Sex- and state-dependent covariation of risk-averse and escape behavior in a widespread lizard

Mounting evidence has shown that personality and behavioral syndromes have
a substantial influence on interspecific interactions and individual
fitness. However, the stability of covariation among multiple behavioral
traits involved in antipredator responses has seldom been tested. Here, we
investigate whether sex, gravidity, and parasite infestations influence
the covariation between risk-aversion (hiding time within a refuge) and
escape response (immobility, escape distance) using a viviparous lizard,
Zootoca vivipara as a model system. Our results demonstrated a correlation
between risk-averse and escape behavior at the among-individual level,
but only in gravid females. We found no significant correlations
in either males or neonates. A striking result was the loss of the
association in post-parturition females. This suggests that the
‘risk-averse – escape’ syndrome is ephemeral and only emerges in response
to constraints on locomotion driven by reproductive burden. Moreover,
parasites have the potential to disassociate the correlations between
risk-aversion and escape response in gravid females, yet the causal chain
requires further examination. Overall, our findings provide evidence of
differences in the association between behaviors within the life-time of
an individual and indicate that individual states, sex and life stages can
together influence the stability of behavioral syndromes.