Natal dispersal is at the nexus of ecology, ethology, population genetics, and evolution. While abundant research exists on emigration and associated proximate and ultimate causes, less is known about exploration, settlement, and factors that influence settlement decisions. Further, the role of individual behavioral phenotypes in the domains of wildlife ecology and conservation, which include natal dispersal, is a recent and expanding area of inquiry. Understanding the relationships among individual phenotype, environmental conditions, and natal dispersal is increasingly important as landscapes become altered by disturbance, fragmentation, and climate change. I investigated natal dispersal in endangered Mt. Graham red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis), an isolated, peripheral subspecies of North American red squirrel persisting at the southern edge of the species' range. We tested hypotheses about the importance of proximate and ultimate drivers of emigration, dispersal distance, and settlement, and estimated perceived landscape connectivity within a mosaic of forest damage in the Pinaleño Mountains, Arizona. Compared to other red squirrel populations in North America, natal dispersal in Mt. Graham red squirrels is sex-biased and non-philopatric with mean dispersal distance over 8 times that observed in non-peripheral populations. Resources, indicated by mother's body mass in spring (a reflection of her intrinsic quality and territory quality) and individual body condition, contribute to individual behavioral tendencies for movement and exploration. Individuals with behavioral tendencies for movement and exploration dispersed the farthest, and for both males and females the longest observed dispersal distances and proportion of individuals dispersing occurred in a year of lowest food availability. Our research highlights the important role individual behavioral syndromes may play in observed heterogeneity in life history strategies with populations. Following emigration from the natal area, we provide evidence that individual dispersers rely upon forest structural cues similar to their natal area to select locations for settlement; the first test of natal habitat preference induction in a single vegetation community type. We used circuit theory to evaluate landscape connectivity and identify areas important for long-distance dispersal movements. Because single connectivity models may not adequately represent functional connectivity for an entire population, we summarized landscape connectivity across varying levels of landscape resistance to identify areas that promote movement and long-distance dispersal for individuals with different perceptions of landscape resistance. We show that composite connectivity models are a useful method to identify forest areas important for the promotion of long-distance movements as well as areas that constrain movement.

Between individual behavioral variation has been described in nearly every animal taxa where it has been measured. Often, these behavioral variations correlate across contexts, forming a behavioral syndrome. Despite a recent push to better understand the origins and consequences of behavioral syndromes, there still is no cohesive framework that describes this phenomenon. Here, I develop a social insect species into a model for measuring and testing behavioral syndromes at a new level of biological organization; the colony. This builds upon the rich literature describing between-colony variation in behavior and provides novel insights into the evolution of behavioral syndromes. In my first chapter I show that colonies do not vary from one another in foraging distance, nor is foraging distance directly associated with colony size. This was my first step in demonstrating that colony behavioral variation is not simply a byproduct of colony size. In chapter two, I expanded upon this finding by testing colonies both in the lab and in the field for a variety of ecologically relevant behaviors. Here, I found that there was a behavioral syndrome that reflected foraging distance, foraging effort to novel and familiar resources, response to threat and aggression. While there is a gradient of phenotypes, some colonies either travel farther to forage for food and respond more aggressively when confronted with a conspecific invader, but appear to invest less in each given incident or food source. I consider this to be more risk-tolerant; they increase their risk of external mortality for potentially larger pay-offs. On the other hand, risk-averse colonies deploy more foragers to exploit closer resources, increase their overall activity in the response to threat, but avoid travelling farther distances or aggressively engaging invaders. Additionally, there is between population variations in risk-taking phenotype. Across the western United States, colonies at more northern latitudes are more risk-tolerant than colonies at more southern latitudes. In chapter 3, I expand upon this latitudinal gradient in behavioral phenotype by investigating what ecological factors predict a colonies level of risk-tolerance. Specifically, I focused on ecological traits that reflected predation, competition, food resource availability and abiotic stress. I found that competition for nest sites and spatial clustering predicted behavioral type; colonies at high levels of nest site competition or spatial clustering were more risk-tolerant than colonies at lower levels of competition or were more spatially dispersed. In chapter 4, I used a common garden and brood transfer experiment to investigate if the relationship between the ecological environment and behavior was the result of phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation. I show that local adaptation is the most likely explanation, as colonies with more workers from the donor colony are more, behaviorally, like the donor colony than colonies with fewer donor workers. In chapter 5 I test if the risk-taking behavioral syndrome is the result of life history strategy variation. I test the growth rate and energy allocation towards either somatic effort or reproductive effort. I found that colonies which are risk-tolerant also grow faster and dedicate more energy towards reproductive effort, which is consistent with predictions built from life history theory. This body of work shows that behavioral syndromes can exist at a new level of organization, the colony, and that variation in behavioral type is the result of differential selection pressure between populations. This directly connects behavioral syndrome research to life history strategy research. As life history strategy theory is a well-understood field, this represents a true advancement in the field of behavioral syndromes.

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Le changement climatique mondial et les perturbations anthropiques affectent fortement les écosystèmes. Malgré des études à grande échelle axées sur la biodiversité, la façon dont les perturbations anthropiques influencent les divers aspects de l'écologie et de l'évolution des populations a également attiré une attention considérable. Cette thèse explore le stress amené par le changement climatique global sur les populations animales, en utilisant le système modèle du lézard commun (Zootoca vivipara) et de ses ectoparasites (un acarien du genre Ophionyssus et une tique Ixodes ricinus). La première étude aborde l'hypothèse de la compétition induite par les co-infections. La médiation environnementale est suggérée pour expliquer la cooccurrence entre ces deux espèces de parasites. La seconde étude utilise des données spatiales à long terme pour examiner les effets du réchauffement climatique sur l'infection parasitaire, la forme physique de l'hôte et la différence entre les différents phénotypes de l'hôte dans leurs réponses à ces stress (différences intraspécifiques). Des stratégies alternatives pour faire face à l'infection parasitaire et au réchauffement climatique sont validées, et un arbitrage phénotypique entre la défense contre le parasitisme et la survie est détecté. Cette étude confirme également une interaction phénotype - environnement, indiquant qu'au sein de la même population, certains phénotypes pourraient être plus vulnérables que d'autres sous la pression de la perturbation anthropique. La troisième étude se concentre sur les changements de comportement et de syndromes comportementaux dépendants du parasitisme et des différents états de l'hôte. Des traits reproductibles avec un biais sexuel sont identifiés, ainsi qu'un syndrome comportemental d'évasion-audace. L'état individuel (la gravité) semble affecter la stabilité du syndrome comportemental. Cependant, les effets causals du parasitisme restent vagues et doivent être confirmés par des expériences de contrôle. / Global change and anthropogenic disturbances are intensely affecting the earth ecosystem. Despite large-scale studies focusing on biodiversity, how anthropogenic disturbances could influence various aspects of population ecology and evolution has also drawn tremendous attention. This thesis explores the stress of global change imposed on the animal population, by using the model system of the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) and its ectoparasites (one mite in the genus Ophionyssus and one tick Ixodes ricinus). The first study addresses the hypothesis in competition induced by co-infections. Environmental mediation is suggested to explain the co-occurrence between these two species of parasites. The second study uses a spatial and a long-term data to examine climate warming effects on parasite infection, host fitness, and how distinct host phenotypes differ in their responses to these stresses (intraspecific differences). Alternative strategies to cope with parasite infection and climate warming are validated, and a phenotype-dependent trade-off between defense against parasitism and survival is detected. This study also confirms a phenotype-by-environment interaction, indicating even within the same population, certain phenotype could be more vulnerable than others under the anthropogenic perturbation. The third study focuses on changes of behavior and behavioral syndromes under effects of parasitism and host states. Repeatable traits with sex bias are identified, so along with a boldness-escape behavioral syndrome. Individual state (gravidity) seems to affect the stability of the behavioral syndrome. However, the causal effects of parasitism still remain vague and need to be further testified with control experiments.