Ongoing Graduate Student Project

Linking individual personality to life history strategy through energetics

Understanding the effects of individual variation on population dynamics and life-history evolution remains an active field in ecology. Personality may contribute towards mediating life-history trade-offs which is particularly important for predicting individual responses to environmental change based on behavioral strategies. Doreen Cabrera (PhD student) is using the virile crayfish to examine these ideas. The virile crayfish, an invasive species in Utah, experiences distinct morphological forms alternating between a reproductive and non-reproductive stage. Her work examines how personality shapes the relationship between individual energetic requirements for alternating between forms, metabolic activity, and growth in this unique crustacean system.