10.5061/DRYAD.7P160
Araya Ajoy, Yimen Gerardo
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Dingemanse, Niels J.
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Araya-Ajoy, Yimen G.
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Data from: Repeatability, heritability, and age-dependence in the
aggressiveness reaction norms of a wild passerine bird
Dryad
dataset
2016
Aggression
Random regression
Parus major
2016-12-19T19:39:02Z
2016-12-19T19:39:02Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12621
336870 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Labile characters allow individuals to flexibly adjust their phenotype to
changes in environmental conditions. There is growing evidence that
individuals can differ both in average expression and level of plasticity
in this type of character. Both of these aspects are studied in
conjunction within a reaction norm framework. Theoreticians have
investigated the factors promoting variation in reaction norm intercepts
(average phenotype) and slopes (level of plasticity) of a key labile
character: behaviour. A general prediction from their work is that
selection will favour the evolution of repeatable individual variation in
level of plasticity only under certain ecological conditions. While
factors promoting individual repeatability of plasticity have thus been
identified, empirical estimates of this phenomenon are largely lacking for
wild populations. We assayed aggressiveness of individual male great tits
(Parus major) twice during their egg-laying stage and twice during their
egg-incubation stage to quantify each male's level of seasonal
plasticity. This procedure was applied during six consecutive years; all
males breeding in our plots during those years were assayed, resulting in
repeated measures of individual reaction norms for any individual breeding
in multiple years. We quantified among- and within-individual variation in
reaction norm components, allowing us to estimate repeatability of
seasonal plasticity. Using social pedigree information, we further
partitioned reaction norm components into their additive genetic and
permanent environmental counterparts. Cross-year individual repeatability
for the intercepts (average aggressiveness) and slopes (level of seasonal
plasticity) of the aggressiveness reaction norms were 0·574 and 0·516
respectively. The mean of the posterior distributions suggested modest
heritabilities (h2 = 0·260 for intercepts; h2 = 0·266 for slopes), but
these estimates were relatively uncertain. Males behaved more aggressively
in areas with higher breeding densities, and became less aggressive and
less plastic with increasing age; plasticity thus varied within
individuals and was multidimensional in nature. This empirical study
quantified cross-year individual repeatability, heritability and
age-related reversible plasticity in behaviour. Acknowledging such
patterns of multi-level variation is important not only for testing
behavioural ecology theory concerning the evolution of repeatable
differences in behavioural plasticity but also for predicting how
reversible plasticity may evolve in natural populations.
Data for the multi-level reaction norm analysisGreat tits aggressive
response towards simulated territorial intrusions.data.csv
Germany
Bavaria