Variation in DRD4 gene methylation in wild great tits is associated with behavioural tolerance for human disturbance but not with habitat urbanization

The increasing presence and activities of people in both urban environments and non-urban areas result in the exposure of many wild animal populations to persistent human disturbance. As a response, individuals in disturbed populations often become tolerant towards humans that can have significant ecological and societal consequences, for example by affecting ecosystem services and human-wildlife conflicts. Although several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the emergence and spread of disturbance tolerance, their biological bases are rarely investigated in natural populations. In this study, we investigated behavioural tolerance in great tits (Parus major) along urbanization gradients of two cities representing different levels of human disturbances. Specifically, we studied whether variation in disturbance tolerance is related to epigenetic variation in the DRD4 gene that are often linked to behavioural plasticity. We did not detect differences in DNA methylation at 23 CpG sites..., , # Variation in DRD4 gene methylation in wild great tits is associated with behavioural tolerance for human disturbance but not with habitat urbanization We have submitted our raw data (**data_series_aghetal_JAB.csv**). Data were collected for a behavioural genetics project that studied tolerance to human disturbance in great tits (*Parus major*) breeding in various habitats. ## Descriptions ### data_series_aghetal_JAB_Data * *ring_ID*: ring number ID of individual * *site*: breeding site * *plot*: subsite on the breeding site * *region*: sample site region (Veszprem or Budapest) * *urbcat*: habitat category of the plot of the breeding site * urb = urbanized habitats * sub = suburban habitats * for = natural habitats (forest) * *nestbox*: nestbox ID * *broodID*: brood ID * *blood_sample_date*: date of blood sampling * *sampling*: date of blood sampling relative to behavioural data (before/after) * *date*: date of behavioural sampling * *year*: year of the behavioural sampling (...,随着城市与非城市环境中人类活动与出现频次的增加，诸多野生动物种群持续暴露于持续性人类干扰之下。受干扰种群的个体往往会对人类产生耐受性，这可能带来显著的生态与社会影响，例如影响生态系统服务功能及引发人兽冲突问题。尽管已有多项机制被提出以解释干扰耐受性的产生与传播，但针对自然种群中其生物学基础的研究仍较为匮乏。本研究针对两座代表不同人类干扰程度的城市的城市化梯度下的大山雀（*Parus major*）的行为耐受性展开了调查。具体而言，我们探究了干扰耐受性的变异是否与DRD4基因的表观遗传变异相关——这类变异通常与行为可塑性有关。我们未在23个CpG位点检测到DNA甲基化水平的差异……，# 野生大山雀DRD4基因甲基化变异与人类干扰行为耐受性相关，而非与栖息地城市化程度相关 我们已提交原始数据（**data_series_aghetal_JAB.csv**）。相关数据采集自一项行为遗传学研究，该研究针对在不同生境中繁殖的大山雀（*Parus major*）的人类干扰耐受性展开探究。 ## 数据说明 ### data_series_aghetal_JAB数据集 * *ring_ID*：个体的环志编号ID * *site*：繁殖位点 * *plot*：繁殖位点内的亚位点 * *region*：采样位点所属区域（维斯普雷姆或布达佩斯） * *urbcat*：繁殖位点所在样地的生境类别 * urb = 城市化生境 * sub = 郊区生境 * for = 自然生境（森林） * *nestbox*：巢箱编号ID * *broodID*：窝卵ID * *blood_sample_date*：血液采样日期 * *sampling*：相对于行为学数据的血液采样时序（采样早于/晚于行为学采样） * *date*：行为学采样日期 * *year*：行为学采样年份（……）