Meeting Abstract
Behavioral syndromes are suites of correlated behaviors expressed within or across behavioral contexts. For example, individuals that are more aggressive when confronting rivals are often bolder when confronting novelty. We tested for a behavioral syndrome linking aggression and boldness in male Bachman’s sparrows (Peucaea aestivalis) and asked whether these traits correlate with aspects of territory quality. We predicted that 1) males that were more aggressive in response to rivals would also be bolder when approached by a human, and 2) aggression/boldness would show a positive relationship with territory quality. We studied male sparrows breeding in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida, USA from March – July in 2018. For each male we measured boldness (flight initiation distance) and aggressiveness (proximity to a sparrow decoy and song playback during a simulated territorial intrusion) to test for positive association between these traits. We also mapped each male’s territory and assessed various metrics for territory quality. Our analysis involves generalized linear models describing the relationship between behavioral traits (boldness and aggression) and territory characteristics. Our results will add to an understanding of how behavioral traits and their resulting social dynamics shape how individuals sort in a population, with the aim of connecting our results to conservation practices. Because behavioral syndromes can predict how individuals respond to environmental stimuli (e.g., food shortage, increased predation threat), habitat management strategies may favor individuals with certain behavioral syndromes, thus affecting how the population responds to conservation efforts.
