Anyone with pets will likely tell you what type of personality their furry friend has. Studies show animals do in fact have personalities - and act in different ways.
Now, researchers at Central Michigan University are studying what effect, if any, animal’s different personality types have on the environment.
They’re using salamanders as the test subjects.
The laboratory looks like a walk in refrigerator. There’s shelves of clear plastic storage bins each filled with dirt, leaves, tiny insects and a salamander with an attitude.
“We have them in these environmental chambers. So, we can control the humidity, the temperature, the light cycle”.
That was Shaundon Moore -- he is a CMU graduate student studying salamanders - some of them with bold, others more timid.
He said previous studies show that animals have personalities, but what he wants to know is how those personalities impact the environment.
“I believe now, there are only two studies which have ever been published on how the personality of a predator can influence an ecosystem. One was done on zooplankton. Which if you know zooplankton you can basically do an experiment in a test tube. So, that’s not very reasonable. The other one was on crop pests”.
Moore said the study is still ongoing but so far the bold, more active salamanders are more veracious, they’re always out and they’re eating a lot of insects.
“So, they are decreasing the sort of food web below them. So, you can imagine in sort of a larger system basically you’re seeing less herbivores out there with these bold guys. Whereas the timid guys the ecosystem pretty much remains unchanged”.
What that means, Moore said, is that personality could determine which animals survive - and which don’t.
“I’m thinking like a bunny rabbit or something bold eating all the grass you can. Then suddenly a predator comes in. Normally you’d expect, oh snap predator is here so all the bunnies should go hiding again. Well, people are starting to realize now that there are bunnies out there who will consistently be bold regardless of the consequences”.
Moore said over time one personality will win out over the other - reducing the number of outcomes and behaviors.
If Moore’s hypothesis is correct, and different personality traits do in fact influence an ecosystem, what can we use this knowledge for?
“You can imagine the personality of the invasive could clearly have an effect, especially if they’re a predator. Either personality type could be good or bad but understanding what those personality types result in will really help us predict the ultimate outcome of these invasive species”.
Moore said he plans on completing the study in March and hopes to have results published by May.