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Predation Risk Experienced by Tadpoles Shapes Personalities Before but Not After Metamorphosis
Barbara Płaskonka1,2, Anna Zaborowska3, Andrzej Mikulski1
1Department of Hydrobiology, Institute of Ecology, Faculty of Biology University of Warsaw Warsaw Poland.
Ecology and Evolution
|November 14, 2024
Summary
Predator exposure during development can shape animal personalities, but these traits may change after metamorphosis. Frog behavior showed this decoupling, with adult traits linked to size, not larval experiences.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Ecology
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Consistent inter-individual differences in behavior (personalities) can arise from developmental experiences, such as predation risk.
- Ontogenetic transitions, like metamorphosis, may disrupt established behavioral patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if larval predation risk influences personality development in moor frogs (Rana arvalis) and its relation to body size.
- To determine if adult behavior is predicted by larval phenotype or by body size, testing for decoupling across metamorphosis.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study tracked ~50 moor frogs through metamorphosis.
- Larval behavior was recorded under varying predation risk (chemical cues, live predators).
- Adult behavior was assessed, considering body size and prior larval environment/behavior.
Main Results:
- Predation risk induced personality emergence in tadpoles, but not linked to body size.
- Metamorphosis disrupted this larval behavioral pattern.
- Adult behavior was influenced by body size (larger frogs emerged faster), independent of larval behavior or environment.
Conclusions:
- Individual behavioral tendencies can be decoupled between pre- and post-metamorphic stages.
- This supports the adaptive decoupling hypothesis, where traits change across major life transitions.
- Developmental plasticity allows behavioral phenotypes to adjust to changing environmental contexts and life stages.
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