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Growing up in a crowd : social environment shapes the offspring's early exploratory phenotype in a colonial breeding species

Reyes Salas, Luc Lens (UGent) , Eric Stienen, Frederick Verbruggen (UGent) and Wendt Mueller
(2022) ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE. 9(10).
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Abstract
In colonial breeding species, the number of adverse social interactions during early life typically varies with breeding density. Phenotypic plasticity can help deal with this social context, by allowing offspring to adjust their behaviour. Furthermore, offspring may not be unprepared since mothers can allocate resources to their embryos that may pre-adjust them to the post-hatching conditions. Thus, we hypothesize that lesser black-backed gull chicks raised in dense breeding areas, with greater exposure to intra-specific aggression, show higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of exploration compared to chicks in low-density areas, and that this is facilitated by prenatal effects. To test this, we cross-fostered clutches within and across pre-defined high- and low-breeding density areas. We measured chicks' anxiety and exploration activity in an open-field test that included a novel and a familiar object. We found that both pre- and post-natal social environment contributed nearly equally and shaped the offspring's exploratory behaviour, but not its anxiety, in an additive way. Post-natal effects could reflect a learned avoidance of intra-specific aggression, yet identifying the pathways of the prenatal effects will require further study.
Keywords
early-life social environment, behaviour, phenotypic plasticity, learning, colonial breeding, RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR, INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES, MATERNAL TESTOSTERONE, GULL CHICKS, REALIZED HERITABILITY, EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR, YOLK ANDROGENS, STRESS, EGGS, MECHANISMS

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MLA
Salas, Reyes, et al. “Growing up in a Crowd : Social Environment Shapes the Offspring’s Early Exploratory Phenotype in a Colonial Breeding Species.” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, vol. 9, no. 10, 2022, doi:10.1098/rsos.220839.
APA
Salas, R., Lens, L., Stienen, E., Verbruggen, F., & Mueller, W. (2022). Growing up in a crowd : social environment shapes the offspring’s early exploratory phenotype in a colonial breeding species. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, 9(10). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220839
Chicago author-date
Salas, Reyes, Luc Lens, Eric Stienen, Frederick Verbruggen, and Wendt Mueller. 2022. “Growing up in a Crowd : Social Environment Shapes the Offspring’s Early Exploratory Phenotype in a Colonial Breeding Species.” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 9 (10). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220839.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Salas, Reyes, Luc Lens, Eric Stienen, Frederick Verbruggen, and Wendt Mueller. 2022. “Growing up in a Crowd : Social Environment Shapes the Offspring’s Early Exploratory Phenotype in a Colonial Breeding Species.” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 9 (10). doi:10.1098/rsos.220839.
Vancouver
1.
Salas R, Lens L, Stienen E, Verbruggen F, Mueller W. Growing up in a crowd : social environment shapes the offspring’s early exploratory phenotype in a colonial breeding species. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE. 2022;9(10).
IEEE
[1]
R. Salas, L. Lens, E. Stienen, F. Verbruggen, and W. Mueller, “Growing up in a crowd : social environment shapes the offspring’s early exploratory phenotype in a colonial breeding species,” ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, vol. 9, no. 10, 2022.
@article{01GRJYB8J06CGXVY3A83RRARJ6,
  abstract     = {{In colonial breeding species, the number of adverse social interactions during early life typically varies with breeding density. Phenotypic plasticity can help deal with this social context, by allowing offspring to adjust their behaviour. Furthermore, offspring may not be unprepared since mothers can allocate resources to their embryos that may pre-adjust them to the post-hatching conditions. Thus, we hypothesize that lesser black-backed gull chicks raised in dense breeding areas, with greater exposure to intra-specific aggression, show higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of exploration compared to chicks in low-density areas, and that this is facilitated by prenatal effects. To test this, we cross-fostered clutches within and across pre-defined high- and low-breeding density areas. We measured chicks' anxiety and exploration activity in an open-field test that included a novel and a familiar object. We found that both pre- and post-natal social environment contributed nearly equally and shaped the offspring's exploratory behaviour, but not its anxiety, in an additive way. Post-natal effects could reflect a learned avoidance of intra-specific aggression, yet identifying the pathways of the prenatal effects will require further study.}},
  articleno    = {{220839}},
  author       = {{Salas, Reyes and Lens, Luc and  Stienen, Eric and Verbruggen, Frederick and  Mueller, Wendt}},
  issn         = {{2054-5703}},
  journal      = {{ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE}},
  keywords     = {{early-life social environment,behaviour,phenotypic plasticity,learning,colonial breeding,RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR,INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES,MATERNAL TESTOSTERONE,GULL CHICKS,REALIZED HERITABILITY,EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR,YOLK ANDROGENS,STRESS,EGGS,MECHANISMS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{10}},
  title        = {{Growing up in a crowd : social environment shapes the offspring's early exploratory phenotype in a colonial breeding species}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220839}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}
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