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Quantifying individual variation in behaviour: mixed-effect modelling approaches
Article first published online: 21 NOV 2012
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12013
© 2012 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2012 British Ecological Society
Additional Information
How to Cite
Dingemanse, N. J., Dochtermann, N. A. (2013), Quantifying individual variation in behaviour: mixed-effect modelling approaches. Journal of Animal Ecology, 82: 39–54. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12013
Publication History
- Issue published online: 17 JAN 2013
- Article first published online: 21 NOV 2012
- Manuscript Accepted: 13 SEP 2012
- Manuscript Received: 6 JUL 2011
Funded by
- Max Planck Society
Keywords:
- accuracy;
- metabolism;
- mixed-effect model;
- multi-response model;
- personality;
- physiology;
- plasticity;
- random regression;
- reaction norm;
- repeatability;
- statistical power
Summary
- Growing interest in proximate and ultimate causes and consequences of between- and within-individual variation in labile components of the phenotype – such as behaviour or physiology – characterizes current research in evolutionary ecology.
- The study of individual variation requires tools for quantification and decomposition of phenotypic variation into between- and within-individual components. This is essential as variance components differ in their ecological and evolutionary implications.
- We provide an overview of how mixed-effect models can be used to partition variation in, and correlations among, phenotypic attributes into between- and within-individual variance components.
- Optimal sampling schemes to accurately estimate (with sufficient power) a wide range of repeatabilities and key (co)variance components, such as between- and within-individual correlations, are detailed.
- Mixed-effect models enable the usage of unambiguous terminology for patterns of biological variation that currently lack a formal statistical definition (e.g. ‘animal personality’ or ‘behavioural syndromes’), and facilitate cross-fertilisation between disciplines such as behavioural ecology, ecological physiology and quantitative genetics.