Data from: Environmental heterogeneity and population differences in blue tits personality traits

Environmental heterogeneity can result in spatial variation in selection pressures that can produce local adaptations. The pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis predicts that habitat-specific selective pressures will favor the co-evolution of personality, physiological and life-history phenotypes. Few studies so far have compared these traits simultaneously across different ecological conditions. In this study, we compared three personality traits (handling aggression, exploration speed in a novel environment and nest defense behavior) and one physiological trait (heart rate during manual restraint) across three Corsican blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) populations. These populations are located in contrasting habitats (evergreen vs. deciduous) and are situated in two different valleys 25 km apart. Birds from these populations are known to differ in life-history characteristics, with birds from the evergreen habitat displaying a slow pace-of-life, and birds from the deciduous habitat a comparatively faster pace-of-life. We expected personality to differ across populations in line with the differences in pace-of-life documented for life-history traits. As expected, we found behavioral differences among populations. Despite considerable temporal variation, birds exhibited lower handling aggression in the evergreen populations. Exploration speed and male heart rate also differed across populations, although our results for exploration speed were more consistent with a phenotypic difference between the two valleys than between habitats. There were no clear differences in nest defense intensity among populations. Our study emphasizes the role of environmental heterogeneity in shaping divergent personality traits at a small spatial scale.

环境异质性可导致选择压力的空间变异，进而引发局部适应。生活史节奏综合征（pace-of-life syndrome）假说预测，特定生境的选择压力会促使性格、生理与生活史表型的协同演化。迄今为止，鲜有研究在不同生态条件下同时比较这些性状。本研究针对三个科西嘉蓝山雀（Cyanistes caeruleus）种群，比较了三种性格性状（处理攻击性、新环境探索速度与筑巢防御行为）以及一种生理性状（人工约束时的心率）。这些种群栖息于截然不同的生境（常绿林与落叶林），且分布在相距25公里的两个不同山谷中。已知这些种群的山雀在生活史特征上存在差异：常绿林生境的山雀表现出较慢的生活史节奏，而落叶林生境的山雀则具有相对更快的生活史节奏。我们预期不同种群的性格性状会与已报道的生活史性状的生活史节奏差异相匹配。正如预期，我们发现不同种群间存在行为差异。尽管存在显著的时间变异，常绿林种群的山雀表现出更低的处理攻击性。探索速度与雄性心率在不同种群间也存在差异，不过我们关于探索速度的结果更倾向于支持两个山谷间的表型差异，而非生境间的差异。不同种群的筑巢防御强度未表现出显著差异。本研究强调了环境异质性在小空间尺度上塑造差异化性格性状的作用。