Consistency of temperament in bighorn ewes and correlates with behaviour and life history

Réale, Denis; Gallant, Bruno Y.; LeBlanc, Mylène; Festa-Bianchet, Marco

doi:10.1006/anbe.2000.1530

Cited by 414 publications

(291 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…It has been suspected for a while that trappability may be affected by fear response of animals, as shy individuals are more likely to show consistent trap-averse behavior and may be more difficult to capture than bold individuals (Wilson et al 1993). At the intraspecific level, the relationship between trappability and boldness has been shown to exist in fishes (Wilson et al 1993), mammals (Réale et al 2000;Malmkvist and Hansen 2001), and birds (Mills and Faure 2000;Garamszegi et al 2009b). Such a relationship can have consequences for non-random sampling, as the pool of successfully caught animals is more likely to include bold individuals than the pool of animals that avoid the trap.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untested assumptions about within-species sample size and missing data in interspecific studies

Garamszegi

Møller

2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Phylogenetic comparative studies rely on speciesspecific data that often contain missing values and/or differ in sample size among species. These phenomena may violate statistical assumptions about the non-random variance component in sampling effort. A major reason why this assumption is often not fulfilled is because the probability of being sampled (i.e., being captured or observed) may depend on species-specific characteristics. Here, we test this assumption by using information on within-species sample sizes and missing data from five independent comparative datasets of European birds. First, we show that the two estimates of data availability (missing values and withinspecies sample size) are positively correlated and are associated with research effort in general (the number of papers published). Second, we demonstrate biologically meaningful relationships between data availability and phenotypic traits. For example, population size, risk-taking, and habitat specialization independently predicted within-species sample size. The key determinants of missing data were population size and distribution range. However, data availability was not structured by phylogenetic relationships. These results indicate that the accuracy of sampling is repeatable and distributed non-randomly among species, as several species-specific attributes determined the probability of observation. Therefore, data availability seems to be a speciesspecific trait that can be shaped by ecology, life history, and behavior. Such relationships raise issues about non-random sampling, which requires attention in comparative studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untested assumptions about within-species sample size and missing data in interspecific studies

Garamszegi

Møller

2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…This is presumably because they use different habitats as a result of their behavioral type, thus exposing them to different parasite species [21]. Studies of other organisms found that, relative to shy individuals, bold male guppies are more attractive to females [23], bold killifish and bold great tits Parus major disperse further in the field [24,25], and bold bighorn sheep have higher weaning success and better survival in the field [26,27].…”

Section: Types Of Ecologically Important Behavioral Syndromesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral syndromes: an ecological and evolutionary overview

Sih¹,

Bell²,

Johnson³

2004

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

2,833

2,403

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Recent studies suggest that populations and species often exhibit behavioral syndromes; that is, suites of correlated behaviors across situations. An example is an aggression syndrome where some individuals are more aggressive, whereas others are less aggressive across a range of situations and contexts. The existence of behavioral syndromes focuses the attention of behavioral ecologists on limited (less than optimal) behavioral plasticity and behavioral carryovers across situations, rather than on optimal plasticity in each isolated situation. Behavioral syndromes can explain behaviors that appear strikingly non-adaptive in an isolated context (e.g. inappropriately high activity when predators are present, or excessive sexual cannibalism). Behavioral syndromes can also help to explain the maintenance of individual variation in behavioral types, a phenomenon that is ubiquitous, but often ignored. Recent studies suggest that the behavioral type of an individual, population or species can have important ecological and evolutionary implications, including major effects on species distributions, on the relative tendencies of species to be invasive or to respond well to environmental change, and on speciation rates. Although most studies of behavioral syndromes to date have focused on a few organisms, mainly in the laboratory, further work on other species, particularly in the field, should yield numerous new insights.Humans show consistent individual differences in personality [1]. For example, some people are generally more bold, whereas others are generally more shy. In statistical terms, the tendency for individuals to differ consistently in behavior (e.g. in boldness) across SITUATIONS (see Glossary) is quantified as a BEHAVIORAL CORRELATION ACROSS SITUATIONS. The analog of personality has been studied in considerable detail in a few primates, domesticated animals and laboratory rodents [2,3], with much of the focus being on the genetic and neuroendocrine bases of variation in BEHAVIORAL TYPE. However, recent studies by ethologists and behavioral ecologists have documented 'animal personalities' in a broad range of 'non-model organisms', including several mammals, birds, lizards, amphibians, fish, mollusks and arthropods [3]. Evolutionary ecologists refer to suites of correlated traits as syndromes; for example, life-history or dispersal syndromes [4,5]. We therefore refer to suites of correlated behaviors as BEHA-VIORAL SYNDROMES. A population or species can exhibit a behavioral syndrome with each individual showing a behavioral type (e.g. more bold or more shy). Alternatively, a group of species can exhibit a syndrome with each species having a behavioral type (e.g. species that are more bold versus those that are more shy).The idea of studying correlated suites of behaviors across situations represents an important shift in how behavioral ecologists typically address behavior [6]. In essence, when traits are correlated, they should be studied together, as a package, rather than as isolated units. Here, we des...

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“…Natal dispersal has important consequences at the individual level for survival and reproduction over the lifetime [5,6], and at the population level for gene flow, spatially structured population dynamics and invasion capability [2][3][4]. Understanding the ultimate and proximate factors that affect dispersal is thus of primary interest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The link between behavioural type and natal dispersal propensity reveals a dispersal syndrome in a large herbivore

et al. 2014

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When individuals disperse, they modify the physical and social composition of their reproductive environment, potentially impacting their fitness. The choice an individual makes between dispersal and philopatry is thus critical, hence a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the decision to leave the natal area is crucial. We explored how combinations of behavioural (exploration, mobility, activity and stress response) and morphological (body mass) traits measured prior to dispersal were linked to the subsequent dispersal decision in 77 roe deer Capreolus capreolus fawns. Using an unusually detailed multi-trait approach, we identified two independent behavioural continuums related to dispersal. First, a continuum of energetic expenditure contrasted individuals of low mobility, low variability in head activity and low body temperature with those that displayed opposite traits. Second, a continuum of neophobia contrasted individuals that explored more prior to dispersal and were more tolerant of capture with those that displayed opposite traits. While accounting for possible confounding effects of condition-dependence (body mass), we showed that future dispersers were less neophobic and had higher energetic budgets than future philopatric individuals, providing strong support for a dispersal syndrome in this species.

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Consistency of temperament in bighorn ewes and correlates with behaviour and life history

Cited by 414 publications

References 46 publications

Untested assumptions about within-species sample size and missing data in interspecific studies

Untested assumptions about within-species sample size and missing data in interspecific studies

Behavioral syndromes: an ecological and evolutionary overview

The link between behavioural type and natal dispersal propensity reveals a dispersal syndrome in a large herbivore

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