Boldness predicts plasticity in flight responses to winds.

Area of Science:

• Animal behaviour
• Ecology
• Evolutionary biology

Background:

• Behavioural plasticity allows populations to adapt to environmental changes when genetic evolution is slow.
• Understanding the constraints on behavioural plasticity is crucial for predicting population responses to environmental shifts.
• Individual personality traits, such as boldness, are known to influence behaviour, but their link to plasticity remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between boldness and behavioural plasticity in wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans).
• To examine how wind conditions influence movement decisions in relation to individual boldness.
• To assess the implications of individual variation in plasticity for population adaptation to environmental change.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a multivariate hidden Markov model approach.
• Analyzed an 11-year GPS dataset from 294 wandering albatrosses.
• Examined transitions between behavioural states (rest, prey search, travel) based on wind, boldness, and their interaction.

Main Results:

• Movement decisions were influenced by boldness; bolder birds preferred travel, while shyer birds preferred search.
• For females, the effect of boldness on movement varied with wind speed.
• In strong winds, females increased travel time; in weaker winds, shyer birds favored search, while bolder birds maintained travel preference.

Conclusions:

• Individual variation in behavioural plasticity, particularly in bolder females, may constrain adaptation to variable environmental conditions.
• Behavioural plasticity plays a significant role in how populations respond to climate change.
• Personality traits can mediate the capacity for behavioural adjustment in response to environmental variability.