Context-dependent effects of complex environments on behavioral plasticity

Stahlschmidt, Zachary R.; Holcomb, Lindsey M.; Luoma, Rachel L.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arv147

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…The indecisiveness of some individuals about moving (i.e., accompanied by more TF sequences) may indicate strong interindividual variations of risk assessment (Boissy & Bouissou, 1995), possibly revealing personality traits. Personality traits have been described in other animal species, including snakes (Bell & Sih, 2007; Briffa & Greenaway, 2011; Cote et al., 2010; Mirkó et al., 2013; Šimková et al., 2017; Stahlschmidt et al., 2016), and should be investigated in dice snakes. Other factors may also affect the decision to flee, such as the individual's health status and the relative fitness costs of fleeing or remaining still (Hemmi & Pfeil, 2010; Sih, 1997; Ydenberg & Dill, 1986).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tongue flicking heralds flight behaviour following passive antipredator displays in dice snakes

Bjelica,

Anđelković,

Maričić

et al. 2024

Journal of Zoology

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When captured, many prey respond by biting the predator or struggling to get free. However, one indirect escape option is death feigning (DF), in which complete immobility supposedly “tricks” the predator into abandoning its meal. But lying motionless and exposed to a predator is dangerous; therefore, individuals should optimize DF occurrence and duration. We captured colour polymorphic dice snakes (Natrix tessellata, Natricidae) (N = 271) in the field and measured two behavioural responses: (1) the occurrence and duration of immobility/DF; (2) the number of tongue‐flicking sequences (TF). Tongue flicking is an essential component of a key sensory mechanism to check the safety of the environment before attempting escape. We experimentally assessed the relationship between these two behaviours and the effects of phenotypic characteristic of snakes on the occurrence and duration of immobility and of TF. Snake phenotype had multiple effects. Gravid females avoided DF and displayed more TF sequences during the tests compared to non‐gravid females and males. Blotched snakes stayed immobile longer than green and melanistic snakes. Larger individuals remained in DF for longer and showed fewer TF sequences than smaller individuals. Snakes burdened with a recent meal postponed fleeing and displayed more TF sequences than snakes without food. Finally, snakes showing more TF sequences postponed fleeing, which suggests that dice snakes assessed predatory risks and adapted escape behaviour to their risk status. Future studies should examine how individuals estimate the appropriate timing to shift from immobility to escape.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tongue flicking heralds flight behaviour following passive antipredator displays in dice snakes

Bjelica,

Anđelković,

Maričić

et al. 2024

Journal of Zoology

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“…We, therefore, measured the total time that each individual spent sheltering over the duration of the 20 min trial as a more complete measure of risk-taking behaviour during group trials. Total sheltering time is another widely used measure of boldness (Polverino et al 2021 ; Ortiz-Jimenez et al 2022 ), including in reptiles (Stahlschmidt et al 2016 ; Skinner and Miller 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social context mediates the expression of a personality trait in a gregarious lizard

et al. 2022

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The social environment is a key factor that influences behavioural traits across a wide array of species. Yet, when investigating individual differences in behaviour, studies tend to measure animals in isolation from other conspecifics—even in social species. Surprisingly, whether behavioural traits measured in isolation are predictive of individual-level behaviour when in social groups is still poorly understood. Here, we repeatedly measured risk-taking behaviour (i.e. boldness; 741 total trials) in both the presence and absence of conspecifics in a social lizard, the delicate skink (Lampropholis delicata). Further, we manipulated food availability during group trials to test whether the effect of the social environment on risk-taking behaviour was mediated by competition over resources. Using 105 lizards collected from three independent populations, we found that individual risk-taking behaviour was repeatable when measured in either social isolation or within groups both with and without food resources available. However, lizards that were bolder during individual trials were not also bolder when in groups, regardless of resource availability. This was largely driven by individual differences in social behavioural plasticity, whereby individual skinks responded differently to the presence of conspecifics. Together, this resulted in a rank order change of individual behavioural types across the social conditions. Our results highlight the importance of the social environment in mediating animal personality traits across varying levels of resource availability. Further, these findings suggest that behavioural traits when measured in isolation, may not reflect individual variation in behaviour when measured in more ecologically realistic social groups.

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“…We used principal components analysis (PCA) to generate an index of behavior in a novel environment using initial freeze time, shelter exploration and time spent locomoting as initial variables (sensu Stahlschmidt et al, 2014Stahlschmidt et al, , 2016. We used several test statistics (e.g.…”

Section: Boldness Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

When it's hot and dry: life-history strategy influences the effects of heat waves and water limitation

Padda

Glass

Stahlschmidt

2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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The frequency, duration, and co-occurrence of several environmental stressors, like heat waves and droughts, are increasing globally. Such multiple stressors may have compounding or interactive effects on animals, resulting in either additive or non-additive costs, but animals may mitigate these costs through various strategies of resource conservation or shifts in resource allocation. Through a factorial experiment, we investigated the independent and interactive effects of a simulated heat wave and water limitation on life-history, physiological, and behavioral traits. We used the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, which exhibits a wing dimorphism that mediates two distinct life-history strategies during early adulthood. Long-winged individuals invest in flight musculature and are typically flight capable, whereas short-winged individuals lack flight musculature and capacity. A comprehensive and integrative approach with G. lineaticeps allowed us to examine if life-history strategy influenced the costs and cost-limiting strategies due to multiple stressors. Concurrent heat wave and water limitation resulted in largely non-additive and single-stressor costs to important traits (e.g., survival and water balance), extensive shifts in resource allocation priorities (e.g., reduced prioritization of body mass), and a limited capacity to conserve resources (e.g., heat wave reduced energy use only when water was available). Life-history strategy influenced the emergency life-history stage because wing morphology and stressor(s) interacted to influence body mass, boldness behavior, and immunocompetence. Our results demonstrate that water availability and life-history strategy should be incorporated into future studies integrating important conceptual frameworks of stress across a suite of traits—from survival and life history to behavior and physiology.

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Context-dependent effects of complex environments on behavioral plasticity

Cited by 10 publications

References 70 publications

Tongue flicking heralds flight behaviour following passive antipredator displays in dice snakes

Tongue flicking heralds flight behaviour following passive antipredator displays in dice snakes

Social context mediates the expression of a personality trait in a gregarious lizard

When it's hot and dry: life-history strategy influences the effects of heat waves and water limitation

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