the impacts mothers have on their offspring in red squirrels using an integrative framework and contrast them with studies in the laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Jeffrey E Lane
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Andrew G McAdam
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
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10
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Evans JC, Lindholm AK, König B. Family dynamics reveal that female house mice preferentially breed in their maternal community. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Whether females breed in their natal group is an important factor in the evolution of extended families in animal sociality. Breeding in natal groups comes with costs and benefits, depending on group size and presence of older relatives, including mothers. Studying the consequences of breeding in the natal versus another group provides insight into the decisions and trade-offs governing the formation and structure of family groups. We investigated the family dynamics of a population of free-ranging commensal house mice. Using dynamic community detection on long-term datasets, we determined which females first bred in their natal group. We then looked at how this influenced breeding success. We found most females (77%) exhibited strong philopatry, breeding in their natal groups. Breeding elsewhere was only somewhat predictable at very large and very small group sizes. Despite their philopatric preference, breeding elsewhere made no difference in how quickly and successfully a female bred. However, presence of their mother did lead females to breed sooner when born during high breeding activity, when competition over reproduction is high. Based on these results, potential loss of reproductive success from leaving the natal group does not seem to be the main driver of philopatry in female house mice. The effect of the presence of mothers suggests that benefiting from established social connections promotes breeding in the natal group. Mothers providing benefits also implies a lack of conflict between generations, which will be important for the development of stable social groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian C Evans
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anna K Lindholm
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Barbara König
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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11
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Westrick SE, van Kesteren F, Boutin S, Lane JE, McAdam AG, Dantzer B. Maternal glucocorticoids have minimal effects on HPA axis activity and behavior of juvenile wild North American red squirrels. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb.236620. [PMID: 33795416 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.236620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
As a response to environmental cues, maternal glucocorticoids (GCs) may trigger adaptive developmental plasticity in the physiology and behavior of offspring. In North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), mothers exhibit increased GCs when conspecific density is elevated, and selection favors more aggressive and perhaps more active mothers under these conditions. We tested the hypothesis that elevated maternal GCs cause shifts in offspring behavior that may prepare them for high-density conditions. We experimentally elevated maternal GCs during gestation or early lactation. We measured two behavioral traits (activity and aggression) in weaned offspring using standardized behavioral assays. Because maternal GCs may influence offspring hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dynamics, which may in turn affect behavior, we also measured the impact of our treatments on offspring HPA axis dynamics (adrenal reactivity and negative feedback), and the association between offspring HPA axis dynamics and behavior. Increased maternal GCs during lactation, but not gestation, slightly elevated activity levels in offspring. Offspring aggression and adrenal reactivity did not differ between treatment groups. Male, but not female, offspring from mothers treated with GCs during pregnancy exhibited stronger negative feedback compared with those from control mothers, but there were no differences in negative feedback between lactation treatment groups. Offspring with higher adrenal reactivity from mothers treated during pregnancy (both controls and GC-treated) exhibited lower aggression and activity. These results suggest that maternal GCs during gestation or early lactation alone may not be a sufficient cue to produce substantial changes in behavioral and physiological stress responses in offspring in natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Westrick
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109-1043, USA
| | - Freya van Kesteren
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109-1043, USA
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2E9
| | - Jeffrey E Lane
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5E2
| | - Andrew G McAdam
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0334, USA
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109-1043, USA.,Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1085, USA
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12
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Wauters LA, Mazzamuto MV, Santicchia F, Martinoli A, Preatoni DG, Lurz PWW, Bertolino S, Romeo C. Personality traits, sex and food abundance shape space use in an arboreal mammal. Oecologia 2021; 196:65-76. [PMID: 33796927 PMCID: PMC8139925 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-04901-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/29/2022]
Abstract
Animal space use is affected by spatio-temporal variation in food availability and/or population density and varies among individuals. This inter-individual variation in spacing behaviour can be further influenced by sex, body condition, social dominance, and by the animal's personality. We used capture-mark-recapture and radio-tracking to examine the relationship between space use and personality in Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in three conifer forests in the Italian Alps. We further explored to what extent this was influenced by changes in food abundance and/or population density. Measures of an individual's trappability and trap diversity had high repeatability and were used in a Principal Component Analysis to obtain a single personality score representing a boldness-exploration tendency. Males increased home-range size with low food abundance and low female density, independent of their personality. However, bolder males used larger core-areas that overlapped less with other males than shy ones, suggesting different resource (food, partners) utilization strategies among personality types. For females, space use-personality relationships varied with food abundance, and bolder females used larger home ranges than shy ones at low female density, but the trend was opposite at high female density. Females' intrasexual core-area overlap was negatively related to body mass, with no effect of personality. We conclude that relationships between personality traits and space use in free-ranging squirrels varied with sex, and were further influenced by spatio-temporal fluctuations in food availability. Moreover, different personality types (bold-explorative vs. shy) seemed to adopt different space-use strategies to increase access to food and/or partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas A Wauters
- Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via J.H. Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy.,Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto
- Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via J.H. Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy.,School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Francesca Santicchia
- Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via J.H. Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy.
| | - Adriano Martinoli
- Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via J.H. Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy
| | - Damiano G Preatoni
- Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via J.H. Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy
| | - Peter W W Lurz
- The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, UK
| | - Sandro Bertolino
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Claudia Romeo
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
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13
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Personality and behavioral syndromes in two Peromyscus species: presence, lack of state dependence, and lack of association with home range size. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02951-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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14
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Siracusa ER, Boutin S, Dantzer B, Lane JE, Coltman DW, McAdam AG. Familiar Neighbors, but Not Relatives, Enhance Fitness in a Territorial Mammal. Curr Biol 2021; 31:438-445.e3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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15
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Dantzer B, McAdam AG, Humphries MM, Lane JE, Boutin S. Decoupling the effects of food and density on life-history plasticity of wild animals using field experiments: Insights from the steward who sits in the shadow of its tail, the North American red squirrel. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:2397-2414. [PMID: 32929740 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Long-term studies of wild animals provide the opportunity to investigate how phenotypic plasticity is used to cope with environmental fluctuations and how the relationships between phenotypes and fitness can be dependent upon the ecological context. Many previous studies have only investigated life-history plasticity in response to changes in temperature, yet wild animals often experience multiple environmental fluctuations simultaneously. This requires field experiments to decouple which ecological factor induces plasticity in fitness-relevant traits to better understand their population-level responses to those environmental fluctuations. For the past 32 years, we have conducted a long-term integrative study of individually marked North American red squirrels Tamiasciurus hudsonicus Erxleben in the Yukon, Canada. We have used multi-year field experiments to examine the physiological and life-history responses of individual red squirrels to fluctuations in food abundance and conspecific density. Our long-term observational study and field experiments show that squirrels can anticipate increases in food availability and density, thereby decoupling the usual pattern where animals respond to, rather than anticipate, an ecological change. As in many other study systems, ecological factors that can induce plasticity (such as food and density) covary. However, our field experiments that manipulate food availability and social cues of density (frequency of territorial vocalizations) indicate that increases in social (acoustic) cues of density in the absence of additional food can induce similar life-history plasticity, as does experimental food supplementation. Changes in the levels of metabolic hormones (glucocorticoids) in response to variation in food and density are one mechanism that seems to induce this adaptive life-history plasticity. Although we have not yet investigated the energetic response of squirrels to elevated density or its association with life-history plasticity, energetics research in red squirrels has overturned several standard pillars of knowledge in physiological ecology. We show how a tractable model species combined with integrative studies can reveal how animals cope with resource fluctuations through life-history plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Andrew G McAdam
- Department for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Murray M Humphries
- Natural Resource Sciences Department, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada
| | - Jeffrey E Lane
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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16
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Hammond TT, Curtis MJ, Jacobs LE, Tobler MW, Swaisgood RR, Shier DM. Behavior and detection method influence detection probability of a translocated, endangered amphibian. Anim Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Leah E. Jacobs
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research Escondido CA USA
| | | | | | - Debra M. Shier
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research Escondido CA USA
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17
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Kitchen AJ, Chalcraft DR. An individual's propensity to disperse is dependent on the behavioral type of its peers but not its own behavioral type. Oecologia 2020; 194:403-413. [PMID: 32980881 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04769-8] [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] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Intraspecific differences in the dispersal propensity of animals have been linked to interindividual variation in inherent tendencies (i.e., personality or behavioral type) that influence multiple aspects of an individual's behavior. Studies linking dispersal propensity and personality often (1) focus on defining behavioral tendencies with a single behavioral trait rather than multiple, (2) do not recognize that invertebrates may have behavioral tendencies that influence dispersal, and (3) do not consider how the behavioral type of other individuals affects the dispersal propensity of an individual. We documented multiple foraging behaviors of an aquatic predatory insect (Notonecta irrorata) and found that Notonecta individuals differ in their inherent behavioral tendency (i.e., degree of boldness); all foraging behaviors were correlated such that riskier behaviors were exhibited by the same individuals. We conducted an experiment in which we varied which behavioral types of Notonecta were placed in outdoor pools (passive, bold or both types present) and quantified how long it took for individuals to disperse. Passive and bold individuals had a similar propensity to disperse but the dispersal propensity of each behavioral type was influenced by the behavioral type of other conspecifics present in the pool. Our work reveals that (1) invertebrates have inherent behavioral tendencies that vary among individuals but these tendencies do not necessarily impact all of the behavior displayed by the individual (i.e., impact foraging but not dispersal) and (2) the inherent behavioral tendency of other individuals with which an animal co-occurs can affect habitat patch dynamics such as predation, competition, or colonization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony J Kitchen
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA
| | - David R Chalcraft
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA.
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18
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Sex- and context-specific associations between personality and a measure of fitness but no link with life history traits. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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19
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Westrick SE, Taylor RW, Boutin S, Lane JE, McAdam AG, Dantzer B. Attentive red squirrel mothers have faster growing pups and higher lifetime reproductive success. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02856-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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20
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Jablonszky M, Krenhardt K, Markó G, Szász E, Hegyi G, Herényi M, Kötél D, Laczi M, Nagy G, Rosivall B, Török J, Garamszegi LZ. A behavioural trait displayed in an artificial novel environment correlates with dispersal in a wild bird. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mónika Jablonszky
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Katalin Krenhardt
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Gábor Markó
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
- Department of Plant Pathology Szent István University Budapest Hungary
| | - Eszter Szász
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Gergely Hegyi
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Márton Herényi
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
- Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology Szent István University Gödöllő Hungary
| | - Dóra Kötél
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Miklós Laczi
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Gergely Nagy
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Balázs Rosivall
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - János Török
- Behavioural Ecology Group Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - László Zsolt Garamszegi
- MTA‐ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group Institute of Physics Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana‐CSIC Seville Spain
- Institute of Ecology and Botany Centre for Ecological Research Hungarian Academy of Sciences Vácrátót Hungary
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21
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Hendrix JG, Fisher DN, Martinig AR, Boutin S, Dantzer B, Lane JE, McAdam AG. Territory acquisition mediates the influence of predators and climate on juvenile red squirrel survival. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1408-1418. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 01/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jack G. Hendrix
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's NL Canada
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
| | - David N. Fisher
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton ON Canada
| | | | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
| | - Jeffrey E. Lane
- Department of Biology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon SK Canada
| | - Andrew G. McAdam
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
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22
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Martinig AR, McAdam AG, Dantzer B, Lane JE, Coltman DW, Boutin S. The new kid on the block: immigrant males win big whereas females pay fitness cost after dispersal. Ecol Lett 2019; 23:430-438. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew G. McAdam
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
| | - Jeffrey E. Lane
- Department of Biology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon SK Canada
| | - David W. Coltman
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
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23
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Wat KKY, Herath APHM, Rus AI, Banks PB, Mcarthur C. Space use by animals on the urban fringe: interactive effects of sex and personality. Behav Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Personality traits shape individual perceptions of risks and rewards, and so, should affect how animals value and use their environment. Evidence is emerging that personality affects foraging, space use, and exploitation of novel environments such as urban habitat. But the influence of personality is also hypothesized to be sex-dependent when primary motivation for space use differs between sexes, as often occurs in polygynous species. We tested the influence of personality traits, interacting with sex, on space use by the polygynous common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, in an urban-woodland boundary in Sydney, Australia. We quantified personality traits, including exploration, using behavioral assays in an artificial arena. We also GPS-tracked free-ranging individuals, and measured range size, core area: home range, and proportional urban range. We found that personality traits affected space use either as a main effect or, as predicted, an interaction with sex. More exploratory animals, regardless of sex, had higher core area: home range ratios and proportionally larger ranges within urban habitat. However, less exploratory females yet more exploratory males had larger ranges. Our findings provide new insight into movement ecology by demonstrating, for the first time, the sex-dependent influence of personality. The demonstrated influence of personality on urban use by possums also suggests a personality filter for wildlife, as populations transition into urban areas. Finally, as individuals at the interface between urban and natural habitat are also a conduit between the two, a corollary of our findings is that there may be personality-mediated spread of disease across this boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie K Y Wat
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Anushika P H M Herath
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Adrian I Rus
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Peter B Banks
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Clare Mcarthur
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building (A08), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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24
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McAdam AG, Boutin S, Dantzer B, Lane JE. Seed Masting Causes Fluctuations in Optimum Litter Size and Lag Load in a Seed Predator. Am Nat 2019; 194:574-589. [PMID: 31490724 DOI: 10.1086/703743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
The episodic production of large seed crops by some perennial plants (masting) is known to increase seed escape by alternately starving and swamping seed predators. These pulses of resources might also act as an agent of selection on the life histories of seed predators, which could indirectly enhance seed escape by inducing an evolutionary load on seed predator populations. We measured natural selection on litter size of female North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) across 28 years and five white spruce (Picea glauca) masting events. Observed litter sizes were similar to optimum litter sizes during nonmast years but were well below optimum litter sizes during mast years. Mast events therefore caused selection for larger litters ( β'=0.25 ) and a lag load ( L=0.25 ) on red squirrels during mast years. Reduced juvenile recruitment associated with this lag load increased the number of spruce cones escaping squirrel predation. Although offspring and parents often experienced opposite environments with respect to the mast, we found no effect of environmental mismatches across generations on either offspring survival or population growth. Instead, squirrels plastically increased litter sizes in anticipation of mast events, which partially, although not completely, reduced the lag load resulting from this change in food availability. These results therefore suggest that in addition to ecological and behavioral effects on seed predators, mast seed production can further enhance seed escape by inducing maladaptation in seed predators through fluctuations in optimal trait values.
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25
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Berger-Tal O, Saltz D. Invisible barriers: anthropogenic impacts on inter- and intra-specific interactions as drivers of landscape-independent fragmentation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180049. [PMID: 31352896 PMCID: PMC6710564 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenically induced fragmentation constitutes a major threat to biodiversity. Presently, conservation research and actions focus predominantly on fragmentation caused directly by physical transformation of the landscape (e.g. deforestation, agriculture, urbanization, roads, etc.). While there is no doubt that landscape features play a key role in fragmenting populations or enhancing connectivity, fragmentation may also come about by processes other than the transformation of the landscape and which may not be readily visible. Such landscape-independent fragmentation (LIF) usually comes about when anthropogenic disturbance alters the inter- and intra-specific interactions among and within species. LIF and its drivers have received little attention in the scientific literature and in the management of wildlife populations. We discuss three major classes of LIF processes and their relevance for the conservation and management of species and habitats: (i) interspecific dispersal dependency, in which populations of species that rely on other species for transport and propagation become fragmented as the transporting species declines; (ii) interspecific avoidance induction, where species are excluded from habitats and corridors owing to interspecific interactions resulting from anthropogenically induced changes in community structure (e.g. exclusions by increased predation pressure); and (iii) intraspecific behavioural divergence, where populations become segregated owing to anthropogenically induced behavioural differentiation among them. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking behaviour to dynamics of populations and communities: application of novel approaches in behavioural ecology to conservation'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oded Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8499000 Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
| | - David Saltz
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8499000 Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
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26
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Johnson JS, Cantrell RS, Cosner C, Hartig F, Hastings A, Rogers HS, Schupp EW, Shea K, Teller BJ, Yu X, Zurell D, Pufal G. Rapid changes in seed dispersal traits may modify plant responses to global change. AOB PLANTS 2019; 11:plz020. [PMID: 31198528 PMCID: PMC6548345 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plz020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
When climatic or environmental conditions change, plant populations must either adapt to these new conditions, or track their niche via seed dispersal. Adaptation of plants to different abiotic environments has mostly been discussed with respect to physiological and demographic parameters that allow local persistence. However, rapid modifications in response to changing environmental conditions can also affect seed dispersal, both via plant traits and via their dispersal agents. Studying such changes empirically is challenging, due to the high variability in dispersal success, resulting from environmental heterogeneity, and substantial phenotypic variability of dispersal-related traits of seeds and their dispersers. The exact mechanisms that drive rapid changes are often not well understood, but the ecological implications of these processes are essential determinants of dispersal success, and deserve more attention from ecologists, especially in the context of adaptation to global change. We outline the evidence for rapid changes in seed dispersal traits by discussing variability due to plasticity or genetics broadly, and describe the specific traits and biological systems in which variability in dispersal is being studied, before discussing some of the potential underlying mechanisms. We then address future research needs and propose a simulation model that incorporates phenotypic plasticity in seed dispersal. We close with a call to action and encourage ecologists and biologist to embrace the challenge of better understanding rapid changes in seed dispersal and their consequences for the reaction of plant populations to global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy S Johnson
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
- Dorena Genetic Resource Center, USDA Forest Service, Cottage Grove, OR, USA
| | | | - Chris Cosner
- Department of Mathematics, The University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Florian Hartig
- Theoretical Ecology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Alan Hastings
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Haldre S Rogers
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Eugene W Schupp
- Department of Wildland Resources & Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Katriona Shea
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Brittany J Teller
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Xiao Yu
- Department of Mathematics, The University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Damaris Zurell
- Department of Geography, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Land Change and Science, Swiss Federal Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Gesine Pufal
- Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
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27
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Wassmer T, Refinetti R. Individual Daily and Seasonal Activity Patterns in Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) Quantified by Temperature-Sensitive Data Loggers. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
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28
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Do predators modify context-dependent dispersal of red squirrels? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2554-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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