Sih Andrew, Bell Alison M, Johnson J Chadwick, Ziemba Robert E
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
Q Rev Biol. 2004 Sep;79(3):241-77. doi: 10.1086/422893.
A behavioral syndrome is a suite of correlated behaviors expressed either within a given behavioral context (e.g., correlations between foraging behaviors in different habitats) or across different contexts (e.g., correlations among feeding, antipredator, mating, aggressive, and dispersal behaviors). For example, some individuals (and genotypes) might be generally more aggressive, more active or bold, while others are generally less aggressive, active or bold. This phenomenon has been studied in detail in humans, some primates, laboratory rodents, and some domesticated animals, but has rarely been studied in other organisms, and rarely examined from an evolutionary or ecological perspective. Here, we present an integrative overview on the potential importance of behavioral syndromes in evolution and ecology. A central idea is that behavioral correlations generate tradeoffs; for example, an aggressive genotype might do well in situations where high aggression is favored, but might be inappropriately aggressive in situations where low aggression is favored (and vice versa for a low aggression genotype). Behavioral syndromes can thereby result in maladaptive behavior in some contexts, and potentially maintain individual variation in behavior in a variable environment. We suggest terminology and methods for studying behavioral syndromes, review examples, discuss evolutionary and proximate approaches for understanding behavioral syndromes, note insights from human personality research, and outline some potentially important ecological implications. Overall, we suggest that behavioral syndromes could play a useful role as an integrative bridge between genetics, experience, neuroendocrine mechanisms, evolution, and ecology.
行为综合征是指在特定行为背景下（例如，不同栖息地觅食行为之间的相关性）或跨不同背景（例如，摄食、反捕食、交配、攻击和扩散行为之间的相关性）所表现出的一组相关行为。例如，一些个体（以及基因型）可能总体上更具攻击性、更活跃或更大胆，而另一些个体则总体上攻击性较弱、活跃度较低或更胆小。这种现象在人类、一些灵长类动物、实验啮齿动物和一些家养动物中已得到详细研究，但在其他生物中很少被研究，并且很少从进化或生态角度进行审视。在此，我们对行为综合征在进化和生态中的潜在重要性进行综合概述。一个核心观点是，行为相关性会产生权衡；例如，一个具有攻击性的基因型在高攻击性受到青睐的情况下可能表现良好，但在低攻击性受到青睐的情况下可能会表现出不适当的攻击性（反之，低攻击性基因型在低攻击性受到青睐的情况下表现良好，但在高攻击性受到青睐的情况下可能会表现出不适当的低攻击性）。行为综合征因此可能在某些情况下导致适应不良行为，并有可能在可变环境中维持个体行为的差异。我们提出了研究行为综合征的术语和方法，回顾了相关实例，讨论了理解行为综合征的进化和近因方法，提及了人类个性研究的见解，并概述了一些潜在的重要生态影响。总体而言，我们认为行为综合征可以作为遗传学、经验、神经内分泌机制、进化和生态学之间的一座综合桥梁发挥有益作用。
