To boldly go: individual differences in boldness influence migratory tendency

Chapman, Ben B.; Hulthén, Kaj; Blomqvist, David R.; Hansson, Lars-Anders; Nilsson, Jan-Åke; Brodersen, Jakob; Nilsson, Anders P.; Skov, Christian; Brönmark, Christer (2011). To boldly go: individual differences in boldness influence migratory tendency. Ecology Letters, 14(9), pp. 871-876. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01648.x

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Partial migration, whereby only a fraction of the population migrates, is thought to be the most common type of migration in the animal kingdom, and can have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. Despite this, the factors that influence which individuals migrate and which remain resident are poorly understood. Recent work has shown that consistent individual differences in personality traits in animals can be ecologically important, but field studies integrating personality traits with migratory behaviour are extremely rare. In this study, we investigate the influence of individual boldness, an important personality trait, upon the migratory propensity of roach, a freshwater fish, over two consecutive migration seasons. We assay and individually tag 460 roach and show that boldness influences migratory propensity, with bold individuals being more likely to migrate than shy fish. Our data suggest that an extremely widespread personality trait in animals can have significant ecological consequences via influencing individual-level migratory behaviour.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Further Contribution)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Aquatic Ecology

UniBE Contributor:

Brodersen, Jakob

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology)

ISSN:

1461-023X

Publisher:

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing

Language:

English

Submitter:

Marcel Häsler

Date Deposited:

05 Sep 2014 15:54

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:32

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01648.x

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Aquatic ecology, boldness, individual differences, partial migration, personality trait

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.49030

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/49030

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