The dispersal and migration of organisms have resulted in the colonisation of nearly every possible habitat and ultimately the extraordinary diversity of life. Animal dispersal tendencies are commonly heterogeneous (e.g. long vs. short) and non-random suggesting that phenotypic and genotypic variability between individuals can contribute to population-level heterogeneity in dispersal. Using laboratory and field experiments, we demonstrate that natural allelic variation in a gene underlying a foraging polymorphism in larval fruit flies (for), also influences their dispersal tendencies as adults. Rover flies (for(R) ; higher foraging activity) have consistently greater dispersal tendencies and are more likely to disperse longer distances than sitter flies (for(s) ; lower foraging activity). Increasing for expression in the brain and nervous system increases dispersal in sitter flies. Our study supports the notion that variation in dispersal can be driven by intrinsic variation in food-dependent search behaviours and confirms that single gene pleiotropic effects can contribute to population-level heterogeneity in dispersal.

Understanding factors that ameliorate the impact of habitat loss is a major focus of conservation research. One key factor influencing species persistence and evolution is the ability to disperse across increasingly patchy landscapes. Here we ask whether interpatch distance (a proxy for habitat loss) and dispersal strategy can interact to form thresholds where connectivity breaks down. We assayed dispersal across a range of interpatch distances in fruit flies carrying allelic variants of a gene known to underlie differences in dispersal strategy. Dispersal‐limited flies experienced a distinct negative threshold in connectivity at greater interpatch distances, and this was not observed in more dispersive flies. Consequently, this differential response of dispersal‐limited and more dispersive flies to decreasing connectivity suggests that habitat loss could have important implications on the evolution and maintenance of genetic variation underlying dispersal strategy.

A study of yellow warblers identifies genomic regions involved in climate change adaptation

Abstract. Several hypotheses predict that individual differences in migration and dispersal are related to individual differences in routine behavior associated with foraging and risk taking. We tested whether short-term dispersal of recently emerged brook charr Salvelinus fontinalis was correlated with differences in activity during prey search in the field (a measure of foraging tactic) or in the time taken to exit a dark tube into an unfamiliar field environment (a measure of risk taking). For one sample of fish, we tested whether an individual's propensity to disperse in a standardized dispersal test in the lab was correlated with its activity during prey search and its exit times in the field. For another sample of marked, released and recaptured fish, we tested whether an individual's minimum displacement distance over 6 days in the field (a measure of dispersal in the field) was related to its propensity to disperse in the lab. For the first sample, an individual's propensity to disperse in the lab was correlated with risk taking only, but, contrary to expectation, individuals with long exit times (risk-avoiders) dispersed farther than those with short exit times (risk-takers). For the second sample, dispersal in the field was also correlated with propensity to disperse in the lab, but, contrary to expectation, individuals with greater displacements in the field displayed lower propensities to disperse in the lab. Our findings demonstrate that individual differences in juvenile dispersal are related to differences in risk taking behavior, but not in foraging tactic, and that the nature of this relationship can depend on environmental context. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that individuals differing in risk taking behavior can contribute disproportionately to ecological processes involving long-distance movement.

Theoretical and empirical studies often show that within populations, individuals vary in their propensity to disperse. We aspired to understand how this behavioural variation is impacted by the distribution and pattern of food patches across a landscape. In a series of experiments we examined how inter-patch distance and the distribution of food patches influenced dispersal in wild-type strains of Drosophila melanogaster with natural allelic variants of the foraging (for) gene known to influence dispersal in this species. The 'rover' strain was homozygous for the for R allele (more dispersive) whereas the 'sitter' strain was homozygous for for s (less dispersive). We also assessed an outbred population of flies with an unknown dispersal propensity. Dispersal was assayed in a multi-patch lab arena (25 cells, 5 × 5 array). In the inter-patch distance trials, landscapes of two different sizes (small versus large) were used, both with food in all 25 cells. Dispersal was reduced in the large landscape relative to the small landscape for all three fly strains. Sitter dispersal was lowest relative to both rovers and the outbred flies, whose dispersal tendencies were similar. In the patch distribution trials, flies were assayed in landscapes with varying distribution and number of cells containing food. Dispersal generally increased as the number of patches with food increased, however, rovers and sitters adopted similar dispersal strategies when food was fixed and limited. Conversely, their strategies differed when the total amount of food increased with the number of patches. We find that both the inter-patch distance and distribution can influence dispersal. However, the effect of inter-patch distance and distribution on dispersals depends on genotype × environment interaction. Our findings highlight the importance of considering G × E when assessing how dispersal strategies and landscape dynamics influence the distribution of animal communities.