Chapter 5 Insights for Behavioral Ecology from Behavioral Syndromes

Sih, Andrew; Bell, Alison M.

doi:10.1016/s0065-3454(08)00005-3

Cited by 536 publications

(482 citation statements)

References 215 publications

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“…However, despite these recent advances, we still know relatively little about the fitness consequences of aggressive phenotypes and, in general, the mechanisms that link variation in behaviour to variation in fitness (Both et al 2005;Duckworth 2006a;Boon et al 2007). Specifically, covariance between female aggression and reproduction has rarely been examined (Sih et al 2004;Both et al 2005;Sinn et al 2006;Van Oers et al 2008;Sih & Bell 2008), despite that the extent of variation between females in their behaviour towards conspecifics should have strong impacts on the strength of selection on fitness-related traits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard

2009

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Individual differences in behaviour are ubiquitous in nature. Despite the likely role of selection in maintaining these differences, there are few demonstrations of their fitness consequences in wild populations and, consequently, the mechanisms that link behavioural variation to variation in fitness are poorly understood. Specifically, the consequences of consistent individual differences in behaviour for the evolution of social and mating strategies have rarely been considered. We examined the functional links between variation in female aggression and her social and mating strategies in a wild population of the social lizard Egernia whitii. We show that female Egernia exhibit temporally consistent aggressive phenotypes, which are unrelated to body size, territory size or social density. A female's aggressive phenotype, however, has strong links to her mode of paternity acquisition (within-versus extra-pair paternity), with more aggressive females having more offspring sired by extra-pair males than less aggressive females. We discuss the potential mechanisms by which female aggression could underpin mating strategies, such as the pursuit/acceptance of extra-pair copulations. We propose that a deeper understanding of the evolution and maintenance of social and mating systems may result from an explicit focus on individual-level female behavioural phenotypes and their relationship with key reproductive strategies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard

2009

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“…In many animal species, individuals show consistent differences in behaviour (Réale et al 2007;Sih and Bell 2008). Such variation has been called 'personality' (Gosling 2001), 'behavioural type' (Sih and Watters 2005), 'coping style' (Koolhaas et al 1999), 'behavioural syndrome' (Sih and Bell 2008), and 'temperament' (Réale et al 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

“…Such variation has been called 'personality' (Gosling 2001), 'behavioural type' (Sih and Watters 2005), 'coping style' (Koolhaas et al 1999), 'behavioural syndrome' (Sih and Bell 2008), and 'temperament' (Réale et al 2007). Each of these terms has a particular emphasis, but all share the feature that behaviour is more consistent temporally and contextually within than across individuals (Sih and Bell 2008). Animal personality is increasingly important in behavioural, evolutionary and theoretical ecology (e.g., Dall et al 2004;McNamara et al 2009;Réale et al 2010;Sih et al 2004), comparative psychology (Gosling 2001;Weiss et al 2007;Uher 2008), and applied behavioural sciences (Ruis et al 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Social personality traits in chimpanzees: temporal stability and structure of behaviourally assessed personality traits in three captive populations

Koski

2011

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

100

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Animals of many species show consistency in behaviour across time and contexts that differs from other individuals' behaviour in the same population. Such 'personality' affects fitness and has therefore become an increasingly relevant research topic in biology. However, consistent variation in social behaviour is understudied. In socially living species, behaviour occurs in a social environment and social interactions have a significant influence on individual fitness. This study addressed personality in social behaviour of 75 captive chimpanzees in three zoos by coding observed behaviour. Fifteen behavioural variables were significantly repeatable (range 0.21-0.93) in at least two of the three zoos. The behaviours showed considerable long-term stability across 3 years, which did not differ from the shortterm repeatability. The repeatable behaviours were then analysed with factor analyses. They formed five independent factors, three of which consisted of social traits and were labelled 'sociability', 'positive affect' and 'equitability'. The two non-social behaviour factors were labelled 'anxiety' and 'activity'. The factor scores were analysed for sex and population differences. Males had higher factor scores in all traits except 'sociability'. The factor scores differed also between the zoos, implying considerable external effects in trait expression. The results show that chimpanzees show personality in a broad range of social and non-social behaviours. The study highlights the importance of assessing personality in the social behaviour, especially in cohesive social species, as only then can we understand the consequences of personality in socially living species.

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“…It is important to highlight that characteristics of a single individual may influence a group's outcome. For example, hyperaggressive males within complex networks of interactions have been identified in some species (Sih and Bell, 2008), and such individuals could possibly determine an overall higher number of aggressions within a given group. The manipulation of sex ratio in captive groups of dark-eyed juncos (J. hyemalis) was not associated with differences in male T level, despite the fact that the male-biased treatment had a higher number of social challenges (Greives et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social environment affects testosterone level in captive male blue–black grassquits

Lacava

Brasileiro

Maia

et al. 2011

Hormones and Behavior

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The challenge hypothesis proposes that testosterone (T) elevation above what is needed for breeding is associated with social factors, and males possibly modulate their hormonal response to variations in population density and sex ratio. We investigated the role of social environment in altering testosterone levels and aggression in a tropical, seasonally breeding grassquit (Volatinia jacarina). We exposed males to three social conditions during 1 year: all-males treatment (six males), mixed treatment (three males-three females), and paired treatment (one male-one female). We quantified aggressiveness among males and T plasma concentration for each individual in each treatment monthly. We found that more aggressive interactions occurred in the all-males treatment than in the mixed treatment. The data also revealed that, coincident with these behavioral changes, the patterns of T variation through time in each treatment were markedly different. The all-males treatment exhibited an early increase in T concentration, which was sustained for a lengthy period with two distinctive peaks, and subsequently declined sharply. The mixed treatment presented an intermediate pattern, with more gradual increase and decrease in T levels. At the other extreme, the paired treatment presented a later rise in T concentration. We conclude that the more competitive environment, with higher density of males, caused the early and higher elevation in T level, thus the presence of competitors may influence the decision of how much a male should invest in reproduction. We suggest that the male's perception of his social environment ultimately mediates hormonal production and alters his reproductive strategy.

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Chapter 5 Insights for Behavioral Ecology from Behavioral Syndromes

Cited by 536 publications

References 215 publications

Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard

Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard

Social personality traits in chimpanzees: temporal stability and structure of behaviourally assessed personality traits in three captive populations

Social environment affects testosterone level in captive male blue–black grassquits

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