Maldonado Karin, van Dongen Wouter F D, Vásquez Rodrigo A, Sabat Pablo
Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile.
Physiol Biochem Zool. 2012 Nov-Dec;85(6):618-24. doi: 10.1086/667406. Epub 2012 Sep 24.
Increasing research has attempted to clarify the links between animal personality and physiology. However, the mechanisms driving this association remain largely unknown, and knowledge of how ecological factors may affect its direction and strength is scant. In this study, we quantified variation in the association between exploratory behavior, basal metabolic rate (BMR), and total evaporative water loss (TEWL) in rufous-collared sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis) inhabiting desert, Mediterranean, and cold-temperate climates. We found that the exploratory behavior score was highest in birds from the cold-temperate site, which was characterized by a moderate level of ecological variability (seasonality). Moreover, the association between exploratory behavior and physiological variables differed among localities. Only birds from the Mediterranean site showed a positive correlation between exploratory behavior and BMR. We found no association between exploration and TEWL at any study site. Our findings suggest that differences in the ecological conditions experienced by each sparrow population result in a particular combination of behavioral and physiological traits. An understanding of this intraspecific variation along ecological gradients provides unique insights into how specific ecological conditions affect the coupling of behavioral and physiological traits and the mechanisms underlying that relationship.
越来越多的研究试图阐明动物个性与生理之间的联系。然而，驱动这种关联的机制在很大程度上仍然未知，而且关于生态因素如何影响其方向和强度的知识也很匮乏。在本研究中，我们量化了栖息在沙漠、地中海和寒温带气候中的棕颈雀鹀（Zonotrichia capensis）的探索行为、基础代谢率（BMR）和总蒸发失水量（TEWL）之间关联的变化。我们发现，来自寒温带地区的鸟类探索行为得分最高，该地区的特点是生态变异性（季节性）处于中等水平。此外，探索行为与生理变量之间的关联在不同地点有所不同。只有来自地中海地区的鸟类显示出探索行为与基础代谢率之间存在正相关。在任何研究地点，我们都未发现探索行为与总蒸发失水量之间存在关联。我们的研究结果表明，每个雀鹀种群所经历的生态条件差异导致了行为和生理特征的特定组合。了解这种沿着生态梯度的种内变异，为特定生态条件如何影响行为和生理特征的耦合以及该关系背后的机制提供了独特的见解。
