Abstract
Life history theory predicts that individuals will differ in their risk-taking behavior according to their expected future fitness. Understanding consequences of such individual variation within a behavioral trait is crucial in explaining potential trade-offs between different traits and in predicting future dynamics in changing environments. Here, we studied individuals in a wild arctic fox population to explore if (1) individual variation in risk-taking behaviors of adult arctic foxes and in stress-dealing behaviors of their juveniles exist and are consistent over time to verify the existence of personality traits; (2) those behavioral traits in adults and juveniles are correlated; (3) they can explain fitness-related components (i.e., juvenile physical condition, mortality rate). We presented simple field experiments assessing behavioral traits by observing adult reactions toward approaching observers, and juvenile behaviors while trapping. Through the experiments, we found highly consistent individual variation of adults in vigilance and boldness levels, and more flexible juvenile behavioral traits categorized as investigating, passive, and escaping. The offspring of bolder adults exhibited more investigating behaviors and were less passive than the offspring of shy adults. Juvenile physical condition was not related to their mortality nor any behavioral traits of either parents or themselves. Lastly, highly investigating and active juveniles with bold parents had significantly lower mortality rates. This shows that interactions between parent personality and juvenile behavioral traits affect a fitness-related component in the life history of individuals.Significance statementThe recent surge of interest in consistent individual difference in behavior, also called as animal personality, has already focused on its fitness consequences, but few studies have investigated the interactions between parent and offspring personality, and their ecological consequences. Moreover, this has rarely been studied in wild canids. The arctic fox is a charismatic species showing wide individual variation in behaviors. They live in highly fluctuating tundra ecosystems providing different selection regimes, making it even more eco-evolutionarily intriguing. Yet, few studies looked into behavioral traits and their importance in this system. While introducing simple methods to improve personality research in the wild, we provide a unique example of how variation in both parents and their juveniles collectively works for group dynamics in a cyclic population. This provides a firm basic for understanding behavior-mediated dynamics and opens up broader questions on how fluctuating environments exert varying pressures on individual differences.
Highlights
Individual variation within a population can lead to decoupled responses of individuals from a population under particular conditions (Bolnick et al 2003, 2011)
We propose that the arctic fox is a suitable model to study individual behavioral variation since (1) it is possible to conduct in-depth behavioral studies thanks to the 24 h visibility during tundra summers, den accessibility, and high tolerance toward human observers; (2) they live in a fluctuating environment with different selection pressures providing an ecoevolutionarily interesting system; (3) understanding different fitness consequences of personality would be important in the conservation of endangered Scandinavian arctic fox populations and could be used in the ongoing reintroduction program (Bremner-Harrison et al 2004; Angerbjörn et al 2013; Haage et al 2017)
We investigated whether (1) individual variation in risk-taking behaviors of adult arctic foxes and in stress-dealing behaviors of their juveniles exist and are consistent over time to verify the existence of personality traits; (2) those behavioral traits in adults and juveniles are correlated; (3) they can explain fitness-related components
Summary
Individual variation within a population can lead to decoupled responses of individuals from a population under particular conditions (Bolnick et al 2003, 2011). One aspect of phenotypic variation is personality, which can be defined as an individual’s behavioral trait that is consistent over time and context (Sih et al 2004) This consistency in behavior limits behavioral plasticity of individuals and affects how they respond to potential risks (Bremner-Harrison et al 2004; Both et al 2005; Smith and Blumstein 2008). Many studies have recently emphasized ecological consequences of individual differences, few studies have tried to test the underlying mechanisms of such consequence of individual variation and a potential interplay of personality traits between parents and their juveniles (Stankowich and Blumstein 2005; Smith and Blumstein 2008; Cole and Quinn 2014; Arroyo et al 2017). Interactions between parent and juvenile behavior traits remain poorly understood despite the importance to components explaining extended effects of personality at the very fine scale
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
