Quantifying repeatability in individual body temperature and activity levels, while investigating covariance between traits for the detection of thermal behavior syndromes among wild-ranging Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus)
Stubbs, Amber
Powers, John R
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Georgia College & State University
Milledgeville, Georgia USA
Gulotta, Nickolas A.
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia USA
DeSantis, Dominic L.
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Georgia College & State University
Milledgeville, Georgia USA
The emerging recognition of individual repeatability in behavior (personality) across animal taxa has propelled an accumulation of lab-based research on personality and behavioral syndromes (covariance between repeatable traits). However, ultimately, understanding the role of personality in the ecology and evolution of populations is hindered by the general absence of evidence of personality research with wild-ranging animals. In pitvipers, previous lab-based assays have detected repeatability in behavioral traits, however, behavior in captivity might not be indicative of normal behavior in nature. As in all snakes, pitvipers represent uniquely challenging subjects in field studies of behavior, and previous longitudinal studies have relied on radio telemetry for relatively coarse observational data to quantify behavior. However, high-resolution and long-term repeated measures from individuals are typically needed for quantifying behavioral repeatability; in other taxa, this is accomplished through advanced animal-borne data-logging technology (biologging). Here, we leverage recently validated protocols for simultaneous accelerometer (activity) and body temperature data-logging in snakes to quantify within-individual repeatability in the movement behavior and thermal profiles of wild-ranging Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus). Our specific aims are to: (1) quantify within-individual repeatability in activity and body temperatures of wild-ranging rattlesnakes, (2) determine whether these two traits covary within individuals (as predicted by the Thermal Behavior Syndrome hypothesis), and (3) assess whether individual activity and thermal types (determined via placement of individuals along a |hot/active-cold/inactive| continuum) are associated with variation in key risk-taking behaviors; ambush foraging site exposure and migration distance. This project is the first exploration of within-individual repeatability in behavior through biologging of wild-ranging snake behavior and physiology, paving the way for future investigations into the role of personality in key population-level processes, including variability in metapopulation dynamics, dispersal, and migration.