Behavioral syndromes across time and space in a long-lived turtle

Behavioral syndromes are correlated behaviors across different contexts and are critical for understanding processes in the ecology and evolution of animal personality. To aid in this endeavor, there is a need to study syndromes in wild animals from understudied species over long timescales. We investigated behavioral syndromes in wild ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata) across four distinct populations over four different years. We measured three behavioral traits (boldness, activity, and exploration) in controlled trials using standardized 10-min assays on 174 different turtles 314 times. Overall, turtles demonstrated consistent correlations between behavioral traits, indicating conserved behavioral syndromes in this species. A behavioral syndrome between activity and exploration was detected in every population in every year except one in 2016, suggesting a strong conserved basis for these traits to covary. Correlations with boldness and other behavioral traits were also consistent..., Please see the original protocols for collecting behavioral data described in Reed et al. (2023) as those data formed the basis of our study. Below are brief explanations of how this dataset was collected and processed.
Data collection:
We studied behavioral syndromes across four separate years (2016, 2020, 2021, and 2022) in four ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata) populations from the Midwest. Behavior assays for boldness, activity, and exploration were conducted in all four populations following the same protocol in all years. Assays for each behavior were 10 minutes long and conducted in a fixed order with turtle order randomly assigned each day. We performed assays in the mornings (between 0700–1200 hr) over two consecutive days (starting the morning after the turtle was collected from the field). To start trials, turtles were placed in test arenas, at which point a timer was started, and then observers moved behind “blinds” to record data. Boldness was measured as the time for th..., , # Data from: Behavioral syndromes across time and space in a long-lived turtle

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r22812m](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r22812m)

## Description of the data and file structure

We conducted behavior assays for boldness, activity, and exploration in four years across four populations of the ornate box turtle (*Terrapene ornata*) using wild individuals that were recaptured each year from the field via radiotelemetry. Assays were run for 10 minutes each. We assayed 174 adult turtles 314 times, including 95 turtles with measurements from at least 2 years. Boldness was measured as the time for the turtle to emerge from a den in seconds. Activity was measured as the number of quadrant transitions around a circular track. Exploration was measured as the number of transitions between equal-sized quadrants with arched openings. We used the average of two assays (day 1 and day 2) as the behavioral score for an individual turtle within a year. We also measured ...,

行为综合征（behavioral syndromes）指不同情境下的关联行为模式，对于理解动物个性的生态与进化过程至关重要。为推进此类研究，有必要针对研究不足的野生类群开展长期行为综合征调查。本研究针对4个不同种群的野生锦箱龟（Terrapene ornata），在4个完整年度中开展了行为综合征研究。我们采用标准化的10分钟行为测定范式，对174只不同锦箱龟共计开展314次行为测试，量化了大胆性、活动能力与探索行为3项行为性状。整体而言，锦箱龟的各项行为性状间存在稳定的相关性，表明该物种存在保守的行为综合征。除2016年的1个种群外，所有年度的所有种群均检测到活动能力与探索行为间的行为综合征，提示这两类性状的共变异具有较强的保守基础。大胆性与其他行为性状间的相关性同样呈现一致性……相关行为数据的采集方案详见Reed等人（2023）的原始规程，本研究的数据即基于该工作开展。下文将简要介绍本数据集的采集与处理流程。

数据采集：
本研究于2016、2020、2021、2022四个年度，针对美国中西部的4个锦箱龟（Terrapene ornata）种群开展行为综合征研究。所有年度、所有种群的大胆性、活动能力与探索行为测定均遵循统一实验范式。每项行为测试时长为10分钟，测试顺序固定，每日受试龟的顺序随机分配。测试于晨间（7:00–12:00）开展，连续两天进行（自野外捕获受试龟的次日晨间开始）。测试启动时，将锦箱龟放置于测试竞技场中，随即启动计时器，随后观察者移动至"遮蔽帘"后方记录数据。大胆性以龟类从巢穴中钻出的时长（秒）为量化指标……

# 数据来源：长寿龟类时空尺度下的行为综合征
[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r22812m](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r22812m)

## 数据与文件结构说明
本研究通过无线电遥测（radiotelemetry）技术，每年重新捕获野生个体，对4个锦箱龟（Terrapene ornata）种群在4个年度内开展大胆性、活动能力与探索行为的行为测定。每项测试时长为10分钟。本研究共计对174只成年锦箱龟开展314次测试，其中95只个体至少拥有2个年度的行为测量数据。我们以两天（第1天与第2天）的测试平均值作为单只龟在单一年度内的行为得分。此外，我们还测量了……