TY - JOUR
T1 - Parasitism and the evolutionary ecology of animal personality
AU - Barber, Iain
AU - Dingemanse, Niels J.
PY - 2010/12/27
Y1 - 2010/12/27
N2 - The ecological factors responsible for the evolution of individual differences in animal personality (consistent individual differences in the same behaviour across time and contexts) are currently the subject of intense debate. A limited number of ecological factors have been investigated to date, with most attention focusing on the roles of resource competition and predation. We suggest here that parasitism may play a potentially important, but largely overlooked, role in the evolution of animal personalities. We identify two major routes by which parasites might influence the evolution of animal personality. First, because the risk of acquiring parasites can be influenced by an individual's behavioural type, local parasite regimes may impose selection on personality traits and behavioural syndromes (correlations between personality traits). Second, because parasite infections have consequences for aspects of host 'state', parasites might induce the evolution of individual differences in certain types of host behaviour in populations with endemic infections. Also, because infection often leads to specific changes in axes of personality, parasite infections have the potential to decouple behavioural syndromes. Host-parasite systems therefore provide researchers with valuable tools to study personality variation and behavioural syndromes from a proximate and ultimate perspective.
AB - The ecological factors responsible for the evolution of individual differences in animal personality (consistent individual differences in the same behaviour across time and contexts) are currently the subject of intense debate. A limited number of ecological factors have been investigated to date, with most attention focusing on the roles of resource competition and predation. We suggest here that parasitism may play a potentially important, but largely overlooked, role in the evolution of animal personalities. We identify two major routes by which parasites might influence the evolution of animal personality. First, because the risk of acquiring parasites can be influenced by an individual's behavioural type, local parasite regimes may impose selection on personality traits and behavioural syndromes (correlations between personality traits). Second, because parasite infections have consequences for aspects of host 'state', parasites might induce the evolution of individual differences in certain types of host behaviour in populations with endemic infections. Also, because infection often leads to specific changes in axes of personality, parasite infections have the potential to decouple behavioural syndromes. Host-parasite systems therefore provide researchers with valuable tools to study personality variation and behavioural syndromes from a proximate and ultimate perspective.
KW - Behavioural syndrome
KW - Correlational selection
KW - Parasitism
KW - Personality
KW - Phenotypic plasticity
KW - Population differentiation
KW - Host-Parasite Interactions/genetics
KW - Selection, Genetic
KW - Models, Psychological
KW - Ecological and Environmental Phenomena
KW - Parasitic Diseases, Animal/genetics
KW - Feedback, Psychological
KW - Personality/genetics
KW - Phenotype
KW - Animals
KW - Behavioral Research
KW - Behavior, Animal/physiology
KW - Models, Biological
KW - Models, Genetic
KW - Evolution, Molecular
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78650591939&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2010.0182
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2010.0182
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 21078659
AN - SCOPUS:78650591939
SN - 0962-8436
VL - 365
SP - 4077
EP - 4088
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1560
ER -