Quantifying individual variation in behaviour: mixed-effect modelling approaches
TLDR
An overview of how mixed-effect models can be used to partition variation in, and correlations among, phenotypic attributes into between- and within-individual variance components is provided.Abstract:
Growing interest in proximate and ultimate causes and consequences of between- and within-individual variation in labile components of the phenotype - such as behaviour or physiology - characterizes current research in evolutionary ecology. The study of individual variation requires tools for quantification and decomposition of phenotypic variation into between- and within-individual components. This is essential as variance components differ in their ecological and evolutionary implications. We provide an overview of how mixed-effect models can be used to partition variation in, and correlations among, phenotypic attributes into between- and within-individual variance components. Optimal sampling schemes to accurately estimate (with sufficient power) a wide range of repeatabilities and key (co)variance components, such as between- and within-individual correlations, are detailed. Mixed-effect models enable the usage of unambiguous terminology for patterns of biological variation that currently lack a formal statistical definition (e.g. 'animal personality' or 'behavioural syndromes'), and facilitate cross-fertilisation between disciplines such as behavioural ecology, ecological physiology and quantitative genetics.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal Article
Human biochemical genetics
TL;DR: For the next few weeks the course is going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach it’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery.
Journal ArticleDOI
Animal personality and state–behaviour feedbacks: a review and guide for empiricists
Andrew Sih,Kimberley J. Mathot,Maria Moiron,Pierre-Olivier Montiglio,Max Wolf,Niels Jeroen Dingemanse +5 more
TL;DR: The role of feedbacks in recent models of adaptive personalities, and guidelines for empirical testing of model assumptions and predictions are provided, to provide a roadmap for including state-behaviour Feedbacks in behavioural ecology research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Between-individual differences in behavioural plasticity within populations: causes and consequences
Niels Jeroen Dingemanse,Max Wolf +1 more
TL;DR: How between-individual differences in behavioural plasticity can result from additive and interactive effects of genetic make-up and past environmental conditions, and under which conditions natural selection might favour this form of between- individual variation is discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
The contribution of additive genetic variation to personality variation: heritability of personality
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that genetic differences are likely to be a major contributor to variation in animal personality and support the phenotypic gambit: that evolutionary inferences drawn from repeatability estimates may often be justified.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Using cross-classified multivariate mixed response models with application to life history traits in great tits (Parus major):
TL;DR: This paper focuses on the reproductive behaviour and survival of a small passerine bird, the great tit, and fits multivariate cross-classified random effects models using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation algorithm described in the paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sex differences in repeatability of food-hoarding behaviour of kangaroo rats
TL;DR: Sex differences in repeatability of food-hoarding behaviour were consistent with the possibility of alternative mating strategies in male kangaroo rats, while differences in response to cache pilferage between males of the two species were consistentWith differences in aggressive behaviour associated with body size.
Journal ArticleDOI
Short-Lived Repeatabilities in Long-Lived Great Skuas: Implications for the Study of Individual Quality
TL;DR: Results clearly suggest that apparent individual quality is a transient attribute in these birds, which cannot be fully accounted for by age effects.
Journal ArticleDOI
Circulating testosterone levels do not affect exploration in house sparrows: observational and experimental tests
TL;DR: It is strongly suggested that, in house sparrows, between-individual variation in circulating levels of T cannot serve as a causal explanation for the existence of individual variation in exploratory behaviour.
Journal ArticleDOI
The roles of competition and environmental heterogeneity in the maintenance of behavioral variation and covariation.
TL;DR: It is found that populations of D. merriami exhibited more aggression at sites with more competition, and the strength of this correlation was greatest where the competitive community was least diverse, suggesting that competitive variation may act to erode personality structure.