Data from: Fitness consequences of boldness in juvenile and adult largemouth bass

To date, most studies investigating the relationship between personality traits and fitness have focused on a single measure of fitness (such as survival) at a specific life stage. However, many personality traits likely have multiple effects on fitness, potentially operating across different functional contexts and stages of development. Here, we address the fitness consequences of boldness, under semi-natural conditions, across life stages and functional contexts in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Specifically, we report the effect of boldness on 1) juvenile survivorship in an outdoor pond containing natural prey and predators, and 2) adult reproductive success in three outdoor ponds across three reproductive seasons (years). Juvenile survival was negatively affected by boldness, with bolder juveniles having a lower probability of survival than shyer juveniles. In contrast, bolder adult male bass had greater reproductive success than their shyer male counterparts. Female reproductive success was not affected by boldness. These findings demonstrate that boldness can affect fitness differently across life stages. Further, boldness was highly consistent across years and significantly heritable, which suggests that boldness has a genetic component. Thus, our results support theory suggesting that fitness tradeoffs across life stages may contribute to the maintenance of personality variation within populations.

迄今为止，绝大多数探讨人格特质与适合度（fitness）之间关联的研究，均聚焦于特定生命阶段下的单一适合度指标（如存活率）。然而，诸多人格特质大概率对适合度存在多重影响，且可能在不同功能情境与发育阶段中发挥作用。

本研究以大口黑鲈（*Micropterus salmoides*）为实验材料，在半自然条件下探究了大胆性（boldness）在不同生命阶段与功能情境中对适合度的影响效应。具体而言，本研究报告了大胆性对两项指标的影响：其一为设置有天然猎物与捕食者的室外池塘内幼体的存活率；其二为三个繁殖季（年份）内，三个室外池塘中成体的繁殖成功率。

研究结果显示，大胆性对幼体存活率存在负面影响：相较于羞怯的幼体，更大胆的幼体存活概率更低。与之相反，成年雄性大口黑鲈中，更大胆个体的繁殖成功率显著高于羞怯的雄性同类。雌性个体的繁殖成功率则不受大胆性的影响。

上述研究结果表明，大胆性对适合度的影响会因生命阶段的不同而存在差异。此外，大胆性在不同年份间具有高度稳定性，且呈现出显著的可遗传性，这表明大胆性存在遗传基础。综上，本研究结果支持相关理论假说：生命阶段间的适合度权衡或许有助于维持种群内的人格特质变异。