Individual variation in behavioural plasticity: direct and indirect effects of boldness, exploration and sociability on habituation to predators in lizards

Abstract

Little is known about the factors causing variation in behavioural plasticity and the interplay between personality and plasticity. Habituation to predators is a special case of behavioural plasticity. We investigated the direct and indirect effects of boldness, exploration and sociability traits on the habituation ability of Iberian wall lizards, considering exposure and sex effects. Individual boldness was consistent across several nonhabituation contexts, but it did not significantly affect habituation. Exploration had a strong direct effect on habituation, with more exploratory individuals being able to habituate faster than less exploratory ones, probably because of their ability to assess risk better. Individual variation in habituation was also affected by sociability, but this was an indirect effect mediated by exposure to the predator. Less social individuals avoided refuges with conspecific cues, increasing exposure to the predator and eventually habituation. Finally, the direct effects of sex (females habituated faster than males) were opposite to its indirect effects through exposure. We conclude that risk assessment, instead of the proactivity-reactivity gradient usually considered in the literature, can affect behavioural plasticity through complex interactions between direct and indirect effects, including exploratory behaviour, degree of exposure to the predator and sex, which represent novel mechanisms generating inter-individual variation in plasticity.

Does the early social environment affect structure and consistency of personality in wild‐type male rats?

“…With the same line of reasoning, exploration in the open field behavior was studied as well. Since exploration of a novel environment often correlates with aggression (Adriaenssens & Johnsson, 2011;Rodríguez-Prieto, Martín, & Fernández-Juricic, 2010) or boldness we were interested in testing whether this behavior is also linked to aggression or burying in WTG male's rats. In this case our prediction is that also exploration would increase along aggression and or burying by litter composition (Dingemanse et al, 2009).…”

Reproductive state affects hiding behaviour under risk of predation but not exploratory activity of female Spanish terrapins

“…For example, in great tits (P. major), faster exploratory parents had offspring with greater ability for dispersing in wild habitats (Dingemanse et al, 2003). Similarly, more exploratory lizards in a novel environment should enhance fast risk assessment abilities (Rodríguez-Prieto et al, 2011). However, in our study, gravidity did not affect exploratory behaviour, suggesting that this factor might be unimportant for exploration in new environments or that the effect might be masked by other factors.…”

Individual variation in habituation: behaviour over time toward different stimuli in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

“…Moreover, individual differences in rates of habituation have been related to consistent individual differences in behaviour (‘personality’) in humans (O’Gorman, 1977; LaRowe et al, 2006; Anderson et al, 2011) and nonhuman animals. Calm penguins recover relatively quickly (Ellenberg et al, 2009), reactive great tits take longer to recover from a startle (Carere & van Oers, 2004) and exploratory wall lizards habituate faster to predators (Rodriguez-Prieto et al, 2011). …”