Abstract Animals influence the phenotype and reproductive success of their conspecifics through competitive interactions. Such effects competition can alter intensity selection ultimately change rate evolution. However, magnitude competition, evolutionary impact, should vary depending on environmental conditions individual responses among competitors. We tested whether a key variable, resource availability, affects response to in black widow spiders by manipulating access prey level...

Understanding the causes of animal personality (i.e. consistent behavioural differences) is a major aim evolutionary studies. Recent theoretical work suggests that traits may contribute to trade-offs. However, such associations have only been investigated in few study systems, and even less so free ranging populations. Eastern chipmunks exhibit individual differences exploration, from slow fast. Birth cohorts also experience dramatic age at first breeding opportunity due annual beech mast....

Abstract Natal dispersal, the movement of an organism from its birthplace to site first reproduction, is fundamental many ecological and evolutionary processes. Mechanistically, individual dispersal decisions can depend on both phenotype environmental cues. In particular, established theories highlight importance social environment. More recent research in behavioral ecology has focused phenotypes. We reviewed literature phenotypes suggest that how interact with immediate environment...

1. Developmental experience, for example food abundance during juvenile stages, is known to affect life history and behaviour. However, the behavioural consequences of developmental experience have rarely been studied in concert. As a result, it still unclear whether affects behaviour through changes history, or independently it. 2. The effect on may also be masked affected by individual condition adulthood. Thus, critical tease apart effects current 3. In this study, we manipulated...

Abstract Heterogeneous forces of selection associated with fluctuating environments are recognized as important factors involved in the maintenance inter‐individual phenotypic variance within populations. Consistent behavioural differences over time and across situations (e.g. personality) increasingly cited examples individual variation observed However, suggestion that heterogeneous selective pressures target different animal personalities remains largely untested wild. In this 5‐year...

Behavior shapes population and community dynamics through feedbacks with habitat configuration interaction networks. Work on this interplay includes longitudinal surveys, experiments, models. Multiplayer online videogames foster real-time interactions among lots of players in virtual spaces. Data from these games could complement theoretical empirical work but research them is only emerging now. We highlight how allow us to track individual movement, decisions, interactions, performance a...

Abstract Research on wild fishes has tended to overlook the role of abiotic factors in shaping behaviours associated with boldness and exploration. This oversight could exist because small‐scale variation environment might seem unlikely influence such behaviours. We challenged this assumption through research Trinidadian guppy ( Poecilia reticulata ) system. started by quantifying how (time a shelter time frozen an open field) behaviour exploration (number grid squares crossed varied for...

Understanding patterns of non-random mating is central to predicting the consequences sexual selection. Most studies quantifying assortative focus on testing for correlations among partners' phenotypes in mated pairs. Few have distinguished between arising from preferences similar partners (expressed by all or a subset population) vs. phenotypic segregation environment. Also, few assessed robustness against temporal changes social conditions. We tracked multiple matings stream water striders...

Despite a central line of research aimed at quantifying relationships between mating success and sexually dimorphic traits (e.g., ornaments), individual variation in selected often explains only modest portion the success. Another suggests that significant observed animal populations could be explained by correlational selection, where fitness advantage given trait depends on other components an individual's phenotype and/or its environment. We tested hypothesis interactions multiple within...

The social niche specialization hypothesis predicts that animal personalities emerge as a result of individuals occupying different niches within group. Here we track individual personality and performance collective among groups spiders where manipulated the familiarity group members. We show personalities, measured by consistent differences in boldness behavior, strengthen with increasing these can be disrupted change membership. Changing membership negatively impacted both performance....

Abstract Organisms express phenotypic plasticity during social interactions. Interacting phenotype theory has explored the consequences of for evolution, but it is unclear how this applies to complex structures. We adapt interacting models general structures explore number connections between individuals and preference phenotypically similar partners affect variation evolution. derive an analytical model that ignores feedback use simulations test predictions model. find adapting previous...