Natural selection,plasticity and the emergence of a behavioural syndrome in the wild |
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Authors: | Bart Adriaenssens Jörgen I. Johnsson |
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Affiliation: | 1. Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, , Sydney, NSW, 2052 Australia;2. Animal Ecology, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, , 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden |
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Abstract: | Individuals often show consistent behavioural differences where behaviours can form integrated units across functionally different contexts. However, the factors causing and maintaining behavioural syndromes in natural populations remain poorly understood. In this study, we provide evidence for the emergence of a behavioural syndrome during the first months of life in wild brown trout (Salmo trutta). Behavioural traits of trout were scored before and after a 2‐month interval covering a major survival bottleneck, whereupon the consistency and covariance of behaviours were analysed. We found that selection favoured individuals with high activity levels in an open‐field context, a personality trait consistent throughout the duration of the experiment. In addition, a behavioural syndrome emerged over the 2 months in the wild, linking activity to aggressiveness and exploration tendency. These novel results suggest that behavioural syndromes can emerge rapidly in nature from interaction between natural selection and behavioural plasticity affecting single behaviours. |
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Keywords: | Activity aggressiveness behavioural syndromes boldness fitness natural selection personality traits phenotypic plasticity state‐dependent behaviour survival |
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