scholarly journals Ontogenic behavioral consistency, individual variation and fitness consequences among lady beetles

2016 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 32-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice S. Rodrigues ◽  
Lisbetd Botina ◽  
Carolina P. Nascimento ◽  
Lessando M. Gontijo ◽  
Jorge B. Torres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Behavioral Consistency ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Lady Beetles

Condition-dependent foraging strategies in a coastal seabird: evidence for the rich get richer hypothesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brock Geary ◽  
Scott T Walter ◽  
Paul L Leberg ◽  
Jordan Karubian
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Brown Pelicans ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Foraging Movements

Abstract The degree to which foraging individuals are able to appropriately modify their behaviors in response to dynamic environmental conditions and associated resource availability can have important fitness consequences. Despite an increasingly refined understanding of differences in foraging behavior between individuals, we still lack detailed characterizations of within-individual variation over space and time, and what factors may drive this variability. From 2014 to 2017, we used GPS transmitters and accelerometers to document foraging movements by breeding adult Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the prey landscape is patchy and dynamic at various scales. Assessments of traditional foraging metrics such as trip distance, linearity, or duration did not yield significant relationships between individuals. However, we did observe lower site fidelity and less variation in energy expenditure in birds of higher body condition, despite a population-level trend of increased fidelity as the breeding season progressed. These findings suggest that high-quality individuals are both more variable and more efficient in their foraging behaviors during a period of high energetic demand, consistent with a “rich get richer” scenario in which individuals in better condition are able to invest in more costly behaviors that provide higher returns. This work highlights the importance of considering behavioral variation at multiple scales, with particular reference to within-individual variation, to improve our understanding of foraging ecology in wild populations.

scholarly journals Evolutionary causes and consequences of consistent individual variation in cooperative behaviour

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1553) ◽  
pp. 2751-2764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Bergmüller ◽  
Roger Schürch ◽  
Ian M. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Animal Personality ◽  
Evolutionary Stability ◽  
Behavioural Syndrome ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Cooperative Behaviour ◽  
Heritable Variation ◽  
Fitness Consequences

Behaviour is typically regarded as among the most flexible of animal phenotypic traits. In particular, expression of cooperative behaviour is often assumed to be conditional upon the behaviours of others. This flexibility is a key component of many hypothesized mechanisms favouring the evolution of cooperative behaviour. However, evidence shows that cooperative behaviours are often less flexible than expected and that, in many species, individuals show consistent differences in the amount and type of cooperative and non-cooperative behaviours displayed. This phenomenon is known as ‘animal personality’ or a ‘behavioural syndrome’. Animal personality is evolutionarily relevant, as it typically shows heritable variation and can entail fitness consequences, and hence, is subject to evolutionary change. Here, we review the empirical evidence for individual variation in cooperative behaviour across taxa, we examine the evolutionary processes that have been invoked to explain the existence of individual variation in cooperative behaviour and we discuss the consequences of consistent individual differences on the evolutionary stability of cooperation. We highlight that consistent individual variation in cooperativeness can both stabilize or disrupt cooperation in populations. We conclude that recognizing the existence of consistent individual differences in cooperativeness is essential for an understanding of the evolution and prevalence of cooperation.

scholarly journals How does individual variation in sociality influence fitness in prairie voles?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. Sabol ◽  
Connor T. Lambert ◽  
Brian Keane ◽  
Nancy G. Solomon ◽  
Ben Dantzer
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Social Network Analyses

AbstractComparative studies aid in our understanding of specific conditions favoring the initial evolution of different types of social behaviors, yet there is much unexplained intraspecific variation in the expression of social behavior that comparative studies have not yet addressed. The proximate causes of this individual variation in social behavior within a species have been examined in some species but its fitness consequences have been less frequently investigated. In this study, we quantified the fitness consequences of variation in the sociality of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). We characterized sociality of voles in semi-natural enclosures using an automated behavioral tracking system paired with social network analyses to quantify the degree of spatial and temporal co-occurrence of different voles. We then assessed the relationship between sociality with mating success (number of different conspecifics with which an individual produced offspring) and reproductive success (total number of offspring surviving to first capture). We measured the number of social connections each individual had with all voles and only with opposite-sex voles by calculating unweighted degree through social network analyses. Both female and male voles varied in the number of social connections they had with all conspecifics and with opposite-sex conspecifics. Voles with an intermediate number of social connections with voles of both sexes had higher mating success overall. In our analyses that considered all social connections with voles of both sexes, voles with an intermediate number of social connections produced more offspring. Males with a very high or low number of social connections also had the lowest average body mass. Overall, our results suggest some limit on the fitness benefits of sociality. Although there was substantial individual-variation in our measure of vole social behavior, intermediate levels of social connections may be most favorable.

scholarly journals Stress, song and survival in sparrows

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 746-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. MacDougall-Shackleton ◽  
L. Dindia ◽  
A. E. M. Newman ◽  
D. A. Potvin ◽  
K. A. Stewart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Transient Stress ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Stress Responsiveness ◽  
Song Development ◽  
Early Developmental

The stress response—increases in circulating glucocorticoids following a stressor—is typically considered adaptive, but few studies address the fitness consequences of individual variation in stress response. Generally, due to negative consequences of prolonged elevation of glucocorticoids, animals should have a transient stress response just sufficient to cope with the stressor. In rodents, stress responsiveness is affected by early developmental experience, and hyper-responsiveness to stress is linked to morbidity and mortality. We assessed individual variation in stress responses in free-living song sparrows, Melospiza melodia , in relation to fitness-related measures including song and overwinter survival. Birds with greater increases in corticosterone 30 min following restraint stress were less likely to return to breed the following year. Stress responsiveness was also correlated with song complexity: males with fewer syllables in their song repertoires had greater stress reactivity. Our findings support the hypothesis that developmental stressors both impair song development and affect the adult stress response. Thus, individual variation in the stress response may relate to variation in fitness.

Maternal effects and fitness consequences of individual variation in bottlenose dolphins’ ecological niche

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasha Strickland ◽  
Janet Mann ◽  
Vivienne Foroughirad ◽  
Alexis L. Levengood ◽  
Céline H Frère
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Fitness Consequences

Individual variation in vigilance in female eastern grey kangaroos

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 312 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Dannock ◽  
S. P. Blomberg ◽  
A. W. Goldizen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Social Vigilance

For herbivores, vigilance usually involves a trade-off with foraging, and a further trade-off between antipredator and social vigilance. Thus individual variation in vigilance may result in significant fitness consequences. We used mixed-effects models to document individual variation in vigilance in wild adult female eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) in Queensland, Australia. We tested the effects of group size, presence of adult males and wind on vigilance patterns and variation by analysing 399 five-minute samples on 31 individually identified females who were foraging on the periphery of groups. We determined the proportion of time that individuals spent vigilant, and the proportions of vigilance time spent in social versus antipredator vigilance and in low- versus high-intensity vigilance postures. The proportion of time females spent vigilant decreased with increasing group size but was not affected by wind speed or male presence, while the amount of their vigilance time spent in social vigilance was affected by interactions among the variables. After controlling for these effects, 13 females’ vigilance patterns were significantly different from the population mean. Individual variation was also found in vigilance postures used and the effect of male presence. Understanding individual variation in vigilance is important for understanding individuals’ antipredator and social strategies.

Parental Care

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Incubation Behavior ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Timing Of Onset ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter focuses on individual variation in parental care, the relationship between individual variation and maternal fitness, and the physiological mechanisms underlying this variation. For example, does individual variation in incubation behavior (e.g., the timing of onset, intensity, constancy) determine the number and quality of chicks at hatching? Or, does individual variation in chick-provisioning or other components of parental investment (e.g., brooding, guarding, feeding) explain the number and quality of chicks that fledge and ultimately are recruited to the breeding population? If there are fitness consequences of variation in parental care, then what are the physiological mechanisms that underpin individual variation in parental effort?

scholarly journals Measuring and understanding individual differences in cognition

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1756) ◽  
pp. 20170280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeltje J. Boogert ◽  
Joah R. Madden ◽  
Julie Morand-Ferron ◽  
Alex Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Repeated Testing ◽  
Cognitive Differences ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Behavioural Factors ◽  
Individual Consistency

Individuals vary in their cognitive performance. While this variation forms the foundation of the study of human psychometrics, its broader importance is only recently being recognized. Explicitly acknowledging this individual variation found in both humans and non-human animals provides a novel opportunity to understand the mechanisms, development and evolution of cognition. The papers in this special issue highlight the growing emphasis on individual cognitive differences from fields as diverse as neurobiology, experimental psychology and evolutionary biology. Here, we synthesize this body of work. We consider the distinct challenges in quantifying individual differences in cognition and provide concrete methodological recommendations. In particular, future studies would benefit from using multiple task variants to ensure they target specific, clearly defined cognitive traits and from conducting repeated testing to assess individual consistency. We then consider how neural, genetic, developmental and behavioural factors may generate individual differences in cognition. Finally, we discuss the potential fitness consequences of individual cognitive variation and place these into an evolutionary framework with testable hypotheses. We intend for this special issue to stimulate researchers to position individual variation at the centre of the cognitive sciences. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities’.

The challenge of accounting for individual differences in folk-economic beliefs

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Ruisch ◽  
Rajen A. Anderson ◽  
David A. Pizarro
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Economic Beliefs ◽  
Existing Data

AbstractWe argue that existing data on folk-economic beliefs (FEBs) present challenges to Boyer & Petersen's model. Specifically, the widespread individual variation in endorsement of FEBs casts doubt on the claim that humans are evolutionarily predisposed towards particular economic beliefs. Additionally, the authors' model cannot account for the systematic covariance between certain FEBs, such as those observed in distinct political ideologies.

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