Poster presentation of my work investigating influence of personality on movement decisions in the wandering albatross. Thank you to the EOU committee for awarding me 1st prize for this poster.
Natasha Gillies, Henri Weimerskirch, Jack Thorley, Tommy Clay, Lucía Martín López, Rocio Joo, Mathieu Basille, Samantha Patrick Introduction [email protected] tash_gillies natashagillies.co.uk Personality influences average behaviour, but may also covary with behavioural plasticity – leading to among-individual variation in the flexibility of animals’ behaviour Emerging evidence that boldness correlates with plasticity Less plastic More plastic Wandering albatrosses are highly sensitive to wind conditions in their foraging movements, being more likely to take-off and switch behaviours in strong headwinds Effects are stronger for males – probably due to larger size Responsiveness to winds helps optimise the efficiency of their soaring flight (taking off is very costly) But do all individuals do the same thing? Predictions: 1. Bold birds will be less responsive to wind, prioritising explorative behaviour in all wind conditions 2. Shy birds prioritise exploitation of foraging patches, but adjust behaviour in response to wind conditions Do albatrosses of different personalities respond differently to changes in wind? Behavioural plasticity allows animals to flexibly adjust behaviour to different contexts. Varies between and within species No plasticity Plasticity Variable plasticity Boldness also affects foraging – bold animals are more explorative and competitive
Methods We used Hidden Markov Models to assign behavioural states to 11 years of GPS data collected from 294 individuals Used multivariate HMMs to examine interactive effect of personality and wind conditions on: 1. Time-budgets 2. Probability of switching between behaviour [email protected] tash_gillies natashagillies.co.uk Boldness Boldness is repeatable in wandering albatrosses and known to affect foraging behaviours Characterised by assaying response to approach of human observer More responsive Less responsive Hidden Markov Models HMMs characterise behaviour based on step length and turning angle of each GPS fix. These were applied over entire foraging trips to identify behaviour and transitions between behavioural states We examined how probability of transitioning between behaviours varied with wind speed and direction and as a function of boldness Natasha Gillies, Henri Weimerskirch, Jack Thorley, Tommy Clay, Lucía Martín López, Rocio Joo, Mathieu Basille, Samantha Patrick
Bold explorers prioritise travel; shy exploiters prioritise search Shy birds are more responsive Results [email protected] tash_gillies Bold individuals prioritise travel & have consistent time budget regardless of wind speed Shy were more likely to transition to travel in strong winds, bold bird largely insensitive Bold birds decreasingly likely to switch to search in strong winds, shy birds largely insensitive natashagillies.co.uk Effects were stronger for males, but could not be attributed to personality-specific morphology Shy birds prioritise search, and travel only in strong headwinds Probability of switching from search to travel with increasing headwinds (ms-1) Probability of switching from travel to search with increasing headwinds (ms-1) Natasha Gillies, Henri Weimerskirch, Jack Thorley, Tommy Clay, Lucía Martín López, Rocio Joo, Mathieu Basille, Samantha Patrick Proportion of time spent in behaviour for increasing headwind (ms-1) Body mass (g) against boldness for males (purple) and females (yellow)
Implications Wind has profound influences on albatross behaviour, but these depend on personality. Understanding the responses of seabirds to environmental change may benefit from consideration of personality. [email protected] tash_gillies natashagillies.co.uk Discussion We found shy birds were more responsive in their behavioural adjustment to winds: prioritising search in weak winds, and travel in strong winds. Bold birds prioritised travel in all conditions. This matches previous findings that shy birds prefer exploitative foraging (indicated by search behaviour), bold birds prefer explorative foraging (indicated by travel). Why does personality matter? Shy individuals may value information about the environment more highly. Allows them to exhibit targeted behaviour and gain consistent rewards but requires time & energy investment to acquire information. Bold individuals may avoid costs of gaining information by acting less responsively, but gain more variable rewards as a consequence. Our results may reflect differences in the perceived value of information according to boldness Birds of both personality types converged on travel in strong headwinds – optimal for movement and therefore low-cost. Suggests that when conditions are good, perceived costs and benefits of different personalities converge on same strategy In poor conditions, expect behavioural differences among individuals to exacerbate Summary Natasha Gillies, Henri Weimerskirch, Jack Thorley, Tommy Clay, Lucía Martín López, Rocio Joo, Mathieu Basille, Samantha Patrick
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