Behavioural variation and environmental change: Understanding how ecological conditions mediate animal personality traits

Most animals exhibit unique personalities. For example, some individuals within a population are consistently bolder or more active than other individuals. These between-individual differences in behaviour are termed ‘animal personality’ traits and are thought to be important for survival, reproduction, and population persistence. However, whether changing environmental conditions alter animal personality traits is not clear. I found that environmental change (e.g. temperature, food availability etc.) alters animal personality traits across a wide variety of species. Furthermore, these effects often differed between males and females. Together, my research highlights the key role of environmental change in altering animal personality.