Data from: Personality variation in a marine snail and heterogeneous selection in natural populations

Personality variation is characterized by consistent differences in
behavioral tendencies among individuals and is a common feature of animal
populations. However, processes influencing the amount of personality
variation are not well understood. In this study, we tested one
hypothesized mechanism through which variation in personalities may be
maintained: spatial variation in natural selection. Through laboratory
behavioral assays, we demonstrated that two aspects of personality,
exploration and boldness, are moderately repeatable for wavy turban
snails, Megastrea undosa (mean repeatability values = 0.327 and 0.281,
respectively). We also found that personality variation differed
significantly among populations, with behavioral repeatability values
differing by factors of up to 1.75X for the same personality trait in
different populations. We next examined the fitness consequences of
variation in personality traits by experimentally transporting assayed
snails to natural populations in a mark-recapture study to examine the
relationships between behavioral tendencies and growth and survival. We
studied four populations: two locations that had an abundance of
slow-moving predators (whelks, sea stars) and two locations where
slow-moving predators were absent and the major predators were fast-moving
species (lobsters). Selection on behavioral tendencies differed
significantly with these differences in predator abundance and mode. In
addition, traits and populations that experienced strong, stabilizing
selection overall also had low repeatability of behavioral tendencies.
Such patterns are consistent with theory and suggest that spatial
variation in natural selection associated with variation in predator
community and predation risk likely plays an important role in moderating
the degree of variation in personality.