Drivers of within- and among-individual variation in risk-taking behaviour during reproduction in a long-lived bird ...

• Main Authors: Mohring, Bertille, Angelier, Frédéric, Jaatinen, Kim, Steele, Ben, Lönnberg, Elin, Öst, Markus
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: common eider; Somateria mollissima; Flight Initiation Distance; phenotypic plasticity; predation risk; Selection hypothesis; FOS Biological sciences; Common Eider
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m37pvmd59; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.m37pvmd59

Plastic and selective mechanisms govern parental investment adjustments to predation threat. We investigated the relative importance of plasticity and selection in risk-taking propensity of incubating female common eiders Somateria mollissima facing unprecedented predation in SW Finland, Baltic Sea. Using a 12-year individual-based dataset, we examined within- and among-individual variation in flight initiation distance (FID), in relation to predation risk, nest detectability, individual traits and reproductive investment (NFID = 1009; Nindividual = 559). We expected females nesting in riskier environments (higher predation risk, lower nest concealment) to mitigate environmentally-imposed risk by exhibiting longer FIDs, and females investing more in current reproduction (older, in better condition or laying large clutches) to display shorter FIDs. The target of predation - adult or offspring - affected the mechanisms adapting risk-taking propensity; females plastically increased their FID under higher adult ...