The relation between dominance and exploratory behavior is context-dependent in wild great tits

TY - JOUR

T1 - The relation between dominance and exploratory behavior is context-dependent in wild great tits

AU - Dingemanse, N.J.

AU - De Goede, P.

N1 - Reporting year: 2004 Metis note: 3450; CTE; PVD ; AnE; file:///L:/Endnotedatabases/NIOOPUB/pdfs/Pdfs2004/Dingemanse_ea_3450.pdf

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - Individual differences in personality affect behavior in novel or challenging situations. Personality traits may be subject to selection because they affect the ability to dominate others. We investigated whether dominance rank at feeding tables in winter correlated with a heritable personality trait (as measured by exploratory behavior in a novel environment) in a natural population of great tits, Parus major. We provided clumped resources at feeding tables and calculated linear dominance hierarchies on the basis of observations between dyads of color-ringed individuals, and we used an experimental procedure to measure individual exploratory behavior of these birds. We show that fast-exploring territorial males had higher dominance ranks than did slow-exploring territorial males in two out of three samples, and that dominance related negatively to the distance between the site of observation and the territory. In contrast, fast-exploring nonterritorial juveniles had lower dominance ranks than did slow-exploring nonterritorial juveniles, implying that the relation between dominance and personality is context-dependent in the wild. We discuss how these patterns in dominance can explain earlier reported effects of avian personality on natal dispersal and fitness. [KEYWORDS: boldness; dispersal; dominance; exploration; fitness; Parus major; personality]

AB - Individual differences in personality affect behavior in novel or challenging situations. Personality traits may be subject to selection because they affect the ability to dominate others. We investigated whether dominance rank at feeding tables in winter correlated with a heritable personality trait (as measured by exploratory behavior in a novel environment) in a natural population of great tits, Parus major. We provided clumped resources at feeding tables and calculated linear dominance hierarchies on the basis of observations between dyads of color-ringed individuals, and we used an experimental procedure to measure individual exploratory behavior of these birds. We show that fast-exploring territorial males had higher dominance ranks than did slow-exploring territorial males in two out of three samples, and that dominance related negatively to the distance between the site of observation and the territory. In contrast, fast-exploring nonterritorial juveniles had lower dominance ranks than did slow-exploring nonterritorial juveniles, implying that the relation between dominance and personality is context-dependent in the wild. We discuss how these patterns in dominance can explain earlier reported effects of avian personality on natal dispersal and fitness. [KEYWORDS: boldness; dispersal; dominance; exploration; fitness; Parus major; personality]

U2 - 10.1093/beheco/arh115

DO - 10.1093/beheco/arh115

M3 - Article

SN - 1045-2249

VL - 15

SP - 1023

EP - 1030

JO - Behavioral Ecology

JF - Behavioral Ecology

IS - 6

ER -