Does Animal Personality Affect Movement in Habitat Corridors?
- Animal personality may affect an animal’s mobility in a given landscape, influencing its propensity to take risks in an unknown environment. We investigated the mobility of translocated common voles in two corridor systems 60 m in length and differing in width (1 m and 3 m). Voles were behaviorally phenotyped in repeated open field and barrier tests. Observed behavioral traits were highly repeatable and described by a continuous personality score. Subsequently, animals were tracked via an automated very high frequency (VHF) telemetry radio tracking system to monitor their movement patterns in the corridor system. Although personality did not explain movement patterns, corridor width determined the amount of time spent in the habitat corridor. Voles in the narrow corridor system entered the corridor faster and spent less time in the corridor than animals in the wide corridor. Thus, landscape features seem to affect movement patterns more strongly than personality. Meanwhile, site characteristics, such as corridor width, could prove toAnimal personality may affect an animal’s mobility in a given landscape, influencing its propensity to take risks in an unknown environment. We investigated the mobility of translocated common voles in two corridor systems 60 m in length and differing in width (1 m and 3 m). Voles were behaviorally phenotyped in repeated open field and barrier tests. Observed behavioral traits were highly repeatable and described by a continuous personality score. Subsequently, animals were tracked via an automated very high frequency (VHF) telemetry radio tracking system to monitor their movement patterns in the corridor system. Although personality did not explain movement patterns, corridor width determined the amount of time spent in the habitat corridor. Voles in the narrow corridor system entered the corridor faster and spent less time in the corridor than animals in the wide corridor. Thus, landscape features seem to affect movement patterns more strongly than personality. Meanwhile, site characteristics, such as corridor width, could prove to be highly important when designing corridors for conservation, with narrow corridors facilitating faster movement through landscapes than wider corridors.…
Author details: | Gabriele Joanna KowalskiORCiDGND, Volker GrimmORCiDGND, Antje HerdeGND, Anja GuentherORCiDGND, Jana EccardORCiDGND |
---|---|
URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-435770 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-43577 |
ISSN: | 1866-8372 |
Title of parent work (German): | Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe |
Subtitle (English): | Experiments with Common Voles (Microtus arvalis) Using Different Corridor Widths |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe (747) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2019/10/07 |
Publication year: | 2019 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2019/10/07 |
Tag: | activity; animal personality; habitat connectivity; individual differences; rodents; wildlife corridors |
Issue: | 747 |
Number of pages: | 17 |
Source: | Animals 9 (2019) 6 DOI: 10.3390/ani9060291 |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie) |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
External remark: | Bibliographieeintrag der Originalveröffentlichung/Quelle |