Antipredator behavioural syndromes and nest site choice in a freshwater turtle

Behavioural syndromes, correlated suites of behaviour across time or contexts, lend insight into ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of animal behaviour. While descriptive studies documenting the presence of behavioural syndromes across taxa have become more common, fewer studies seek to determine how behavioural syndrome expression may drive broader ecological and evolutionary processes, especially in wild populations. In this study, we leverage the complex nesting ecology of a free-ranging population of painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, to determine whether and how behavioural syndromes alter nest site choice in the field. We quantify an antipredator behavioural syndrome in this species and demonstrate, for the first time, that one measure of behavioural boldness predicts nesting behaviour. We document the presence of behavioural syndromes by demonstrating a correlation between behaviours displayed in a simulated predation trial and a novel environment assay in th..., Field Methods: For this study, we used a population of painted turtles at the Thomson Causeway Recreational Area (TCRA) in Thomson, Illinois, U.S.A. This site is composed of grass and campsites created with concrete pads and gravel situated between a slough on the Mississippi River and a deciduous forest. The TCRA has been used as a research site for several decades to study painted turtle nesting patterns and behaviour (Delaney et al., 2020; Reinke et al., 2019). Recreational visitors were absent on the island during this study due to a campsite closure.
We conducted hourly surveys for nesting painted turtles from 29 May to 2 June 2023. In total, we surveyed 30 individuals. When we observed a turtle beginning to nest, we recorded its approximate location and continued observations from ~10 m away using binoculars such that turtles would not perceive human observers. Immediately after nest completion, one team member started the simulated predation assay while another member recorded ne..., , # Data from: Antipredator behavioural syndromes and nest site choice in a freshwater turtle

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.kwh70rzdv](10.5061/dryad.kwh70rzdv)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

### File: Clarketal_2025_Data_AnimalBehaviour.csv

**Description:** This dataset contains all data used in the study- including behavior data, nest characteristics, body characteristics, and temperature data.

**Empty Cells:** Empty cells are NA values- data that were not collected due to logistical constraints in the field.

##### Variables

* Mom Number: Temporary ID number assigned to each individual
* ID: Real ID used in mark-recapture efforts at this fieldsite
* perc_sw_open: Percent canopy southwest openness, calculated with GapLight Analyzer Software
* perc_can_open : Percent canopy openness total, calculated with GapLight Analyzer Software
* daily_temp_c: Daily temperature taken from a nearby weather monitoring station 
* active_defense: Count of tota...,