Insights into the Pace-of-Life Syndrome hypothesis: Exploring the Influence of personality on Movement Ecology in Crotalus atrox

Abstract

The pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis predicts individuals, populations, and species that experience different ecological conditions will differ in spatial ecology resulting in contrasting life history strategies. We investigated the effect of personality on spatial ecology of the western diamond-backed rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), and tested the predictions that bolder, more active, and exploratory individuals will move more and have larger territories compared to shyer, less active individuals. We tracked 14 rattlesnakes for one year and assessed their personality in captivity across four different axes: activity, boldness, exploration, and reactivity. Bolder and more active individuals travelled more than shy, less active individuals, but only during the non-mating season. Shy individuals increased movement significantly more than bold individuals during the mating season, thus leading to no significant difference in movements between shy and bold individuals during the mating season. Moreover, less bold and less active individuals were more responsive to changes in reproductive status. These results suggest the existence of two different strategies for resources acquisition within the same population, indicating that the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis may be context-dependent. Ultimately, we show that the existence of different life-history strategies within the same population are dependent upon the reproductive status of these individuals.