Within-individual canalization contributes to age-related increases in trait repeatability: a longitudinal experiment in red knots

Abstract: Age-related increases in the repeatable expression of labile phenotypic traits are often assumed to arise from an increase in among-individual variance due to differences in developmental plasticity or by means of state-behaviour feedbacks. However, age-related increases in repeatability could also arise from a decrease in within-individual variance as a result of stabilizing trait expression, i.e. canalization. Here we describe age-related changes in within- and among-individual variance components in two correlated traits, gizzard mass and exploration behavior, in a medium-sized shorebird, the red knot (Calidris canutus). Increased repeatability of gizzard mass came about due to an increase in among-individual variance, unrelated to differences in developmental plasticity, together with decreases in within-individual variance, consistent with canalization. We also found canalization of exploration, but no age-related increase in overall repeatability, which suggests that sho...