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Testing the stability of behavioural coping style across stress contexts in the Trinidadian guppy.

ABSTRACT: Within populations, individuals can vary in stress response, a multivariate phenomenon comprising neuroendocrine, physiological and behavioural traits.Verbal models of individual stress "coping style" have proposed that the behavioural component of this variation can be described as a single axis, with each individual's coping style being consistent across time and stress contexts.Focusing on this behavioural component of stress response and combining repeated measures of multiple traits with a novel multivariate modelling framework, we test for the existence of coping style variation and assess its stability across contexts in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata).Specifically, we test the following hypotheses: (1) there exists repeatable among-individual behavioural (co)variation ("personality") within a mild stress context consistent with a risk-averse-risk-prone continuum of behavioural coping style, (2) there is population-level plasticity in behaviour as a function of stressor severity, (3) there is among-individual variation in plasticity (i.e. IxE), and (4) the presence of IxE reduces cross-context stability of behavioural coping style.We found significant repeatable among-individual behavioural (co)variation in the mild stress context (open field trial), represented as an I matrix. However, I was not readily described by a simple risk-averse-risk-prone continuum as posited by the original coping style model. We also found strong evidence for population-level changes in mean behaviour with increasing stressor severity (simulated avian and piscine predation risks).Single-trait analyses did show the presence of individual-by-environment interactions (IxE), as among-individual cross-context correlations were significantly less than +1. However, multitrait analysis revealed the consequences of this plasticity variation were minimal. Specifically, we found little evidence for changes in the structure of I between mild and moderate stress contexts overall, and only minor changes between the two moderate contexts (avian vs. piscine predator).We show that a multivariate approach to assessing changes in among-individual (co)variance across contexts can prevent the over-interpretation of statistically significant, but small, individual-by-environment effects. While behavioural flexibility enables populations (and individuals) to respond rapidly to changes in the environment, multivariate personality structure can be conserved strongly across such contexts. A plain language summary is available for this article.

SUBMITTER: Houslay TM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5836853 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Testing the stability of behavioural coping style across stress contexts in the Trinidadian guppy.

Houslay Thomas M TM Vierbuchen Maddalena M Grimmer Andrew J AJ Young Andrew J AJ Wilson Alastair J AJ

Functional ecology 20170924 2

Within populations, individuals can vary in stress response, a multivariate phenomenon comprising neuroendocrine, physiological and behavioural traits.Verbal models of individual stress "coping style" have proposed that the behavioural component of this variation can be described as a single axis, with each individual's coping style being consistent across time and stress contexts.Focusing on this behavioural component of stress response and combining repeated measures of multiple traits with a ...[more]

PMID: 29540957

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Project description:It is widely expected that physiological and behavioral stress responses will be integrated within divergent stress-coping styles (SCS) and that these may represent opposite ends of a continuously varying reactive-proactive axis. If such a model is valid, then stress response traits should be repeatable and physiological and behavioral responses should also change in an integrated manner along a major axis of among-individual variation. While there is some evidence of association between endocrine and behavioral stress response traits, few studies incorporate repeated observations of both. To test this model, we use a multivariate, repeated measures approach in a captive-bred population of Xiphophorus birchmanni. We quantify among-individual variation in behavioral stress response to an open field trial (OFT) with simulated predator attack (SPA) and measure waterborne steroid hormone levels (cortisol, 11-ketotestosterone) before and after exposure. Under the mild stress stimulus (OFT), (multivariate) behavioral variation among individuals was consistent with a strong axis of personality (shy-bold) or coping style (reactive-proactive) variation. However, behavioral responses to a moderate stressor (SPA) were less repeatable, and robust statistical support for repeatable endocrine state over the full sampling period was limited to 11-ketotestosterone. Although post hoc analysis suggested cortisol expression was repeatable over short time periods, qualitative relationships between behavior and glucocorticoid levels were counter to our a priori expectations. Thus, while our results clearly show among-individual differences in behavioral and endocrine traits associated with stress response, the correlation structure between these is not consistent with a simple proactive-reactive axis of integrated stress-coping style. Additionally, the low repeatability of cortisol suggests caution is warranted if single observations (or indeed repeat measures over short sampling periods) of glucocorticoid traits are used in ecological or evolutionary studies focussed at the individual level.

Dataset Information

Testing the stability of behavioural coping style across stress contexts in the Trinidadian guppy.

Publications

Testing the stability of behavioural coping style across stress contexts in the Trinidadian guppy.

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