Linking animal personality and habitat restoration for a keystone species

Animal personality should be highly relevant to recovery of species following habitat restoration, but empirical evaluations remain scarce. In the Chihuahuan Desert of the southwestern United States and globally, grasslands are threatened with shrub encroachment, prompting landscape-scale restoration efforts to remove shrubs and improve habitat for grassland species. We examined the behavioural response of a keystone rodent of grasslands, banner-tailed kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis, to extensive shrub removal efforts in New Mexico, U.S.A. We captured individuals from replicated restoration and remnant grassland habitats and used standardized behavioural assays to determine whether D. spectabilis exhibits personality and whether it varies between restoration and remnant habitats. We also conducted a movement experiment using artificial shrubs to test whether personality mediates movement choices through shrub cover, which could be a mechanism contributing to the colonization dynamics of restoration sites. We found repeatable differences among individuals for multiple behaviours, including movements, providing evidence of personality. We also documented a syndrome in which bolder and more active individuals moved through movement trials quicker, indicating personality-dependent movement. Dipodomys spectabilis also exhibited personality-dependent movement through artificial shrub cover, suggesting the choice to move through shrublands may depend on personality. This result could have consequences for colonization dynamics of restoration sites if a subset of individuals is more likely to traverse low-quality shrublands and settle in habitats treated for shrub removal. Surprisingly, there was weak divergence in behavioural traits at the population level between restoration sites and remnant grasslands. This outcome could reflect personality-dependent colonization early in the restoration trajectory being eroded by subsequent gene flow and facilitation of alternative behavioural types. We hope our study will stimulate future research integrating animal personality with habitat restoration to benefit biodiversity in degraded ecosystems.