Biological Links between Personality and Plasticity: Testing Some Alternative Hypotheses.

AbstractWhen organisms respond behaviorally to a stimulus, they exhibit plasticity, but some individuals respond to the same stimulus consistently differently than others, thereby also exhibiting personality differences. Parent house sparrows express individual differences in how often they feed offspring and how that feeding rate changes with nestling age. Mean feeding rate and its slope with respect to nestling age were positively correlated at median nestling ages but not at hatching, indicating that individuality is primarily in plasticity. Individual differences could arise because of (1) interactions between environmental variables, (2) differences in underlying state or "quality," or (3) differences in the ability to update cues of changing nestling demand. Individual slopes were modestly repeatable across breeding attempts, hinting at the likely action of additional environmental variables, but only brood size was important. I also found few correlates suggesting quality differences. I used short-term brood size manipulations at two nestling ages to test divergent predictions between the three hypotheses. The pattern of correlations between response to the manipulation and individual slope did not fit any single hypothesis. Patterns of sparrow parental care reveal that personality and plasticity are not cleanly separable, and their biology is likely intertwined. New thinking may be needed about the factors parents use in decisions about care and the relevant fitness consequences.

Individual Optimization of Reproductive Investment and the Cost of Incubation in a Wild Songbird.

AbstractDespite avid interest in life history trade-offs and the costs of reproduction, evidence that increased parental allocation reduces subsequent breeding productivity is mixed. This uncertainty may be attributable to environmental heterogeneity in space and time, necessitating experiments across a range of ecological contexts. Over three breeding seasons, we cross-fostered clutches between nests to manipulate incubation duration in a wild population of Carolina wrens, a species in which only females incubate, to test for a cost of incubation on current and future reproduction. Prolonged incubation affected maternal productivity in a manner dependent on the current environment and initial investment in eggs, suggesting that incubation is optimized according to other components of reproduction and individual quality. Effects of incubation duration on foster nestling condition varied between years, being costly in one, beneficial in another, and neutral in the third. The proportion of young fledged, females' probability of breeding again within seasons, and subsequent clutch sizes all declined with increasing incubation effort-effects that became more pronounced as seasons progressed. Therefore, costs of incubation were almost entirely dependent on maternal quality and environmental variation, illustrating the importance of conducting experiments across a range of environmental settings for understanding the costs of reproduction and evolution of life histories.

Sex differences in condition dependence of natal dispersal in a large herbivore: dispersal propensity and distance are decoupled.

Evolution should favour plasticity in dispersal decisions in response to spatial heterogeneity in social and environmental contexts. Sex differences in individual optimization of dispersal decisions are poorly documented in mammals, because species where both sexes commonly disperse are rare. To elucidate the sex-specific drivers governing dispersal, we investigated sex differences in condition dependence in the propensity and distance of natal dispersal in one such species, the roe deer, using fine-scale monitoring of 146 GPS-collared juveniles in an intensively monitored population in southwest France. Dispersal propensity increased with body mass in males such that 36% of light individuals dispersed, whereas 62% of heavy individuals did so, but there was no evidence for condition dependence in dispersal propensity among females. By contrast, dispersal distance increased with body mass at a similar rate in both sexes such that heavy dispersers travelled around twice as far as light dispersers. Sex differences in the strength of condition-dependent dispersal may result from different selection pressures acting on the behaviour of males and females. We suggest that females disperse prior to habitat saturation being reached, likely in relation to the risk of inbreeding. By contrast, natal dispersal in males is likely governed by competitive exclusion through male-male competition for breeding opportunities in this strongly territorial mammal. Our study is, to our knowledge, a first demonstration that condition dependence in dispersal propensity and dispersal distance may be decoupled, indicating contrasting selection pressures drive the behavioural decisions of whether or not to leave the natal range, and where to settle.

Energetic Physiology Mediates Individual Optimization of Breeding Phenology in a Migratory Arctic Seabird.

The influence of variation in individual state on key reproductive decisions impacting fitness is well appreciated in evolutionary ecology. Rowe et al. (1994) developed a condition-dependent individual optimization model predicting that three key factors impact the ability of migratory female birds to individually optimize breeding phenology to maximize fitness in seasonal environments: arrival condition, arrival date, and ability to gain in condition on the breeding grounds. While empirical studies have confirmed that greater arrival body mass and earlier arrival dates result in earlier laying, no study has assessed whether individual variation in energetic management of condition gain effects this key fitness-related decision. Using an 8-year data set from over 350 prebreeding female Arctic common eiders (Somateria mollissima), we tested this component of the model by examining whether individual variation in two physiological traits influencing energetic management (plasma triglycerides: physiological fattening rate; baseline corticosterone: energetic demand) predicted individual variation in breeding phenology after controlling for arrival date and body mass. As predicted by the optimization model, individuals with higher fattening rates and lower energetic demand had the earliest breeding phenology (shortest delays between arrival and laying; earliest laying dates). Our results are the first to empirically determine that individual flexibility in prebreeding energetic management influences key fitness-related reproductive decisions, suggesting that individuals have the capacity to optimally manage reproductive investment.

Does coping style predict optimization? An experimental test in a wild passerine bird.

A number of studies have suggested that avian brood size is individually optimized. Yet, optimal reproductive decisions likely vary owing to among-individual differences in environmental sensitivity. Specifically, 'proactive' individuals who do not track environmental changes may be less able to produce optimal brood sizes than 'reactive' individuals who have more precise local environmental knowledge. To test this, we quantified exploratory behaviour (a proxy for proactivity) in a great tit (Parus major) population, manipulated brood sizes (reduced, control, enlarged) and evaluated whether individuals of dissimilar coping style differed in their level of optimization. If reactive females behaved optimally, any deviation from their original brood size should lower fitness, whereas this should not be the case for proactive females. Reactive females indeed performed best at their natural brood size, whereas proactive females performed best when raising an enlarged brood. These findings imply that proactive females produced sub-optimal brood sizes. We speculate that proactive females might (i) take decisions based on biased perception of their environment, (ii) face energetic constraints in offspring production and/or (iii) be more willing to invest into current reproduction when given the option. Our findings provide experimental evidence for coping style-related differences in optimal reproductive decisions and life-history strategies.

One size fits all: Eurasian lynx females share a common optimal litter size.

Lack proposed that the average clutch size of altricial species should be determined by the average maximum number of young the parents can raise such that all females in a given population should share a common optimal clutch size. Support for this model remains equivocal and recent studies have suggested that intra-population variation in clutch size is adaptive because each female has its own optimal clutch size associated with its intrinsic ability to raise offspring. Although Lack litter size and condition-dependent litter size are presented as two competing models, both are based on the concept of individual optimization. We propose a unified optimal litter size model (called 'adaptive litter size') and identify a set of conditions under which a common vs. a state-dependent optimal litter size should be observed. We test whether females of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) have a common optimal litter size, or whether they adjust their litter size according to their state. We used a detailed individual-based data set collected from contrasting populations of Eurasian lynx in Scandinavia. Observed reproductive patterns in female lynx provide strong support for the existence of a common optimal litter size. Litter size did not vary according to female body mass or reproductive category, or among contrasted populations and years. A litter size of 2 was associated with a higher fitness than both smaller and larger litters, and thus corresponded to the 'adaptive litter size' for female lynx. We suggest that the reproductive pattern of female lynx might correspond to a risk avoidance tactic common to all individuals, which has evolved in response to strong environmental constraints generated by a highly unpredictable food supply during lactation.

Effect of Differential Training on Female Volleyball Spike-Jump Technique and Performance.

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of in-season differential training on volleyball spike-jump technique and performance in elite-level female players. METHODS: During the season, spike jumps of 12 elite female players (Austrian Volleyball League Women) were recorded by 13 Qualisys Oqus cameras (250 Hz) and an AMTI force plate (1000 Hz). First measurement was made at the beginning of the investigation. Two identical measurements were repeated after a first and a second interval. The first interval served as control phase. The second interval was comparable in length and regular program but included differential training (6 wk, 8 sessions of 15-20 min) as a modified warm-up. It addressed specific performance determinants. Analyses of variances were calculated for the 3 measurements and for the development during control and intervention phase. RESULTS: Initial jump height (0.44 [0.09] m) changed by -4.5% during the control phase and +11.9% during the intervention (P < .001, ηp2=.70). All approach variables, arm backswing, and velocity-conversion strategy improved compared with the control phase (Δ%: 6.1-51.2%, P < .05, ηp2=.40-.80). Joint angles, countermovement depth, maximal angular velocities, and torso incline were not affected (Δ%: -2.9-9.1%, P = .066-.969, ηp2=.00-.27). CONCLUSIONS: In-season differential training led to technical adaptations and increased spike-jump height in elite female players. The differential training program allowed players to experience a range of adaptability and to adjust toward an individual optimum in technical components of performance determinants. Coaches are encouraged to apply technical differential training to elite athletes and to target biomechanical performance factors specifically.

Risk-sensitive reproductive allocation: fitness consequences of body mass losses in two contrasting environments.

For long-lived organisms, the fitness value of survival is greater than that of current reproduction. Asymmetric fitness rewards suggest that organisms inhabiting unpredictable environments should adopt a risk-sensitive life history, predicting that it is adaptive to allocate resources to increase their own body reserves at the expense of reproduction. We tested this using data from reindeer populations inhabiting contrasting environments and using winter body mass development as a proxy for the combined effect of winter severity and density dependence. Individuals in good and harsh environments responded similarly: Females who lost large amounts of winter body mass gained more body mass the coming summer compared with females losing less mass during winter. Additionally, females experienced a cost of reproduction: On average, barren females gained more body mass than lactating females. Winter body mass development positively affected both the females' reproductive success and offspring body mass. Finally, we discuss the relevance of our findings with respect to scenarios for future climate change.