Repeatable individual behavioral traits, or personalities, mediate the way that organisms interact with and respond to their environments. Such traits are known to predict survival in the wild, thus, in the context of conservation head-starting programs, it is critical to understand how they may be shaped by maternal effects and rearing regimens. As a first step toward understanding these dynamics, we assayed behavior in Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) mothers and offspring that were involved in a head-starting and translocation program. Tortoises were repeatedly tested to characterize exploratory tendencies and boldness. Radiotelemetry was used to track individual movement, habitat use, and survival in the wild. Both hatchlings and mothers exhibited significant repeatability in the majority of behavioral traits. Some traits were correlated with each other, suggesting the possibility of a behavioral syndrome. Correlations between mothers and offspring were limited, but there were significant differences in behavioral traits across clutches. For mothers, we found significant associations between behavioral traits and time spent in burrows in the field. Field data for juveniles are still being collected and analyzed. Our results will be discussed in the context of desert tortoise conservation specifically and head-starting and translocation programs more generally.

Talisin Hammond received her PhD in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, where she was based in Dr. Eileen Lacey’s lab in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and studied the behavioral ecology and stress physiology of chipmunks in the Sierra Nevada mountains. She received an NSF postdoctoral fellowship to study amphibian disease ecology and behavior, working with Dr. Cori Richards-Zawacki at the University of Pittsburgh, and later with Dr.s Ronald Swaisgood and Debra Shier at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA). She is currently a scientist at SDZWA working to integrate behavioral biology into conservation of endangered species in California.