Invertebrate prey availability limits reproductive success but not breeding population size in suburban House Sparrows Passer domesticus

Ibis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will J. Peach ◽  
John W. Mallord ◽  
Nancy Ockendon ◽  
Chris J. Orsman ◽  
William G. Haines
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Invertebrate Prey

scholarly journals Hormone levels predict individual differences in reproductive success in a passerine bird

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1717) ◽  
pp. 2537-2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Q. Ouyang ◽  
Peter J. Sharp ◽  
Alistair Dawson ◽  
Michael Quetting ◽  
Michaela Hau
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Hormonal Regulation ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Passerine Bird ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Baseline Corticosterone ◽  
Reproductive Phases

Hormones mediate major physiological and behavioural components of the reproductive phenotype of individuals. To understand basic evolutionary processes in the hormonal regulation of reproductive traits, we need to know whether, and during which reproductive phases, individual variation in hormone concentrations relates to fitness in natural populations. We related circulating concentrations of prolactin and corticosterone to parental behaviour and reproductive success during both the pre-breeding and the chick-rearing stages in both individuals of pairs of free-living house sparrows, Passer domesticus . Prolactin and baseline corticosterone concentrations in pre-breeding females, and prolactin concentrations in pre-breeding males, predicted total number of fledglings. When the strong effect of lay date on total fledgling number was corrected for, only pre-breeding baseline corticosterone, but not prolactin, was negatively correlated with the reproductive success of females. During the breeding season, nestling provisioning rates of both sexes were negatively correlated with stress-induced corticosterone levels. Lastly, individuals of both sexes with low baseline corticosterone before and high baseline corticosterone during breeding raised the most offspring, suggesting that either the plasticity of this trait contributes to reproductive success or that high parental effort leads to increased hormone concentrations. Thus hormone concentrations both before and during breeding, as well as their seasonal dynamics, predict reproductive success, suggesting that individual variation in absolute concentrations and in plasticity is functionally significant, and, if heritable, may be a target of selection.

scholarly journals Population size, dynamics and reproduction success of the lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina) in Latvia

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uģis Bergmanis ◽  
Ainārs Auniņš ◽  
Aivars Petriņš ◽  
Valdis Cīrulis ◽  
Jānis Granāts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Reproduction Success ◽  
Size Population ◽  
Breeding Attempt ◽  
The Individual

Abstract We analysed the population size, population dynamics and reproduction success of the lesser spotted eagle in Latvia from 1988 to 2014. While the overall population did not show a statistically significant trend during any of the periods analysed (long, medium and short term), the populations in the individual study areas changed differently: of five research plots, populations were stable in two, increased in one, and decreased in two research plots. Using the existing research plots as samples of breeding numbers in areas of different breeding density classes based on forest management units, the total breeding population in Latvia was estimated. The overall number of breeding pairs in 2012-2014 was between 3700-4000. During the period 1988-2014, 65.62% of all pairs recorded as present on their home range, made a breeding attempt and laid eggs. The reproductive success ratio was 0.49 young per occupied territory with an adult pair of birds and 0.74 young per breeding pair which laid eggs. Overall, during the 21 -year research period there was a stable long-term trend in reproductive success (young per pair present on home range). Rarely, indeed only in 1 .89% of all cases did two young fledge. The total number of young (young per 100 km2) shows stable long-, medium- and short-term trends with an average value of 5.1 young per 100 km2.

Reproductive success and individual variation in feeding frequency of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)

2008 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thor H. Ringsby ◽  
Torborg Berge ◽  
Bernt-Erik Saether ◽  
Henrik Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Feeding Frequency ◽  
House Sparrows

scholarly journals Spatial heterogeneity in the effects of climate and density-dependence on dispersal in a house sparrow metapopulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1726) ◽  
pp. 144-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Pärn ◽  
Thor Harald Ringsby ◽  
Henrik Jensen ◽  
Bernt-Erik Sæther
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Density Dependence ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
House Sparrow ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Migratory Bird ◽  
Dispersal Rate ◽  
Spring Temperature ◽  
House Sparrows

Dispersal plays a key role in the response of populations to climate change and habitat fragmentation. Here, we use data from a long-term metapopulation study of a non-migratory bird, the house sparrow ( Passer domesticus ), to examine the influence of increasing spring temperature and density-dependence on natal dispersal rates and how these relationships depend on spatial variation in habitat quality. The effects of spring temperature and population size on dispersal rate depended on the habitat quality. Dispersal rate increased with temperature and population size on poor-quality islands without farms, where house sparrows were more exposed to temporal fluctuations in weather conditions and food availability. By contrast, dispersal rate was independent of spring temperature and population size on high-quality islands with farms, where house sparrows had access to food and shelter all the year around. This illustrates large spatial heterogeneity within the metapopulation in how population density and environmental fluctuations affect the dispersal process.

scholarly journals Non-breeding feather concentrations of testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol are associated with subsequent survival in wild house sparrows

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1733) ◽  
pp. 1560-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Koren ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
Kiran K. Soma ◽  
Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Darwinian Fitness ◽  
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Subject ◽  
As Stress

Potential mechanistic mediators of Darwinian fitness, such as stress hormones or sex hormones, have been the focus of many studies. An inverse relationship between fitness and stress or sex hormone concentrations has been widely assumed, although empirical evidence is scarce. Feathers gradually accumulate hormones during their growth and provide a novel way to measure hormone concentrations integrated over time. Using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, we measured testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol in the feathers of house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) in a wild population which is the subject of a long-term study. Although corticosterone is considered the dominant avian glucocorticoid, we unambiguously identified cortisol in feathers. In addition, we found that feathers grown during the post-nuptial moult in autumn contained testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol levels that were significantly higher in birds that subsequently died over the following winter than in birds that survived. Thus, feather steroids are candidate prospective biomarkers to predict the future survival of individuals in the wild.

Breeding House Sparrows, Passer domesticus in Captivity

1973 ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Mitchell ◽  
Richard O. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
In Captivity
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