10.5061/dryad.1g1jwsv0v
https://zenodo.org/records/7154705
oai:zenodo.org:7154705
Pilakouta, Natalie
Natalie
Pilakouta
0000-0001-8503-520X
University of Aberdeen
O'Donnell, Patrick
Patrick
O'Donnell
University of Glasgow
Crespel, Amelie
Amelie
Crespel
University of Turku
Levet, Marie
Marie
Levet
University of Montreal
Claireaux, Marion
Marion
Claireaux
Norwegian Institute of Marine Research
Humble, Joseph
Joseph
Humble
University of Glasgow
Kristjansson, Bjarni
Bjarni
Kristjansson
Hólar University College
Skulason, Skuli
Skuli
Skulason
Hólar University College
Lindstrom, Jan
Jan
Lindstrom
University of Glasgow
Metcalfe, Neil
Neil
Metcalfe
University of Glasgow
Killen, Shaun
Shaun
Killen
University of Glasgow
Parsons, Kevin
Kevin
Parsons
University of Glasgow
Data from: A warmer environment can reduce sociability in an ectotherm
Zenodo
2022
2022-10-06
https://zenodo.org/communities/dryad
Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
The costs and benefits of being social vary with environmental conditions, so individuals must weigh the balance between these trade-offs in response to changes in the environment. Temperature is a salient environmental factor that may play a key role in altering the costs and benefits of sociality through its effects on food availability, predator abundance, and other ecological parameters. In ectotherms, changes in temperature also have direct effects on physiological traits linked to social behaviour, such as metabolic rate and locomotor performance. In light of climate change, it is therefore important to understand the potential effects of temperature on sociality. Here, we took advantage of a 'natural experiment' of threespine sticklebacks from contrasting thermal environments in Iceland: geothermally warmed water bodies (warm habitats) and adjacent ambient-temperature water bodies (cold habitats) that were either linked (sympatric) or physically distinct (allopatric). We first measured the sociability of wild-caught adult fish from warm and cold habitats after acclimation to a low and a high temperature. At both acclimation temperatures, fish from the allopatric warm habitat were less social than those from the allopatric cold habitat, whereas fish from sympatric warm and cold habitats showed no differences in sociability. To determine whether differences in sociability between thermal habitats in the allopatric population were heritable, we used a common garden breeding design where individuals from the warm and the cold habitat were reared at a low or high temperature for two generations. We found that sociability was indeed heritable but also influenced by rearing temperature, suggesting that thermal conditions during early life can play an important role in influencing social behaviour in adulthood. By providing the first evidence for a causal effect of rearing temperature on social behaviour, our study provides novel insights into how a warming world may influence sociality in animal populations.
Funding provided by: Natural Environment Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270Award Number:
Funding provided by: European Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000781Award Number:
Funding provided by: Wellcome TrustCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010269Award Number: