Effects of parental survival on clutch size decisions in fluctuating environments

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patsy Haccou ◽  
John M. Mcnamara
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Fluctuating Environments

Fluctuating Environments and Clutch Size Evolution in Great Tits

1993 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily W. Liou ◽  
Trevor Price ◽  
Mark S. Boyce ◽  
Christopher M. Perrins
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Fluctuating Environments

scholarly journals Evidence for r - and K -selection in a wild bird population: a reciprocal link between ecology and evolution

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1829) ◽  
pp. 20152411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernt-Erik Sæther ◽  
Marcel E. Visser ◽  
Vidar Grøtan ◽  
Steinar Engen
Keyword(s):  
Density Dependence ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Environmental Stochasticity ◽  
Fluctuating Environments ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Large Clutch

Understanding the variation in selection pressure on key life-history traits is crucial in our rapidly changing world. Density is rarely considered as a selective agent. To study its importance, we partition phenotypic selection in fluctuating environments into components representing the population growth rate at low densities and the strength of density dependence, using a new stochastic modelling framework. We analysed the number of eggs laid per season in a small song-bird, the great tit, and found balancing selection favouring large clutch sizes at small population densities and smaller clutches in years with large populations. A significant interaction between clutch size and population size in the regression for the Malthusian fitness reveals that those females producing large clutch sizes at small population sizes also are those that show the strongest reduction in fitness when population size is increased. This provides empirical support for ongoing r - and K -selection in this population, favouring phenotypes with large growth rates r at small population sizes and phenotypes with high competitive skills when populations are close to the carrying capacity K . This selection causes long-term fluctuations around a stable mean clutch size caused by variation in population size, implying that r - and K -selection is an important mechanism influencing phenotypic evolution in fluctuating environments. This provides a general link between ecological dynamics and evolutionary processes, operating through a joint influence of density dependence and environmental stochasticity on fluctuations in population size.

scholarly journals Multitasking and the evolution of optimal clutch size in fluctuating environments

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (17) ◽  
pp. 8803-8817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Liu ◽  
Dustin R. Rubenstein ◽  
Siew-Ann Cheong ◽  
Sheng-Feng Shen
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Fluctuating Environments ◽  
Optimal Clutch Size

Is there an Optimal Clutch Size in Snow Geese?

1987 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 839-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Rockwell ◽  
C. S. Findlay ◽  
F. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Optimal Clutch Size

scholarly journals Glucocorticoids, state-dependent reproductive investment and success in the face of danger in a long-lived bird

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Noreikienė ◽  
Kim Jaatinen ◽  
Benjamin B. Steele ◽  
Markus Öst
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Future Reproduction

AbstractGlucocorticoid hormones may mediate trade-offs between current and future reproduction. However, understanding their role is complicated by predation risk, which simultaneously affects the value of the current reproductive investment and elevates glucocorticoid levels. Here, we shed light on these issues in long-lived female Eiders (Somateria mollissima) by investigating how current reproductive investment (clutch size) and hatching success relate to faecal glucocorticoid metabolite [fGCM] level and residual reproductive value (minimum years of breeding experience, body condition, relative telomere length) under spatially variable predation risk. Our results showed a positive relationship between colony-specific predation risk and mean colony-specific fGCM levels. Clutch size and female fGCM were negatively correlated only under high nest predation and in females in good body condition, previously shown to have a longer life expectancy. We also found that younger females with longer telomeres had smaller clutches. The drop in hatching success with increasing fGCM levels was least pronounced under high nest predation risk, suggesting that elevated fGCM levels may allow females to ensure some reproductive success under such conditions. Hatching success was positively associated with female body condition, with relative telomere length, particularly in younger females, and with female minimum age, particularly under low predation risk, showing the utility of these metrics as indicators of individual quality. In line with a trade-off between current and future reproduction, our results show that high potential for future breeding prospects and increased predation risk shift the balance toward investment in future reproduction, with glucocorticoids playing a role in the resolution of this trade-off.

scholarly journals Temporal changes in reproductive success and optimal breeding decisions in a long-distance migratory bird

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Reséndiz-Infante ◽  
Gilles Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Migratory Bird ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Breeding Phenology ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Seasonal Decline

AbstractMany avian migrants have not adjusted breeding phenology to climate warming resulting in negative consequences for their offspring. We studied seasonal changes in reproductive success of the greater snow goose (Anser caerulescens atlantica), a long-distance migrant. As the climate warms and plant phenology advances, the mismatch between the timing of gosling hatch and peak nutritive quality of plants will increase. We predicted that optimal laying date yielding highest reproductive success occurred earlier over time and that the seasonal decline in reproductive success increased. Over 25 years, reproductive success of early breeders increased by 42%, producing a steeper seasonal decline in reproductive success. The difference between the laying date producing highest reproductive success and the median laying date of the population increased, which suggests an increase in the selection pressure for that trait. Observed clutch size was lower than clutch size yielding the highest reproductive success for most laying dates. However, at the individual level, clutch size could still be optimal if the additional time required to acquire nutrients to lay extra eggs is compensated by a reduction in reproductive success due to a delayed laying date. Nonetheless, breeding phenology may not respond sufficiently to meet future environmental changes induced by warming temperatures.

Clutch Size in the Scincid Genus Emoia

Copeia ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 1968 (2) ◽  
pp. 417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen E. Greer
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size
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