Individual variation and selection for phenotypic plasticity of laying date and clutch size across different environmental conditions in Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Several studies have emphasized that phenotypic plasticity should be a key mechanism to cope with current rapid environmental changes by allowing individuals to quickly express new adaptive phenotypes. Yet, few studies have investigated the evolutionary potential of plasticity for multiple traits simultaneously and using several different environmental variables. Here, we assess the extent of variation in, and the selection acting on phenotypic plasticity of key ecological traits, laying date and clutch size, using five environmental variables, in a Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) population monitored since 2004. While we found some variation among females in their mean laying date and plasticity, we found evidence of selection acting only on mean laying date. We found no variation among females in mean clutch size or plasticity, such that we could not assess selection acting on either. Our results suggest that the evolutionary potential of plasticity in the population under study is..., , , # JEB-Individual variation and selection for phenotypic plasticity of laying date and clutch size across different environmental conditions in Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vq83bk440](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vq83bk440)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: Female\_2005\_2021.csv

**Description:** Data specific to each female individual.

##### Variables

* idclutch: clutch id
* id: combination of #farm and #nest box
* farm: #farm
* nestbox: #nest box
* year: year of the observation
* clutch_size: number of eggs laid
* nfledgling: number of fledglings
* pred_pot: presence of signs of predation (presence or absence)
* laying_date: laying date of the first egg of the clutch (ordinal date)
* idF1: ID of the female
* age_morpho_indic: morphological age (SY=0 or ASY=1)
* mass: mass (g)
* breeder_density: number of nest boxes occupied by tree swallow on the farm
* hosp_density: number of nest boxes occupie...,