DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Fitness tradeoffs in animal personalities across life stages

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A seemingly simple but significan question is, whether in responses to drug treatment or behavioral interactions, why do different individuals respond differently? Research on fish and other vertebrates has demonstrated consistent inter-individual differences in behaviors such as boldness and aggression. These inter-individual differences in behavior have been termed animal personalities. The work conducted under this award examines the ecological consequences of individual behavioral variation in largemouth bass, an important North American sport fish. To date, only a handful of studies have investigated the relationship between personality traits and various components of fitness in the field, and even fewer studies have investigated whether inter-individual differences in behavior are consistent across life stages. Fish are excellent study organisms to investigate the impact of personality traits on growth, survival, and reproductive success at different life stages. The work conducted under this award will use DNA-based paternity analysis to examine how variation in shy/bold behavior affects various components of fitness in largemouth bass under field conditions. These field studies focus on juvenile growth and survival, adult male and female reproductive success, heritability of personality types, and the fitness tradeoffs of shy/bold personality types across life stages. Bass are one of the most economically important sport fish in North America and the results of this research will help inform decision makers on how to better manage these and other fish species. Although the evolutionary impacts of commercial harvest on fish populations are well-recognized, the effects of recreational angling (including catch and release fishing) on fish population are largely unknown. Research conducted under this award will directly address how recreational angling affects bass behaviors and reproductive success. Results from this research will be communicated through presentations and publications to scientific and non-scientific audiences, including secondary school students through K-12 education programs at the Kellogg Biological Station.Data used in publications from this project will be deposited into DRYAD (http://datadryad.org)