scholarly journals Experimental evidence for adaptive personalities in a wild passerine bird

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1749) ◽  
pp. 4885-4892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Nicolaus ◽  
Joost M. Tinbergen ◽  
Karen M. Bouwman ◽  
Stephanie P. M. Michler ◽  
Richard Ubels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Survival Probability ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Passerine Bird ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Risky Behaviour ◽  
Environment Effects ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Increase Risk

Individuals of the same species differ consistently in risky actions. Such ‘animal personality’ variation is intriguing because behavioural flexibility is often assumed to be the norm. Recent theory predicts that between-individual differences in propensity to take risks should evolve if individuals differ in future fitness expectations: individuals with high long-term fitness expectations (i.e. that have much to lose) should behave consistently more cautious than individuals with lower expectations. Consequently, any manipulation of future fitness expectations should result in within-individual changes in risky behaviour in the direction predicted by this adaptive theory. We tested this prediction and confirmed experimentally that individuals indeed adjust their ‘exploration behaviour’, a proxy for risk-taking behaviour, to their future fitness expectations. We show for wild great tits ( Parus major ) that individuals with experimentally decreased survival probability become faster explorers (i.e. increase risk-taking behaviour) compared to individuals with increased survival probability. We also show, using quantitative genetics approaches, that non-genetic effects (i.e. permanent environment effects) underpin adaptive personality variation in this species. This study thereby confirms a key prediction of adaptive personality theory based on life-history trade-offs, and implies that selection may indeed favour the evolution of personalities in situations where individuals differ in future fitness expectations.

scholarly journals Gambling and ageing: less illusion but more risk

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Maylis Fontaine ◽  
Valérie Le Floch ◽  
Céline Lemercier
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Illusion Of Control ◽  
Gambling Behaviour ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Risky Behaviour ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Abstract Seniors are a population of concern due to exposure to both increasing gambling venues and powerful age-specific risk factors. There has been only limited research on this population so far, but studies conducted among younger adults suggest that the illusion of control is a key factor, leading players to develop strategies that increase their risk-taking in gambling. Time perspective (TP) is a good indicator of risky behaviours in a number of different areas, including health and the environment. In the present study, we sought to identify the age-specific cognitive mechanisms underlying gambling behaviour in normal ageing. We asked 115 emerging adults (mean age = 20.86 years), 86 young adults (mean age = 30.59), 82 middle-aged adults (mean age = 44.57) and 108 seniors (mean age = 65.19) to play an online game. We rated their illusion of control, risk-taking and TP. Analysis revealed that seniors took more risks and had less illusion of control than younger adults. The fatalistic-present TP positively influenced the illusion of control, such that perceiving the present as being determined by uncontrollable forces increased the perceived level of control. Finally, we found an influence of age on TP. These results suggest that seniors constitute a specific population in terms of gambling-related cognitions and behaviours. Including TP in risky behaviour assessments would allow the development of tailor-made preventive measures.

scholarly journals How Do Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services Change in the Long Period? The Case Study of Uxin, Inner Mongolia, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 6041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang ◽  
Li ◽  
Buyantuev ◽  
Bao ◽  
Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Development And Utilization ◽  
Long Term Trends

Ecosystem services management should often expect to deal with non-linearities due to trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, it is important to analyze long-term trends in ES development and utilization to understand their responses to climate change and intensification of human activities. In this paper, the region of Uxin in Inner Mongolia, China, was chosen as a case study area to describe the spatial distribution and trends of 5 ES indicators. Changes in relationships between ES and driving forces of dynamics of ES relationships were analyzed for the period 1979–2016 using a stepwise regression. We found that: the magnitude and directions in ES relationships changed during this extended period; those changes are influenced by climate factors, land use change, technological progress, and population growth.

scholarly journals Trade-offs in initial and long-term handling efficiency of PIT-tag and photographic identification methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 108110
Author(s):  
Lindsey S. Roberts ◽  
Abigail B. Feuka ◽  
Erin Muths ◽  
Bennett M. Hardy ◽  
Larissa L. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Pit Tag ◽  
Identification Methods ◽  
Trade Offs

scholarly journals Decline in the frequency and benefits of multiple brooding in great tits as a consequence of a changing environment

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1663) ◽  
pp. 1845-1854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arild Husby ◽  
Loeske E.B. Kruuk ◽  
Marcel E. Visser
Keyword(s):  
Life History Traits ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Double Brooding ◽  
First Clutch ◽  
Second Clutch ◽  
Reproductive Events

For multiple-brooded species, the number of reproductive events per year is a major determinant of an individual's fitness. Where multiple brooding is facultative, its occurrence is likely to change with environmental conditions, and, as a consequence, the current rates of environmental change could have substantial impacts on breeding patterns. Here we examine temporal population-level trends in the proportion of female great tits ( Parus major ) producing two clutches per year (‘double brooding’) in four long-term study populations in The Netherlands, and show that the proportion of females that double brood has declined in all populations, with the strongest decline taking place in the last 30 years of the study. For one of the populations, for which we have data on caterpillar abundance, we show that the probability that a female produces a second clutch was related to the timing of her first clutch relative to the peak in caterpillar abundance, and that the probability of double brooding declined over the study period. We further show that the number of recruits from the second clutch decreased significantly over the period 1973–2004 in all populations. Our results indicate that adjustment to changing climatic conditions may involve shifts in life-history traits other than simply the timing of breeding.

scholarly journals Structural Home Environment Effects on Developmental Trajectories of Self-Control and Adolescent Risk Taking

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Holmes ◽  
Alexis Brieant ◽  
Rachel Kahn ◽  
Kirby Deater-Deckard ◽  
Jungmeen Kim-Spoon
Keyword(s):  
Home Environment ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Environment Effects ◽  
Adolescent Risk

Extracurricular Activity Intensity and Adolescent Risk-Taking: Exploring Interactive Effects of Contextual Risk and Coping Efficacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-77
Author(s):  
Gabriel P. Heaslip ◽  
Bonnie L. Barber
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Activity Participation ◽  
Extracurricular Activity ◽  
At Risk Youth ◽  
Coping Efficacy ◽  
Risky Behaviour ◽  
Contextual Risk ◽  
Activity Intensity ◽  
Adolescent Risk

Adolescence is a period of heightened risk-taking. Therefore it is important to investigate positive settings that can facilitate healthy adolescent development and reduce risk-taking behaviour. This study investigated the relations between non-sporting extracurricular activity participation intensity and risky behaviour. Adolescents’ coping efficacy was tested as a moderator between extracurricular activity participation and risk-taking among adolescents at different levels of contextual risk. Adolescents (N = 1,599) across Western Australia were surveyed. Results for moderately at-risk youth indicated a significant interaction, such that greater activity intensity was associated with less risk-taking for adolescents with higher coping efficacy. However, higher intensity activity participation predicted more risk-taking for adolescents with low coping efficacy.

scholarly journals Transgenerational fitness effects of lifespan extension by dietary restriction in Caenorhabditis elegans

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1950) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward R. Ivimey-Cook ◽  
Kris Sales ◽  
Hanne Carlsson ◽  
Simone Immler ◽  
Tracey Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Dietary Restriction ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Lifespan Extension ◽  
Dietary Interventions ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Broad Variety

Dietary restriction (DR) increases lifespan in a broad variety of organisms and improves health in humans. However, long-term transgenerational consequences of dietary interventions are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of DR by temporary fasting (TF) on mortality risk, age-specific reproduction and fitness across three generations of descendants in Caenorhabditis elegans . We show that while TF robustly reduces mortality risk and improves late-life reproduction of the individuals subject to TF (P 0 ), it has a wide range of both positive and negative effects on their descendants (F 1 –F 3 ). Remarkably, great-grandparental exposure to TF in early life reduces fitness and increases mortality risk of F 3 descendants to such an extent that TF no longer promotes a lifespan extension. These findings reveal that transgenerational trade-offs accompany the instant benefits of DR, underscoring the need to consider fitness of future generations in pursuit of healthy ageing.

scholarly journals The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex in reward valuation and future thinking during intertemporal choice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Ciaramelli ◽  
Flavia De Luca ◽  
Donna Kwan ◽  
Jenkin N. Y. Mok ◽  
Francesca Bianconi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Reward Magnitude ◽  
Intertemporal Choice ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Reward Valuation

Intertemporal choices require trade-offs between short-term and long-term outcomes. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) damage causes steep discounting of future rewards (delay discounting; DD) and impoverished episodic future thinking (EFT). The role of vmPFC in reward valuation, EFT, and their interaction during intertemporal choice is still unclear. Here, twelve patients with lesions to vmPFC and forty-one healthy controls chose between smallerimmediate and larger-delayed rewards while we manipulated reward magnitude and the availability of EFT cues. In the EFT condition, participants imagined personal events to occur at the delays associated with the larger-delayed rewards. We found that DD was steeper in vmPFC patients compared to controls, and not modulated by reward magnitude. However, EFT cues downregulated DD in vmPFC patients as well as controls. These findings indicate that vmPFC integrity is critical for the valuation of (future) rewards, but not to instill EFT in intertemporal choice.

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