Trait compensation between boldness and the propensity for tail autotomy under different food availabilities in similarly aged brown anole lizards

Abstract

Summary Trait compensation denotes the situation in which individuals offset the costs of one trait with the benefits of another trait. The phenomenon of trait compensation is best exemplified by a negative correlation between the degree of predator avoidance and the strength of morphological defence. In this study, we used the relationship between risk‐taking tendency (boldness) and the propensity for tail autotomy in the brown anole lizards Anolis sagrei to address two important questions regarding trait compensation. First, we investigated whether trait compensation existed among individuals of similar age. Second, we examined how the relationship between boldness and the propensity for tail autotomy responded to changes in food availability. Overall, bolder individuals autotomized their tails more readily. Although mean values of boldness and the propensity for tail autotomy did not differ under high and low food availability, the compensatory effect between the two traits was only obvious when food was abundant. The existence of trait compensation among similarly aged individuals will serve as the first step to understanding the evolution of compensatory effects among traits observed at higher level. In addition, food availability affected the dynamics of trait compensation by influencing the amount of variation of traits involved, rather than altering the mean values of traits per se.