Short- and long-term repeatability and pseudo-repeatability of bird song: sensitivity of signals to varying environments

Zsebők, Sándor; Herczeg, Gábor; Blázi, György; Laczi, Miklós; Szász, Eszter; Markó, Gábor; Török, János; Garamszegi, László Zsolt

doi:10.1007/s00265-017-2379-0

Cited by 27 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Generally, our results further confirm other findings showing that repeatability of plastic traits like behaviours decreases with time elapsed between measurements (Arvidsson, Adriaensen, Dongen, Stobbeleere, & Matthysen, ; Bell, Hankison, & Laskowski, ; Wexler, Subach, Pruitt, & Scharf, ; Zsebők et al, ). Some studies found high and significant repeatability between years for certain behavioural traits (Expósito‐Granados et al, ; Krause, Krüger, & Schielzeth, ; Thys et al, ), but in our study population we systematically detected reduced repeatability between breeding seasons for several behavioural traits, such as aggression, novelty avoidance, predator avoidance, escape ability and several song variables (Garamszegi et al, ; Jablonszky et al, ; Zsebők et al, ). The generally moderate repeatability on larger time scales suggests that although birds may apply a more or less consistent tactic to explore novel environments, it still involves some degree of plasticity allowing individuals to adjust their behaviours to environmental changes over longer periods.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A behavioural trait displayed in an artificial novel environment correlates with dispersal in a wild bird

et al. 2020

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Behaviour shown in a novel environment has important consequences for fitness in many animals. It is widely studied with standard tests by placing the individuals into an unfamiliar experimental area, that is the so‐called open‐field or novel environment test. The biological relevance of traits measured under such artificial conditions is questionable and could be validated by establishing a link with variables that truly reflect exploration in the wild. Our aim in this field study was to characterize behaviours measured in an artificial novel environment (an aviary) and assess the biological relevance of them in the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis). Therefore, we measured the repeatability and the association of multiple behavioural traits, as well as their relationship with breeding dispersal (that reflects exploration in the wild). We found evidence for non‐zero repeatability for number of crosses between the quarters, number of hops and perching latency in the aviary, and these repeatabilities were high when assessed at shorter time windows. Additionally, birds with short perching latency in the novel environment were more likely residents and bred closer to their breeding nest box in the previous year, which may suggest that latency to perch is connected to dispersal in the wild. In sum, our results indicate that behaviours assessed in an artificial environment are individual‐specific at least on smaller timescales, and at least, one component of these behaviours is correlated with an ecologically relevant trait.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A behavioural trait displayed in an artificial novel environment correlates with dispersal in a wild bird

et al. 2020

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“…Taking an explicitly evolutionary perspective, several recent publications have argued that environmental effects can ‘confound’ repeatability estimates (Zsebők et al. ) and give rise to ‘pseudo‐repeatability’ (Harrison et al. ; Niemela and Dingemanse ) or—in a specifically behavioural context–‘pseudo‐personality’ (Martin and Réale ; Westneat et al.…”

Section: Divergent Concepts Of Individual Repeatabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latter point is important because there is a growing tendency to view R as a measure of how important 'intrinsic' mechanisms of phenotypic determination are. Taking an explicitly evolutionary perspective, several recent publications have argued that environmental effects can 'confound' repeatability estimates (Zsebők et al 2017) and give rise to 'pseudo-repeatability' (Harrison et al 2015;Niemela and Dingemanse 2017) or-in a specifically behavioural context-'pseudo-personality' (Martin and Réale 2008;Westneat et al 2011). For instance, Niemela and Dingemanse (2017) define 'true' biological repeatability as arising 'solely due to the combined influences of genetic variation and irreversible plasticity.'…”

Section: Divergent Concepts Of Individual Repeatabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

How should we interpret estimates of individual repeatability?

Wilson

2018

Evolution Letters

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Individual repeatability (R), defined as the proportion of observed variance attributable to among‐individual differences, is a widely used summary statistic in evolutionarily motivated studies of morphology, life history, physiology and, especially, behaviour. Although statistical methods to estimate R are well known and widely available, there is a growing tendency for researchers to interpret R in ways that are subtly, but importantly, different. Some view R as a property of a dataset and a statistic to be interpreted agnostically with respect to mechanism. Others wish to isolate the contributions of ‘intrinsic’ and/or ‘permanent’ individual differences, and draw a distinction between true (intrinsic) and pseudo‐repeatability arising from uncontrolled extrinsic effects. This latter view proposes a narrower, more mechanistic interpretation, than the traditional concept of repeatability, but perhaps one that allows stronger evolutionary inference as a consequence (provided analytical pitfalls are successfully avoided). Neither perspective is incorrect, but if we are to avoid confusion and fruitless debate, there is a need for researchers to recognise this dichotomy, and to ensure clarity in relation to how, and why, a particular estimate of R is appropriate in any case.

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“…Hereafter, we refer to these variables as quantitative traits, which could be derived for all of the 90 males with song recording. Our previous studies revealed that when recordings for the same males were made on different days, song traits quantified along the above sampling regime have considerable within‐individual repeatability (Garamszegi et al., ; Zsebők et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our previous studies revealed that when recordings for the same males were made on different days, song traits quantified along the above sampling regime have considerable within-individual repeatability (Garamszegi et al, 2004;Zseb} ok et al, 2017).…”

Section: Song Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

MHC‐mediated sexual selection on birdsong: Generic polymorphism, particular alleles and acoustic signals

et al. 2018

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Several hypotheses predict that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) drives mating preference in females. Olfactory, colour or morphological traits are often found as reliable signals of the MHC profile, but the role of avian song mediating MHC-based female choice remains largely unexplored. We investigated the relationship between several MHC and acoustic features in the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), a European passerine with complex songs. We screened a fragment of the class IIB second exon of the MHC molecule, of which individuals harbour 4-15 alleles, while considerable sequence diversity is maintained at the population level. To make statistical inferences from a large number of comparisons, we adopted both null-hypothesis testing and effect size framework in combination with randomization procedures. After controlling for potential confounding factors, neither MHC allelic diversity nor the presence of particular alleles was associated remarkably with the investigated qualitative and quantitative song traits. Furthermore, genetic similarity among males based on MHC sequences was not reflected by the similarity in their song based on syllable content. Overall, these results suggest that the relationship between features of song and the allelic composition and diversity of MHC is not strong in the studied species. However, a biologically motivated analysis revealed that individuals that harbour an MHC allele that impairs survival perform songs with broader frequency range. This finding suggests that certain aspects of the song may bear reliable information concerning the MHC profile of the individuals, which can be used by females to optimize mate choice.

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Short- and long-term repeatability and pseudo-repeatability of bird song: sensitivity of signals to varying environments

Cited by 27 publications

References 67 publications

A behavioural trait displayed in an artificial novel environment correlates with dispersal in a wild bird

A behavioural trait displayed in an artificial novel environment correlates with dispersal in a wild bird

How should we interpret estimates of individual repeatability?

MHC‐mediated sexual selection on birdsong: Generic polymorphism, particular alleles and acoustic signals

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