Ecology Graduate Program, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Integr Comp Biol. 2021 Nov 17;61(5):1917-1932. doi: 10.1093/icb/icab118.
Ecology is a diverse field with many researchers interested in drivers and consequences of variability within populations. Two aspects of variability that have been addressed are behavioral and physiological. While these have been shown to separately influence ecological outcomes such as survival, reproductive success, and fitness, combined they could better predict within-population variability in survival and fitness. Recently there has been a focus on potential fitness outcomes of consistent behavioral traits that are referred to as personality or temperament (e.g., boldness, sociability, and exploration). Given this recent focus, it is an optimal time to identify areas to supplement in this field, particularly in determining the relationship between temperament and physiological traits. To maximize progress, in this perspective paper, we propose that the following two areas be addressed: (1) increased diversity of species and (2) increased number of physiological processes studied, with an eye toward using more representative and relatively consistent measures across studies. We first highlight information that has been gleaned from species that are frequently studied to determine how animal personality relates to physiology and/or survival/fitness. We then shine a spotlight on important taxa that have been understudied and that can contribute meaningful, complementary information to this area of research. And last, we propose a brief array of physiological processes to relate to temperament, and that can significantly impact fitness, and that may be accessible in field studies.
生态学是一个多元化的领域，许多研究人员都对种群内变异性的驱动因素和后果感兴趣。已经研究了两个方面的变异性，分别是行为和生理。虽然这些已经被证明会分别影响生存、繁殖成功和适应性等生态结果，但将它们结合起来可以更好地预测种群内生存和适应性的变异性。最近，人们一直关注具有一致行为特征的潜在适应性结果，这些特征被称为个性或气质（例如，大胆、社交性和探索性）。鉴于最近的关注焦点，现在是补充这一领域的最佳时机，特别是在确定气质和生理特征之间的关系方面。为了最大限度地取得进展，在这篇观点文章中，我们提出以下两个方面需要解决：（1）增加物种多样性，（2）增加研究的生理过程数量，着眼于在研究中使用更具代表性和相对一致的测量方法。我们首先强调了从经常研究的物种中收集到的信息，以确定动物个性与生理和/或生存/适应性之间的关系。然后，我们将重点介绍研究不足的重要分类群，这些分类群可以为这一研究领域提供有意义的补充信息。最后，我们提出了一系列与气质相关的生理过程，并提出了一些可能在实地研究中得到的、对适应性有重大影响且可实现的生理过程。
