Female competition in chimpanzees

Female chimpanzees exhibit exceptionally slow rates of reproduction and raise their offspring without direct paternal care. Therefore, their reproductive success depends critically on long-term access to high-quality food resources over a long lifespan. Chimpanzee communities contain multiple adult males, multiple adult females and their offspring. Because males are philopatric and jointly defend the community range while most females transfer to new communities before breeding, adult females are typically surrounded by unrelated competitors. Communities are fission–fusion societies in which individuals spend time alone or in fluid subgroups, whose size depends mostly on the abundance and distribution of food. To varying extents in different populations, females avoid direct competition by foraging alone or in small groups in distinct, but overlapping core areas within the community range to which they show high fidelity. Although rates of aggression are low, females compete for space and access to food. High rank correlates with high reproductive success, and high-ranking females win direct contests for food and gain preferential access to resource-rich sites. Females are aggressive to immigrant females and even kill the newborn infants of community members. The intensity of such aggression correlates with population density. These patterns are compared to those in other species, including humans.     

Male chimpanzees exchange political support for mating opportunities

Male chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, differ from males in most other mammalian taxa because they remain in their natal communities throughout their lives, form close bonds with one another, and cooperate in a range of activities [1]. However, males also compete fiercely for status within their groups [2,3], and high rank enhances male reproductive success [4,5]. Males rely partly on coalitions to achieve and maintain status [2,3,6-9], and shifts in male alliances can have dramatic political effects [2,3,6]. It is not known what benefits are obtained by low-ranking coalition partners. Here we report that the highest-ranking (alpha) male in one well-studied community of chimpanzees rewarded his allies by allowing them preferential access to mates.     

Female competition and male territorial behaviour influence female chimpanzees' ranging patterns

Current models of chimpanzee social structure differ in the extent to which females range with the males and are loyal to a particular social group. We tested these models by analysing 18 years of observational data on the Gombe chimpanzees to investigate the relationship between female space use patterns and both female feeding competition and changes in the male-defended range boundaries. Females at Gombe typically spend most of their time in small overlapping core areas within the community range. Most core areas clustered into two neighbourhoods, north and south. Most females maintained a high degree of site fidelity, but altered their space use patterns to stay within a male-defended boundary. This overall pattern supports the male-bonded model of the chimpanzee social system, over the bisexual or male-only community models, but there are many exceptions. Some females were very peripheral and may have associated simultaneously with two communities. Others switched communities as adults. Thus, different individual females displayed a variety of space use patterns. Different space use patterns of individual females were associated with differences in reproductive success. Members of the northern neighbourhood had higher reproductive success than those of the south, and peripheral individuals either did very well or very poorly. Females that moved from one community to another as adults produced the fewest surviving offspring. These results suggest that female ranging patterns are influenced by both feeding competition and male territorial behaviour.     

Potential consequences of angling on nest-site fidelity in largemouth bass

Breeding site fidelity has evolved in many vertebrate taxa, suggesting both that site selection has an important influence on fitness potential and that the decision to reuse a nesting site is related to the individual’s prior nesting success at that location. For a species that provides parental care, such as the Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, catch-and-release angling impacts individual nesting success and fitness through physiological disturbance and by removing the nest-guarding male from its brood, thereby allowing temporary access to eggs and hatchlings by brood predators. To assess the impact of catch-and-release angling on nest site fidelity, we compared the consequences of angling on individually marked (i.e., with passive integrated transponders) nest-guarding male Largemouth Bass in Ontario. An extremely high degree of nest site fidelity in year two was observed for males that were angled only once during year one (87% within 10 m of the previous year’s nest), 96.7% of which remained on the nest and completed parental care activities. There was significantly lower fidelity in year two, however, for males that were angled multiple times during year one (27% within 10m of the previous year’s nest), only 5.6% of which remained on the nest and completed parental care activities. This observed difference suggests that angling nesting bass may cause them to avoid previously used nest sites and instead search for alternative sites during future reproductive seasons. This human-induced impact on nest site choice may impact the future reproductive success of those Largemouth Bass.     

Short‐term prey field lability constrains individual specialisation in resource selection and foraging site fidelity in a marine predator

Spatio‐temporally stable prey distributions coupled with individual foraging site fidelity are predicted to favour individual resource specialisation. Conversely, predators coping with dynamic prey distributions should diversify their individual diet and/or shift foraging areas to increase net intake. We studied individual specialisation in Scopoli's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) from the highly dynamic Western Mediterranean, using daily prey distributions together with resource selection, site fidelity and trophic‐level analyses. As hypothesised, we found dietary diversification, low foraging site fidelity and almost no individual specialisation in resource selection. Crucially, shearwaters switched daily foraging tactics, selecting areas with contrasting prey of varying trophic levels. Overall, information use and plastic resource selection of individuals with reduced short‐term foraging site fidelity allow predators to overcome prey field lability. Our study is an essential step towards a better understanding of individual responses to enhanced environmental stochasticity driven by global changes, and of pathways favouring population persistence.     

Severe Aggression Among Female Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii at Gombe National Park, Tanzania

Aggression is generally more severe between males than between females because males gain greater payoffs from escalated aggression. Males that successfully defeat rivals may greatly increase their access to fertile females. Because female reproductive success depends on long-term access to resources, competition between females is often sustained but low key because no single interaction leads to a high payoff. Nonetheless, escalated aggression can sometimes immediately improve a female’s reproductive success. Resisting new immigrants can reduce feeding competition, and infanticide of other females’ young can increase a female’s access to resources. East African chimpanzees live in fission-fusion communities in which females occupy overlapping core areas. Growing evidence indicates that reproductive success correlates with core area quality, and that females compete for long-term access to core areas. Here we document 5 new cases of severe female aggression in the context of such competition: 2 attacks by resident females on an immigrant female, a probable intracommunity infanticide, and 2 attacks on a female and her successive newborn infants by females whose core areas overlapped hers. The cases provide further evidence that females are occasionally as aggressive as males. Factors influencing the likelihood and severity of such attacks include rank and size differences and the presence of dependable allies. Counterstrategies to the threat of female aggression include withdrawing from others around the time of parturition and seeking male protection. We also discuss an unusual case of a female taking the newborn infant of another, possibly to protect it from a potentially infanticidal female.     

Return Customers: Foraging Site Fidelity and the Effect of Environmental Variability in Wide-Ranging Antarctic Fur Seals

Strategies employed by wide-ranging foraging animals involve consideration of habitat quality and predictability and should maximise net energy gain. Fidelity to foraging sites is common in areas of high resource availability or where predictable changes in resource availability occur. However, if resource availability is heterogeneous or unpredictable, as it often is in marine environments, then habitat familiarity may also present ecological benefits to individuals. We examined the winter foraging distribution of female Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazelle, over four years to assess the degree of foraging site fidelity at two scales; within and between years. On average, between-year fidelity was strong, with most individuals utilising more than half of their annual foraging home range over multiple years. However, fidelity was a bimodal strategy among individuals, with five out of eight animals recording between-year overlap values of greater than 50%, while three animals recorded values of less than 5%. High long-term variance in sea surface temperature, a potential proxy for elevated long-term productivity and prey availability, typified areas of overlap. Within-year foraging site fidelity was weak, indicating that successive trips over the winter target different geographic areas. We suggest that over a season, changes in prey availability are predictable enough for individuals to shift foraging area in response, with limited associated energetic costs. Conversely, over multiple years, the availability of prey resources is less spatially and temporally predictable, increasing the potential costs of shifting foraging area and favouring long-term site fidelity. In a dynamic and patchy environment, multi-year foraging site fidelity may confer a long-term energetic advantage to the individual. Such behaviours that operate at the individual level have evolutionary and ecological implications and are potential drivers of niche specialization and modifiers of intra-specific competition.     

Urbanization increases floral specialization of pollinators

Understanding how urbanization alters functional interactions among pollinators and plants is critically important given increasing anthropogenic land use and declines in pollinator populations. Pollinators often exhibit short‐term specialization and visit plants of the same species during one foraging trip. This facilitates plant receipt of conspecific pollen—pollen on a pollinator that is the same species as the plant on which the pollinator was foraging. Conspecific pollen receipt facilitates plant reproductive success and is thus important to plant and pollinator persistence. We investigated how urbanization affects short‐term specialization of insect pollinators by examining pollen loads on insects’ bodies and identifying the number and species of pollen grains on insects caught in urban habitat fragments and natural areas. We assessed possible drivers of differences between urban and natural areas, including frequency dependence in foraging, species richness and diversity of the plant and pollinator communities, floral abundance, and the presence of invasive plant species. Pollinators were more specialized in urban fragments than in natural areas, despite no differences in the species richness of plant communities across site types. These differences were likely driven by higher specialization of common pollinators, which were more abundant in urban sites. In addition, pollinators preferred to forage on invasive plants at urban sites and native plants at natural sites. Our findings reveal indirect effects of urbanization on pollinator fidelity to individual plant species and have implications for the maintenance of plant species diversity in small habitat fragments. Higher preference of pollinators for invasive plants at urban sites suggests that native species may receive fewer visits by pollinators. Therefore, native plant species diversity may decline in urban sites without continued augmentation of urban flora or removal of invasive species.     

High foraging site fidelity and spatial segregation among individual great black‐backed gulls

Individual foraging site fidelity, whereby individuals repeatedly visit the same foraging areas, is widespread in nature, and likely benefits individuals through higher foraging efficiency and potentially, higher breeding success. It may arise as a consequence of habitat or resource specialisation, or alternatively, where resources are abundant or predictable, the partitioning of space might guarantee individuals exclusive foraging opportunities. We tracked seven adult great black‐backed gulls Larus marinus at a North Sea colony from early incubation to the end of the breeding season in 2016, providing a total of 1170 foraging trips over a mean ± SD tracking period of 67 ± 16 days. There was clear spatial segregation between individuals, with almost no overlap of their core areas (50% utilisation distribution) during incubation and chick‐rearing. Core areas were relatively small and there was high repeatability (R ± SE) in foraging parameters, including initial departure direction (0.73 ± 0.11), foraging range (0.41 ± 0.14) and cumulative distance travelled (0.19 ± 0.1) throughout the breeding season. Despite the low spatial overlap, there was little evidence of differential habitat use by individuals. The near‐exclusive individual foraging areas of this species, usually considered to be a generalist, indicate that where there is high resource availability throughout the breeding season and a small local population, individuals appear to adopt a territorial strategy which likely reduces intraspecific competition.     

Nest‐site fidelity in parental male bluegill Lepomis macrochirus: spatial patterns and the influence of prior mating success

A 4 year mark–recapture study examined the pattern of nesting site fidelity of parental‐type male bluegill Lepomis macrochirus. The study results indicated that iteroparous male L. macrochirus choose new nest sites near their own previously used sites. The scale of site fidelity varied, but generally males choose to renest within shoreline areas rather than specific or exact nest locations (94% within‐year, 86% among‐years). Iteroparous males also displayed no preference to nest in proximity to neighbouring males from previous colonies to suggest social fidelity. Contrary to expectation, manipulating males' reproductive success had no significant effect on the pattern or scale of male reproductive site fidelity.     

Individual foraging site fidelity in lactating New Zealand fur seals: Continental shelf vs. oceanic habitats

Wide‐ranging marine central place foragers often exhibit foraging site fidelity to oceanographic features over differing spatial scales (i.e., localized coastal upwellings and oceanic fronts). Few studies have tested how the degree of site fidelity to foraging areas varies in relation to the type of ocean features used. In order to determine how foraging site fidelity varied between continental shelf and oceanic foraging habitats, 31 lactating New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus australis forsteri 1 ) were satellite tracked over consecutive foraging trips (14–108 d). Thirty‐seven foraging trips were recorded from 11 females that foraged on the continental shelf, in a region associated with a coastal upwelling, while 65 foraging trips were recorded from 20 females that foraged in oceanic waters. There were no significant differences in the mean bearings (to maximum distance) of individual's consecutive foraging trips, suggesting individual fidelity to foraging areas. However, overlap in area and time spent in area varied considerably between continental shelf and oceanic foragers. Females that foraged on the continental shelf had significantly greater overlap in consecutive foraging trips when compared to females that foraged in oceanic waters (overlap in 5 × 5 km grid cells visited on consecutive trips 55.9%± 20.4% and 13.4%± 7.6%, respectively). Females that foraged on the continental shelf also spent significantly more time within the same grid cell than females that foraged in oceanic waters (maximum time spent in 5 × 5 km grid cells: 14%± 5% and 4%± 2%, respectively). This comparatively high foraging site fidelity may reflect the concentration of productivity associated with a coastal upwelling system, the Bonney Upwelling. Lower foraging site fidelity recorded by seals that foraged in oceanic waters implies a lower density/larger scale habitat, where prey are more dispersed or less predictable at fine scales, when compared to the continental shelf region.     

Factors affecting the reproductive success of dominant male meerkats

Identifying traits that affect the reproductive success of individuals is fundamental for our understanding of evolutionary processes. In cooperative breeders, a dominant male typically restricts mating access to the dominant female for extended periods, resulting in pronounced variation in reproductive success among males. This may result in strong selection for traits that increase the likelihood of dominance acquisition, dominance retention and reproductive rates while dominant. However, despite considerable research on reproductive skew, few studies have explored the factors that influence these three processes among males in cooperative species. Here we use genetic, behavioural and demographic data to investigate the factors affecting reproductive success in dominant male meerkats (Suricata suricatta). Our data show that dominant males sire the majority of all offspring surviving to 1 year. A male's likelihood of becoming dominant is strongly influenced by age, but not by weight. Tenure length and reproductive rate, both important components of dominant male reproductive success, are largely affected by group size and composition, rather than individual traits. Dominant males in large groups have longer tenures, but after this effect is controlled, male tenure length also correlates negatively to the number of adult females in the group. Male reproductive rate also declines as the number of intra- and extra-group competitors increases. As the time spent in the dominant position and reproductive rate while dominant explain > 80% of the total variance in reproductive success, group composition thus has major implications for male reproductive success.     

Is diversification in male reproductive traits driven by evolutionary trade-offs between weapons and nuptial gifts?

Many male animals have evolved exaggerated traits that they use in combat with rival males to gain access to females and secure their reproductive success. But some male animals invest in nuptial gifts that gains them access to females. Both these reproductive strategies are costly in that resources are needed to produce the weapon or nuptial gift. In closely related species where both weapons and nuptial gifts are present, little is known about the potential evolutionary trade-off faced by males that have these traits. In this study, we use dobsonflies (order Megaloptera, family Corydalidae, subfamily Corydalinae) to examine the presence and absence of enlarged male weapons versus nuptial gifts within and among species. Many dobsonfly species are sexually dimorphic, and males possess extremely enlarged mandibles that they use in battles, whereas in other species, males produce large nuptial gifts that increase female fecundity. In our study, we show that male accessory gland size strongly correlates with nuptial gift size and that when male weapons are large, nuptial gifts are small and vice versa. We mapped weapons and nuptial gifts onto a phylogeny we constructed of 57 species of dobsonflies. Our among-species comparison shows that large nuptial gift production evolved in many species of dobsonfly but is absent from those with exaggerated weapons. This pattern supports the potential explanation that the trade-off in resource allocation between weapons and nuptial gifts is important in driving the diversity of male mating strategies seen in the dobsonflies, whereas reduced male–male competition in the species producing large spermatophores could be an alternative explanation on their loss of male weapons. Our results shed new light on the evolutionary interplay of multiple sexually selected traits in animals.     

Female Bechstein's Bats Share Foraging Sites with Maternal Kin but do not Forage Together with them – Results from a Long‐Term Study

In many social animals, group members exchange information about where to feed. Thereby, they may gain direct benefits, for example, if social hunting enhances individual foraging success. Alternatively, individuals may receive indirect fitness benefits by preferentially sharing information about suitable feeding sites with kin. Indeed, in some species, a positive correlation between the degree of relatedness among individuals and the overlap among their foraging areas was found. However, sharing foraging sites with kin can also have costs if it increases food competition, which is not compensated by direct benefits. The goal of this study was to investigate whether sharing of individual foraging areas in female Bechstein's bats is best explained by kin selection or by direct benefits through social foraging. To assess their individual foraging behaviour, we analysed radio‐tracking data of 22 members of one maternity colony, including nine mother–daughter pairs, seven pairs of less closely related individuals and six pairs of unrelated bats. We examined the bats' fidelity to specific foraging areas during several years and quantified the influence of kinship on the overlap among individual foraging areas. By measuring how close to each other the bats foraged, we assessed whether individuals with overlapping areas are likely to forage together. Our study confirms previous findings that Bechstein's bats show high fidelity to foraging areas across years. Moreover, we found that relatives share foraging areas significantly more often compared with unrelated colony members. Finally, our data reveal for the first time that most colony members that share foraging areas are unlikely to forage together. This suggests that female Bechstein's bats gain no direct benefits from sharing foraging areas with members of the same maternal lineage. Our findings also have implications for conservation as habitat loss within a colony's home range might expose entire matrilines to high risks.     

Beyond habitat requirements: individual fine-scale site fidelity in a colony of the Galapagos sea lion (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zalophus wollebaeki</Emphasis>) creates conditions for social structuring

Site fidelity has been widely discussed, but rarely been related explicitly to a species’ social context. This is surprising, as fine-scale site fidelity constitutes an important structural component in animal societies by setting limits to an individual’s social interaction space. The study of fine-scale site fidelity is complicated by the fact that it is inextricably linked to patterns of habitat use. We here document fine-scale site fidelity in the Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) striving to disentangle these two aspects of spatial behaviour. Regardless of sex and age, all individuals used small, cohesive home ranges, which were stable in size across the reproductive and non-reproductive season. Home ranges showed a large individual component and did not primarily reflect age- or sex-specific habitat requirements. Site specificity could be illustrated up to a resolution of several metres. Long-term site fidelity was indicated by home range persistence over 3 years and the degree of site fidelity was unaffected by habitat, but showed seasonal differences: it was lower between reproductive and non-reproductive periods than between reproductive seasons. We further examined static and social interaction within mother–offspring pairs, which constitute a central social unit in most mammalian societies. Regardless of the occupied habitat type, adult females with offspring had smaller home range sizes than non-breeding females, demonstrating the importance of spatial predictability for mother–offspring pairs that recurrently have to reunite after females’ foraging sojourns. While social interaction with the mother dropped to naught in both sexes after weaning, analysis of static interaction suggested female-biased home range inheritance. Dispersal decisions were apparently not based on habitat quality, but determined by the offspring’s sex. We discuss the implication of observed fine-scale site fidelity patterns on habitat use, dispersal decisions and social structure in colonial breeding pinnipeds.     

Compatibility of magnetic imprinting and secular variation

Diverse ocean migrants, including some sea turtles, elephant seals, and salmon, begin life in particular reproductive areas along coastlines, disperse across vast expanses of sea, and then return as adults to their natal areas to reproduce [1], [2] and [3]. Little is known about how such marine animals guide themselves to the correct coastal region from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away and after absences ranging in duration from a few months to a decade or more. One hypothesis is that animals imprint on the magnetic field of their home area and use this information to return [1]. The Earth's field varies predictably across the globe, so different geographic areas are marked by distinctive magnetic fields that might, in principle, provide unique magnetic signatures for natal areas [4]. A potentially serious complication for this hypothesis is that the Earth's field changes gradually over time [1] and [4], causing the magnetic signatures that define natal areas to slowly drift. This secular variation could make natal homing via magnetic imprinting impossible if the magnetic signatures moved too far from the natal area [1], [5] and [6]. To investigate whether magnetic imprinting is compatible with secular variation, we sought a species with a life history that poses challenges for the hypothesis, reasoning that if magnetic imprinting is consistent with natal homing under unfavorable circumstances, then it would also be plausible in most other cases. We chose the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), an endangered species that ranges widely over the Gulf of Mexico, northern Caribbean, and the eastern U.S. coast, but returns to nest along a single, limited region of coastline in northern Mexico [7]. This species requires approximately 10–15 years to reach sexual maturity [7] and is thus absent from its natal area for much longer than animals such as salmon and elephant seals [2] and [3]. Given this long absence, the Kemp's ridley appears to be particularly susceptible to effects of secular variation if it relies on magnetic imprinting. The modeling results we report here show that the magnetic imprinting hypothesis can account for how the Kemp's ridley turtle returns to its natal region even after absences of a decade or more.     

Movements of wintering surf scoters: predator responses to different prey landscapes

The distribution of predators is widely recognized to be intimately linked to the distribution of their prey. Foraging theory suggests that predators will modify their behaviors, including movements, to optimize net energy intake when faced with variation in prey attributes or abundance. While many studies have documented changes in movement patterns of animals in response to temporal changes in food, very few have contrasted movements of a single predator species naturally occurring in dramatically different prey landscapes. We documented variation in the winter movements, foraging range size, site fidelity, and distribution patterns of a molluscivorous sea duck, the surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), in two areas of coastal British Columbia with very different shellfish prey features. Baynes Sound has extensive tidal flats with abundant clams, which are high-quality and temporally stable prey for scoters. Malaspina Inlet is a rocky fjord-like inlet where scoters consume mussels that are superabundant and easily accessible in some patches but are heavily depleted over the course of winter. We used radio telemetry to track surf scoter movements in both areas and found that in the clam habitats of Baynes Sound, surf scoters exhibited limited movement, small winter ranges, strong foraging site fidelity, and very consistent distribution patterns. By contrast, in mussel habitats in the Malaspina Inlet, surf scoters displayed more movement, larger ranges, little fidelity to specific foraging sites, and more variable distribution patterns. We conclude that features associated with the different prey types, particularly the higher depletion rates of mussels, strongly influenced seasonal space use patterns. These findings are consistent with foraging theory and confirm that predator behavior, specifically movements, is environmentally mediated.     

Specialized foraging habits of adult female California sea lions Zalophus californianus

Individual foraging specialization occurs when organisms use a small subset of the resources available to a population. This plays an important role in population dynamics since individuals may have different ecological functions within an ecosystem related to habitat use and prey preferences. The foraging habitat fidelity and degree of specialization of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) were evaluated by analyzing the stable isotopes values of carbon and nitrogen in vibrissae collected from 16 adult females from the reproductive colony on Santa Margarita Island, Magdalena Bay, Mexico, in 2012 and 2013. Based on the degree of individual specialization in δ¹⁵N, 62.5% of the females assessed can be considered specialist consumers focusing on the same prey or different prey from the same trophic level. The degree of individual specialization in δ¹³C indicated that 100% of the individuals showed fidelity to their foraging habitat as some fed in the lagoon, others foraged along the coast, and a third group preferred prey from the pelagic environment during both the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, suggesting diversification of foraging areas. Foraging area fidelity persisted despite the 2°C increase in the sea surface temperature over the course of the study period.     

Long-term home range stability provides foraging benefits in western gorillas

Objectives

Long-term home range stability presumably emerges because familiarity with an area improves fitness through increased foraging efficiency, reduced predation risk, or reduced costs of intergroup aggression. While the use of spatial memory by primates has been widely demonstrated, few studies have examined whether long-term space use creates opportunities for interannual reuse of spatial knowledge. Here we examine the ranging behavior of western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) to assess the degree of long-term site fidelity and the foraging consequences of reuse of space.

Methods

We measured interannual home range overlap over a 10-year period for a single group of gorillas at the Mondika Research Center, using both grid-based and kernel density estimation. By plotting the total area used over time, we identified periods of home-range stability and expansion. We compared foraging and ranging behavior in familiar versus unfamiliar areas, considering fruit trees visited, dietary diversity, and daily path length, to determine whether the lack of spatial knowledge in unfamiliar areas was associated with foraging costs.

Results

Average interannual home range overlap by the group remained high throughout the study. During periods of home range expansion, daily path lengths increased but not the number of fruit trees visited, suggesting that reduced familiarity with the area led to decreased foraging efficiency because individuals lacked prior knowledge of where to find resources.

Discussion

Western gorillas at Mondika exhibit long-term home range stability, presumably reflecting a strategy that relies on the use of spatial memory to increase foraging efficiency that is favored by their reliance on ephemeral fruit resources.

     

Senescence rates and late adulthood reproductive success are strongly influenced by personality in a long-lived seabird

Studies are increasingly demonstrating that individuals differ in their rate of ageing, and this is postulated to emerge from a trade-off between current and future reproduction. Recent theory predicts a correlation between individual personality and life-history strategy, and from this comes the prediction that personality may predict the intensity of senescence. Here we show that boldness correlates with reproductive success and foraging behaviour in wandering albatrosses, with strong sex-specific differences. Shy males show a strong decline in reproductive performance with age, and bold females have lower reproductive success in later adulthood. In both sexes, bolder birds have longer foraging trips and gain more mass per trip as they get older. However, the benefit of this behaviour appears to differ between the sexes, such that it is only matched by high reproductive success in males. Together our results suggest that personality linked foraging adaptations with age are strongly sex-specific in their fitness benefits and that the impact of boldness on senescence is linked to ecological parameters.