Research 

Behavioral syndromes, sometimes called behavior types or animal "personality," are correlated suites of repeated behaviors across time or context.  This concept is familiar to humans, but why do we continue to see persistent animal behavior types in nature, even when they may not be advantageous? In this section of my dissertation work, I seek to quantify behavior type in a free-ranging population of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) to understand how behavioral syndromes may predict other important aspects of this animal's life history, such as nest site choice.

Collaborators: Claudia Crowther, Fredric Janzen

While animals across taxa display behavioral syndromes, it is largely unknown how the expression of repeated behaviors may influence fitness and survivorship in the wild. Using hatchlings collected from wild eggs, I tested for behavioral repeatability across conditions in the laboratory and performed a mark-release-recapture experiment in the field to assess hatchling painted turtle survival during dispersal. Results from this work will help us understand what behavioral repeatability looks like across time and how it might impact fitness during a crucial life stage.

Collaborators: Claudia Crowther, Alex Sills, Fredric Janzen

The pace of life syndrome hypothesis (POLS) posits that animal life history strategies should co-vary with a suite of physiological and behavioral characteristics that promote fitness.The physiology of stress and immune function is well-studied across the animal kingdom, but little is known about how consistent individual differences in behavior may vary with, or be mediated by, individual variation in stress or immune physiology. To test whether inter-individual behavioral boldness predicts physiological stress and markers of immune function, I collected turtle blood samples at baseline and after exposure to a simulated predator during a behavioral assay. Using these samples, I measure corticosterone, a common stress hormone in reptiles, and evaluate white blood cell ratios to quantify immune function

Collaborators: Kaitlyn Holden, Fredric Janzen, Anne Bronikowski

For painted turtles, the temperature of the nest environment determines offspring fitness, morphology, emergence time, and sex ratio. With worsening climate change, ambient air temperature, and consequently, turtle nest temperature will continue to rise. Yet, it's currently unknown how these changes will impact developing embryos in the wild. In this project, we manipulate the incubation temperature of painted turtle eggs collected in the field to simulate IPCC-projected climate change, and subsequently evaluate hatchling morphology, sex ratio, fitness during dispersal, behavioral syndrome expression, and gene expression. 

Collaborators: Claudia Crowther, Samantha Bock, Anne Bronikowski, Fredric Janzen 

Painted turtles are aptly named for the bright red, orange, yellow, and black patterns on their skin and shell. Yet, little is known about the function of color or pattern in this species. In this project, we use lifelike turtle hatchling models to quantify how shell patterns affect predation in the wild. 

Collaborators: Beth Reinke, Claudia Crowther 

Turtles are a globally imperiled taxon. Consequently, many conservation studies have explored ways to enhance turtle recruitment, starting with nest protection. One tactic proven effective in reducing nest predation is the use of predator misinformation cues. This project evaluates the efficacy of deploying artificial turtle nests as foraging mesopredator misinformation cues to reduce predation of real turtle nests.

Collaborators: Luke Hoekstra, Fredric Janzen