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Express yourself: bold individuals induce enhanced morphological defences.

Hulthén, Kaj LU ; Chapman, Ben LU ; Nilsson, Anders LU orcid ; Hollander, Johan LU and Brönmark, Christer LU (2014) In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences 281(1776).
Abstract
Organisms display an impressive array of defence strategies in nature. Inducible defences (changes in morphology and/or behaviour within a prey's lifetime) allow prey to decrease vulnerability to predators and avoid unnecessary costs of expression. Many studies report considerable interindividual variation in the degree to which inducible defences are expressed, yet what underlies this variation is poorly understood. Here, we show that individuals differing in a key personality trait also differ in the magnitude of morphological defence expression. Crucian carp showing risky behaviours (bold individuals) expressed a significantly greater morphological defence response when exposed to a natural enemy when compared with shy individuals.... (More)
Organisms display an impressive array of defence strategies in nature. Inducible defences (changes in morphology and/or behaviour within a prey's lifetime) allow prey to decrease vulnerability to predators and avoid unnecessary costs of expression. Many studies report considerable interindividual variation in the degree to which inducible defences are expressed, yet what underlies this variation is poorly understood. Here, we show that individuals differing in a key personality trait also differ in the magnitude of morphological defence expression. Crucian carp showing risky behaviours (bold individuals) expressed a significantly greater morphological defence response when exposed to a natural enemy when compared with shy individuals. Furthermore, we show that fish of different personality types differ in their behavioural plasticity, with shy fish exhibiting greater absolute plasticity than bold fish. Our data suggest that individuals with bold personalities may be able to compensate for their risk-prone behavioural type by expressing enhanced morphological defences. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
boldness, individual differences, predator, phenotypic plasticity, inducible defence, personality trait
in
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
volume
281
issue
1776
article number
20132703
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • pmid:24335987
  • wos:000332381500018
  • scopus:84890075212
  • pmid:24335987
ISSN
1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2013.2703
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
227c32c6-552b-4042-8069-d5f37440ab21 (old id 4223737)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:14:52
date last changed
2022-03-27 06:25:33
@article{227c32c6-552b-4042-8069-d5f37440ab21,
  abstract     = {{Organisms display an impressive array of defence strategies in nature. Inducible defences (changes in morphology and/or behaviour within a prey's lifetime) allow prey to decrease vulnerability to predators and avoid unnecessary costs of expression. Many studies report considerable interindividual variation in the degree to which inducible defences are expressed, yet what underlies this variation is poorly understood. Here, we show that individuals differing in a key personality trait also differ in the magnitude of morphological defence expression. Crucian carp showing risky behaviours (bold individuals) expressed a significantly greater morphological defence response when exposed to a natural enemy when compared with shy individuals. Furthermore, we show that fish of different personality types differ in their behavioural plasticity, with shy fish exhibiting greater absolute plasticity than bold fish. Our data suggest that individuals with bold personalities may be able to compensate for their risk-prone behavioural type by expressing enhanced morphological defences.}},
  author       = {{Hulthén, Kaj and Chapman, Ben and Nilsson, Anders and Hollander, Johan and Brönmark, Christer}},
  issn         = {{1471-2954}},
  keywords     = {{boldness; individual differences; predator; phenotypic plasticity; inducible defence; personality trait}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1776}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Express yourself: bold individuals induce enhanced morphological defences.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2703}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rspb.2013.2703}},
  volume       = {{281}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}