Impact of Personality Trait Interactions on Foraging and Growth in Native and Invasive Turtles.

Animal personalities play a crucial role in invasion dynamics. During the invasion process, the behavioral strategies of native species vary among personalities, just as the invasive species exhibit variations in behavior strategies across personalities. However, the impact of personality interactions between native species and invasive species on behavior and growth are rarely illustrated. The red-eared slider turtle () is one of the worst invasive species in the world, threatening the ecology and fitness of many freshwater turtles globally. The Chinese pond turtle () is one of the freshwater turtles most threatened by in China. In this study, we used and to investigate how the personality combinations of native and invasive turtles would impact the foraging strategy and growth of both species during the invasion process. We found that exhibited bolder and more exploratory personalities than . The foraging strategy of was mainly affected by the personality of , while the foraging strategy of was influenced by both their own personality and personalities of . Additionally, we did not find that the personality combination would affect the growth of either or . Differences in foraging strategy may be due to the dominance of invasive species and variations in the superficial exploration and thorough exploitation foraging strategies related to personalities. The lack of difference in growth may be due to the energy allocation trade-offs between personalities or be masked by the slow growth rate of turtles. Overall, our results reveal the mechanisms of personality interaction effects on the short-term foraging strategies of both native and invasive species during the invasion process. They provide empirical evidence to understand the effects of personality on invasion dynamics, which is beneficial for enhancing comprehension understanding of the personality effects on ecological interactions and invasion biology.