Spider Fear Generalization Data and Code

Organisms cope with numerous biotic and abiotic threats. Behavioral responses to these potential sources of mortality impact individual fitness and can affect population, community and ecosystem outcomes. Although animals face a diversity of threats, most studies on behavioral responses to danger have focused on responses to either predators or humans. If behavioral responses to different threats are correlated, a phenomenon referred to as fear generalization, this could connect disparate sources of mortality otherwise treated as separate. Despite its potential significance, no studies to date have examined fear generalization in an ecological context. Here, we first document consistent individual differences in the behavioral responses of wolf spiders (<i>Schizocosa maxima</i>) to cues associated with predation, fire, and a chemical stressor. We then document among-individual correlations in behavioral responses to these different threats; i.e., fear generalization. This novel result carries important implications for the ecological consequences of animal behavior in the Anthropocene.<br>

生物需应对众多生物与非生物威胁。针对这些潜在死亡源的行为反应会影响个体适合度，并可能作用于种群、群落及生态系统层面的结果。尽管动物面临多样威胁，但多数关于危险行为反应的研究仅聚焦于对捕食者或人类的反应。若对不同威胁的行为反应存在关联——这一现象被称为恐惧泛化（fear generalization）——则可将原本被视为独立的各类死亡源联系起来。尽管其潜在意义重大，但迄今为止尚无研究在生态语境下探讨恐惧泛化。在此，我们首先记录了狼蛛（<i>Schizocosa maxima</i>）对捕食、火灾及化学应激源相关线索的行为反应中存在的稳定个体差异；随后，我们发现个体对这些不同威胁的行为反应间存在相关性，即恐惧泛化。这一创新性结果对人类世（Anthropocene）中动物行为的生态后果具有重要启示。