Consistency of individual foraging and vigilance patterns in Yellow-Bellied marmots
Abstract
Animals frequently exhibit variation in their behavior. In the past this variation has been treated as statistical error, but research has identified correlated behaviors across contexts, referred to as behavioral syndromes. We focused on yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) and examined vigilance and foraging patterns while in five different contexts: food alone, food in the presence of a mirror, food in the presence of a plastic Canada goose decoy, foraging on natural vegetation, and behavior while in a trap. We found correlations in how animals foraged across some of these different contexts. Thus, we discovered that a ‘vigilance while foraging’ syndrome exists in a natural population of marmots. We found that there are contextually linked groups of behavior that explain variation in behavior within a population of animals, and further research needs to be done to analyze the fitness consequences of this syndrome.
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