Abstract
Genetic correlations between behaviors underlying a behavioral syndrome may constrain the capacity of a population to respond to selection on these behaviors. Average autonomy quantifies the extent in which estimated genetic (co)variances constrain the rate of evolutionary change of behavioral traits forming a syndrome when these traits are under selections in all possible directions of multivariate trait-space. However, it is not clear whether a calculated average autonomy value of an observed syndrome constitutes a significant evolutionary constraint or not. I here outline an approach for testing evolutionary constraint in a syndrome, which is based on comparing the observed genetic (co)variance structure to the one where the genetic covariances are assumed to be zero and taking onboard the uncertainty in the (co)variances between behaviors into the calculations of average autonomy. The approach can be implemented in the context of parametric bootstrap or Bayesian statistics, and I provide a worked example of the latter. I further highlight that when genetic (co)variances are unattainable, the between-individual (co)variances act as an interesting proxy, which is within reach for many behavioral studies. I provide R code for all calculations.
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Acknowledgments
Ned Dochtermann and Patrik Karell are thanked for discussion on the issue. The associate editor Niels J. Dingemanse, Michael Morrissey, and three anonymous reviewers provided many constructive comments which greatly improved the content and readability of this paper. Remaining unclear aspects reflect my own constraints.
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Communicated by N. Dingemanse
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ELECTRONIC supplement: Belonging to the paper “Using average autonomy to test whether behavioral syndromes constrain evolution” by Jon E. Brommer.
Fig. S1
Frequency plot of posteriors and credible values illustrating example 1. (DOC 160 kb)
Fig. S2
Frequency plot of posteriors and credible values illustrating example 2. (DOC 151 kb)
Text S1
R code to calculate autonomy. (DOC 69 kb)
Test S2
R code for the simulation example. (DOC 74 kb)
Text S3
R code for data example using the animal model (DOC 79 kb)
Text S4
R code for data example using the between-individual covariance matrix ID as a proxy for G (DOC 75 kb)
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Brommer, J.E. Using average autonomy to test whether behavioral syndromes constrain evolution. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 68, 691–700 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1699-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1699-6