​Individual differences in movement are widespread and can arise from various intrinsic and extrinsic factors, like the state, sex and age of the organism and the structure of its habitat. Recently, scholars have started paying more attention to consistent individual difference in their movement and space-use patterns (e.g., why two different birds of the same cohort are moving so differently?). Some of these differences seem to fit the context of animal personality. In fact, some of the main personality axes are largely extracted from movement (e.g. activity, boldness and exploratory behavior) patterns. For instance, an active individual or an exploratory one have higher tendency to move. Moreover, personality-dependent dispersal syndromes have been documented across many species (i.e., bolder individuals tend to disperse more and further then do shy individuals, but why? Is it somehow ultimately better for such individuals, specifically, to do so, or is it merely a proximate mechanism?). Yet, insights from the concurrently developing movement ecology paradigm are rarely considered, and the interplay between different aspects of behavior, movement and the habitat is poorly understood.

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In a recent publication we proposed a conceptual framework for personality-dependent spatial ecology (Spiegel et al. 2017 Ecology Letters). We were able to link expectations derived from the movement ecology paradigm with behavioral reaction-norms to offer specific predictions on the interactions between environmental factors, such as resource distribution or landscape structure, and intrinsic behavioral variation. We found that environmental heterogeneity and individual consistency in movements can carry-over across spatial scales can lead to personality-dependent: (1) foraging search performance; (2) habitat preference; (3) home range utilization patterns; (4) social network structure and (5) to the emergence of assortative population structure with spatial clusters of personalities (so, if I'm an 'exploratory' individual, that could lead me to settle in certain types of habitats and not others, and to having a “larger" social network due to meeting more conspecifics at resource patches).

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Ideas presented in this manuscript can be tested by a series of theoretical expansion as well as empirically in the field. Especially, these empirical studies can provide a great opportunity to test the ecological effect of consistent differences in movement. We hope to test some of these questions in our different study system, especially with the spur-winged lapwing (Vanellus spinosus).

(i.e. measuring Lapwings' personality in the field, tracking their movement with tags and observations, and investigating the effect of both personality and movement patterns on the Darwinian fitness (or some proxies such as the number of fledglings) of this ground-nesting bird).

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See this short presentation by Miki Bar Ziv on lapwing's behavior 

at the Tel Aviv University's Zoological garden