TY  - JOUR
A1  - Steinhoff, Philip O. M.
A1  - Warfen, Bennet
A1  - Voigt, Sissy
A1  - Uhl, Gabriele
A1  - Dammhahn, Melanie
T1  - Individual differences in risk-taking affect foraging across different landscapes of fear
JF  - Oikos
N2  - One of the strongest determinants of behavioural variation is the tradeoff between resource gain and safety. Although classical theory predicts optimal foraging under risk, empirical studies report large unexplained variation in behaviour. Intrinsic individual differences in risk-taking behaviour might contribute to this variation. By repeatedly exposing individuals of a small mesopredator to different experimental landscapes of risks and resources, we tested 1) whether individuals adjust their foraging behaviour according to predictions of the general tradeoff between energy gain and predation avoidance and 2) whether individuals differ consistently and predictably from each other in how they solve this tradeoff. Wild-caught individuals (n = 42) of the jumping spiderMarpissa muscosa, were subjected to repeated release and open-field tests to quantify among-individual variation in boldness and activity. Subsequently, individuals were tested in four foraging tests that differed in risk level (white/dark background colour) and risk variation (constant risk/variable risk simulated by bird dummy overflights) and contained inaccessible but visually perceivable food patches. When exposed to a white background, individuals reduced some aspects of movement and foraging intensity, suggesting that the degree of camouflage serves as a proxy of perceived risk in these predators. Short pulses of acute predation risk, simulated by bird overflights, had only small effects on aspects of foraging behaviour. Notably, a significant part of variation in foraging was due to among-individual differences across risk landscapes that are linked to consistent individual variation in activity, forming a behavioural syndrome. Our results demonstrate the importance of among-individual differences in behaviour of animals that forage under different levels of perceived risk. Since these differences likely affect food-web dynamics and have fitness consequences, future studies should explore the mechanisms that maintain the observed variation in natural populations.
KW  - animal personality
KW  - behavioural syndrome
KW  - foraging
KW  - jumping spider
KW  - landscape of fear
KW  - risk-reward tradeoff
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.07508
SN  - 0030-1299
SN  - 1600-0706
VL  - 129
IS  - 12
SP  - 1891
EP  - 1902
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mazza, Valeria
A1  - Eccard, Jana
A1  - Zaccaroni, Marco
A1  - Jacob, Jens
A1  - Dammhahn, Melanie
T1  - The fast and the flexible
BT  - cognitive style drives individual variation in cognition in a small mammal
JF  - Animal behaviour
KW  - animal personality
KW  - associative learning
KW  - behavioural syndrome
KW  - fast and slow learner
KW  - individual differences
KW  - Myodes glareolus
KW  - rodent
KW  - speed-accuracy trade-off
KW  - temperament
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.01.011
SN  - 0003-3472
SN  - 1095-8282
VL  - 137
SP  - 119
EP  - 132
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - London
ER  -