Heterogeneous responsiveness to environmental stimuli.

ABSTRACT: Individuals of a species cope with environmental variability through behavioral adjustments driven by individuals' responsiveness to environmental stimuli. Three key empirical observations have been made for many animal species: The coexistence of different degrees of responsiveness within one species; the consistency of an individual's degree of responsiveness across time; and the correlation of an individual's degree of responsiveness across contexts. Taking up key elements of existing approaches, we provide one unifying explanation for all three observations, by identifying a unique evolutionarily stable strategy of an appropriately defined game within a stochastic environment that has all three features. Coexistence is explained by a form of negative frequency depe

SUBMITTER: Cavailles J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12357134 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature