Data and script for Apodemus behaviour and metabolism co-variation analysis

Energy is a central resource for life, but animals’ energy budgets are limited by their ability to collect, process and redistribute energetic assets to diverse functions, including behavior. Yet none of the existing bioenergetic models unequivocally explain behavioral variation, suggesting that they are not mutually exclusive, or that they are incomplete and overlook important processes. To describe a means by which an endotherm regulates its metabolism and behavior in varying environments, we simultaneously analyzed several components of energetic budgets. To accurately assess the costs of body maintenance and thermoregulation, and locomotory movement and shyness of wild mice, we measured resting metabolism at different temperatures, and repeatedly quantified basal metabolic rate (BMR) and behavior. At the among-individual level we found no significant associations between personality traits and metabolic rates, although at the within-individual level we found that higher BMR was associated with reduced shyness. The among-individual trends of the associations between thermoregulatory cost and behavior were stronger than those between BMR and behavior. Our results suggest that temperature affects shyness, and that behavior and BMR may co-vary over time within individuals, reinforcing context dependence of energetic regulation of behavioral responses.