DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1r004vb
title: Data from: Personality and plasticity in neophobia levels vary with anthropogenic disturbance but not toxic metal exposure in urban great tits: urban disturbance, metal pollution and neophobia

description: Animal personalities, as defined by repeatable among individual
 differences in behavior, can vary across urbanization gradients. However,
 how urbanization affects personalities remains incompletely understood,
 especially because different urban stressors could affect personality
 traits in opposing ways, whereas most previous studies have considered
 only one urban disturbance factor. For instance, novel habitat features
 could favor reduced neophobia, whereas exposure to pollutants could
 increase risk sensitivity through neurotoxic or hormonal effects. To
 address this contingency, we studied object neophobia in four urban
 populations of great tits (Parus major) that vary in exposure to metal
 pollution and anthropogenic disturbance, as quantified by proximity to
 roads and pathways. We measured the return latency of incubating females
 when flushed from the nest and presented with up to two different novel
 objects, allowing quantification of behavioral repeatability and
 plasticity. To separate neophobia from sensitivity to disturbance, we also
 conducted baseline trials, in which females were flushed but no object was
 presented. We additionally measured exploration behavior and aggression
 (hissing) during nest defense, to explore whether suites of behaviors
 covary with urbanization, and examined whether neophobia affects
 reproductive success. Sensitivity to disturbance and neophobia were
 repeatable, and thus represent personality traits. Moreover, females
 occupying territories near roads and pathways had shorter return latencies
 during novel object but not baseline trials, suggesting a specific
 reduction in neophobia in disturbed areas. Plasticity in neophobia also
 increased with disturbance level. In contrast, metal exposure did not
 affect neophobia or sensitivity to disturbance, despite negatively
 correlating with exploration behavior. Neophobia correlated with
 exploration behavior, but not aggression or reproductive success. Results
 suggest that shifts in personality types in urbanized areas might involve
 specific reductions in neophobia, rather than general reductions in
 sensitivity to disturbance, and unexpectedly indicate no effect of toxic
 metals on risk sensitivity.
description: Data for-Personality and
 plasticity in neophobia levels vary with anthropogenic disturbance but not
 toxic metal exposure in urban great titsThis file contains data
 from a novel object test performed on incubating female great tits in
 Antwerp, Belgium, in 2018, to test for effects of toxic metal pollution
 and anthropogenic disturbance levels on neophobia and other behavioral
 traits. Incubating females were presented with up to two different novel
 objects which were placed on the top of the nest box. We recorded the
 latency of females to return to the nest ("On 1" in the file) in
 the presence of a novel object, after being flushed from the nest. To
 account for differences in sensitivity to disturbance at the nest, the
 return latency of all females was also recorded during a baseline trial,
 in which females were flushed from the nest, but no novel object was
 placed on top of the box. The file contains information on trial type (O =
 object, B = baseline), female ID, study site, nest box ID, distance from
 the metal pollution source, distance from public paths/roads, and whether
 or not the box was in a publicly accessible area for all trials. Nest
 date, recording time, the order of trials and female age (ASY=after second
 year, SY=second year) are also included. The column "On 1"
 contains return latencies, and was our primary response variable. Female
 novel environment exploration scores and hissing (nest defense) scores are
 also included, as are fledgling numbers. This data was used to assess
 relationships between neophobia, other behavioral traits, and
 fitness.