scholarly journals Natal dispersers pay a lifetime cost to increased reproductive effort in a wild bird population

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1851) ◽  
pp. 20162445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Germain ◽  
Tomas Pärt ◽  
Lars Gustafsson ◽  
Blandine Doligez
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Lifetime Cost ◽  
Natal Dispersal ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Sudden Increase ◽  
Ficedula Albicollis ◽  
Environmental Predictability ◽  
Phenotypic Quality ◽  
Dispersal Evolution

Natal dispersal is assumed to be costly. Such costs can be difficult to detect, and fitness consequences of dispersal are therefore poorly known. Because of lower phenotypic quality and/or familiarity with the environment, natal dispersers may be less buffered against a sudden increase in reproductive effort. Consequently, reproductive costs associated with natal dispersal may mostly be detected in harsh breeding conditions. We tested this prediction by comparing lifetime reproductive success between natal dispersers and non-dispersers in a patchy population of collared flycatchers ( Ficedula albicollis ) when they reared either a non-manipulated brood or an experimentally increased or decreased brood. Natal dispersers achieved lower lifetime reproductive success than non-dispersers only under more stressful breeding conditions (i.e. when brood size was experimentally increased). This was mostly due to a lower number of recruits produced in the year of the increase. Our results suggest a cost associated with natal dispersal paid immediately after an increase in reproductive effort and not subsequently compensated for through increased survival or future offspring recruitment. Natal dispersers adjusted their breeding investment when reproductive effort is as predicted but seemed unable to efficiently face a sudden increase in effort, which could affect the influence of environmental predictability on dispersal evolution.

scholarly journals Longevity and lifetime reproductive success of barn swallow offspring are predicted by their hatching date and phenotypic quality

2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 1004-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Saino ◽  
Maria Romano ◽  
Roberto Ambrosini ◽  
Diego Rubolini ◽  
Giuseppe Boncoraglio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Hatching Date ◽  
Barn Swallow ◽  
Phenotypic Quality

Infectious diseases, reproductive effort and the cost of reproduction in birds

1994 ◽  
Vol 346 (1317) ◽  
pp. 323-331 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Parasitic Infection ◽  
Cell Mediated Immunity ◽  
Ficedula Albicollis ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Trade Offs

Reproductive effort can have profound effects on subsequent performance. Field experiments on the collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis ) have demonstrated a number of trade-offs between life-history traits at different ages. The mechanism by which reproductive effort is mediated into future reproductive performance remains obscure. Anti-parasite adaptations such as cell-mediated immunity may probably also be costly. Hence the possibility exists of a trade-off between reproductive effort and the ability to resist parasitic infection. Serological tests on unmanipulated collared flycatchers show that pre-breeding nutritional status correlates positively with reproductive success and negatively with susceptibility to parasitism (viruses, bacteria and protozoan parasites). Both immune response and several indicators of infectious disease correlate negatively with reproductive success. Similar relations are found between secondary sexual characters and infection parameters. For brood-size-manipulated birds there was a significant interaction between experimentally increased reproductive effort and parasitic infection rate with regard to both current and future fecundity. It seems possible that the interaction between parasitic infection, nutrition and reproductive effort can be an important mechanism in the ultimate shaping of life-history variation in avian populations.

Female convict cichlids adjust gonadal investment in current reproduction in response to relative risk of brood predation

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Wisenden
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Care Theory ◽  
Convict Cichlids

Parental care theory predicts that investment in current reproduction should be increased when the prospects of success in current reproductive effort are relatively high, and reduced when they are poor relative to expected success from future reproductive effort. A number of studies have shown that levels of postspawning parental investment (brood defence, parents' willingness to risk predation) increase when the brood is augmented. However, few studies have shown a change in pre-spawning (gonadal) investment in response to indirect indicators of reproductive success, such as nest site quality. Convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) are small freshwater fish that have biparental care of their young. Pairs of convict cichlids were required to spawn in either "risky" or "secure" spawning caves in the presence of potential egg predators. As predicted by parental care theory, females laid significantly more eggs in secure spawning caves than in risky spawning caves. The ability of this iteroparous fish to adjust gonadal investment in this manner would serve to optimize the use of its resources under varying environmental conditions and ultimately allow it to realize maximize lifetime reproductive success.

The Breeding System of the Three-Spined Stickleback, Gasterosteus Aculeatus (Forma Leiura) With Reference To Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Nesting Activity

Behaviour ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 126 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sechi Mori
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Nest Distribution ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Sexual Characteristics ◽  
Individual Success

Abstract1) The breeding succes of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L., forma leiura) males in a small stream of the Tsuya River, Gifu Prefecture, Central Japan, was studied with reference to timing of nesting initiation, use of space for nesting and social interactions. The observations were made almost daily during March to early July 1988 along the shore at a distance of 1-2 m from the fish and nests. 2) All the males in an enclosed study pool were individually marked (99 males). Furthermore, a total of 67 females were marked and observed weekly. The males were individually observed and their agonistic, courtship and parental behaviour as well as their reproductive success were quantified. Reproductive success of individual male was measured as the number of nests built, the number of successful nests, the number of hatched fry per nest. Nest sites were categorized in six types (A-F) on the basis of the proportion of vegetation cover around the nest and distance from the shore. 3) Body size and environmental factors (water temperature, water depth, changes in water level) were not correlated with reproductive success. Flooding was not a major cause of unsuccessful nesting. The brightness of nuptial colouration at the onset of breeding correlated significantly with individual success. Individual variation in the development of secondary sexual characteristics such as a nuptial colouration may have an important consequence for the lifetime reproductive success of the individuals. There was no relationship between fish density and reproductive success. 4) All males that nested more than once had begun breeding early in the season. The sooner a male started nest-building, the more opportunities he had to complete breeding cycles. 5) After an unsuccessful nest, males were significantly more likely to move their nest sites than after a successful nest. The subsequent nesting cycle was not always successful. 6) There was variation in nest-sitc location. The spatial pattern of nest distribution was strongly related to the temporal pattern, because the first males which settled, more often built their nests at sites along the shore where the nest was covered on one or two sides by vegetation. The location of nest site was significantly correlated with reproductive success. When males nested in partly concealed places along the shore, they could sometimes obtain a high reproductive success irrespective of the date of breeding initiation. Thus, reproductive success was largely determined by the timing of nest-building and nest position.

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