Ecological mechanisms favouring behavioural diversification in the absence of morphological diversification: a theoretical examination using brook charr (<i>Salvelinus fontinalis</i>)

Kerckhove, Derrick de; McLaughlin, Robert L.; Noakes, David L. G.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01071.x

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…2003). In the absence of morphological diversification, behavioural traits seem important (De Kerckhove, McLaughlin & Noakes 2006; Rueffler et al. 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal stability of individual feeding specialization may promote speciation

Knudsen¹,

Primicerio

Amundsen

et al. 2009

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary 1.Inter-individual differences in trophic behaviour are considered important in the disruptive selection process for resource specialization and may represent an early phase in the evolution of polymorphism and adaptive radiation. Here, we provide evidence of high stability of individual trophic niches of a fish predator from a 15-year study. 2. Individual resource specialization was investigated by combining data from analyses of stomach contents (recent trophic niche), trophically transmitted parasites (long-term niche) and trophic morphology (niche adaptations) from single specimens of a postglacial fish (Arctic charr) population sampled from contrasting pelagic and littoral habitats. 3. Based on the relationships between morphology, parasites and diet, high inter-individual temporal consistency of narrow niches (zooplanktivorous vs. benthivorous) was evident through the ontogeny of the charr, indicating low degree of switching both in habitat utilization and feeding strategy of individual fish. Co-occurrence of differently specialized behavioural phenotypes was sustained over multiple generations. 4. The stable long-term habitat and feeding specializations may represent an important initial step in an adaptive radiation process, and our findings suggest a case of sympatric speciation into two incipient forms diverging along the littoral-pelagic resource axis.

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“…2003). In the absence of morphological diversification, behavioural traits seem important (De Kerckhove, McLaughlin & Noakes 2006; Rueffler et al. 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal stability of individual feeding specialization may promote speciation

Knudsen¹,

Primicerio

Amundsen

et al. 2009

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Such predispositions have not been considered thoroughly in theoretical models of habitat selection in general, such as ideal-free distribution theory and its variants (Stamps 2001), or in game-theoretic and bioenergetic models of the early stages of resource polymorphisms (e.g. McLaughlin 2001;De Kerckhove et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural syndromes in brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis: prey-search in the field corresponds with space use in novel laboratory situations

2007

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Recently emerged brook charr foraging in still-water pools along the sides of streams tend to be either sedentary, feeding from the lower portion of the water column (a sit-and-wait tactic) near the stream bank, or very active, feeding from the upper portion of the water column (an active search tactic) away from the bank. We tested whether the search tactics used by charr in the field represent behavioural syndromes related to activity and space use. After quantifying the behaviour of fish in the field, focal individuals were captured and their behaviour quantified in novel environment experiments in the laboratory. In an aquarium, individuals that used an active search tactic in the field spent a higher proportion of time moving, spent less time near the aquarium bottom, and took less time to find their way out of an erect glass jar, on average, than did individuals that used a sit-and-wait tactic in the field. When presented with near-bank and open-water conditions over 6 days in the laboratory, individuals that used an active search tactic in the field remained active and altered their activity less, on average, than individuals that used a sit-and-wait tactic in the field. Immediate responses to a pebble dropped in the aquarium (simulated risk from above) were not correlated with field behaviour. The search tactics used by brook charr in the field reflect part of a behavioural syndrome related to general activity and space use, but not to startle responses. These initial, individual differences in behaviour provide important raw material for the initial stages of resource polymorphism.

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“…The particular conWguration of the specialized behaviours that an individual expresses is referred to as a "behavioural type" (Bell 2007). However, studies examining the ecological mechanisms driving the emergence of behavioural types are lacking (De Kerckhove et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coexistence of behavioural types in an aquatic top predator: a response to resource limitation?

et al. 2009

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Intra-population variation in behaviour unrelated to sex, size or age exists in a variety of species. The mechanisms behind behavioural diversification have only been partly understood, but density-dependent resource availability may play a crucial role. To explore the potential coexistence of different behavioural types within a natural fish population, we conducted a radio telemetry study, measuring habitat use and swimming activity patterns of pike (Esox lucius), a sit-and-wait predatory fish. Three behavioural types co-occurred in the study lake. While two types of fish only selected vegetated littoral habitats, the third type opportunistically used all habitats and increased its pelagic occurrence in response to decreasing resource biomasses. There were no differences in size, age or lifetime growth between the three behavioural types. However, habitat-opportunistic pike were substantially more active than the other two behavioural types, which is energetically costly. The identical growth rates exhibited by all behavioural types indicate that these higher activity costs of opportunistic behaviour were compensated for by increased prey consumption in the less favourable pelagic habitat resulting in approximately equal fitness of all pike groups. We conclude that behavioural diversification in habitat use and activity reduces intraspecific competition in preferred littoral habitats. This may facilitate the emergence of an ideal free distribution of pike along resource gradients.

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Ecological mechanisms favouring behavioural diversification in the absence of morphological diversification: a theoretical examination using brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis)

Cited by 13 publications

References 56 publications

Temporal stability of individual feeding specialization may promote speciation

Temporal stability of individual feeding specialization may promote speciation

Behavioural syndromes in brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis: prey-search in the field corresponds with space use in novel laboratory situations

Coexistence of behavioural types in an aquatic top predator: a response to resource limitation?

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