Choice of Foraging Area with Respect to Predation Risk in Redshanks: The Effects of Weather and Predator Activity

Oikos ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff M. Hilton ◽  
Graeme D. Ruxton ◽  
Will Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen F. Wagner ◽  
Emeline Mourocq ◽  
Michael Griesser

Predation of offspring is the main cause of reproductive failure in many species, and the mere fear of offspring predation shapes reproductive strategies. Yet, natural predation risk is ubiquitously variable and can be unpredictable. Consequently, the perceived prospect of predation early in a reproductive cycle may not reflect the actual risk to ensuing offspring. An increased variance in investment across offspring has been linked to breeding in unpredictable environments in several taxa, but has so far been overlooked as a maternal response to temporal variation in predation risk. Here, we experimentally increased the perceived risk of nest predation prior to egg-laying in seven bird species. Species with prolonged parent-offspring associations increased their intra-brood variation in egg, and subsequently offspring, size. High risk to offspring early in a reproductive cycle can favour a risk-spreading strategy particularly in species with the greatest opportunity to even out offspring quality after fledging.


Author(s):  
Tatiana Stanislavovna Zubkova

The objects of research are three species of Caspian migrating herrings (Dolginsk herring ( Alosa brashnikowi ), big-eyed shad ( Alosa saposchnikowii ), Caspian shad ( Alosa caspia caspia )). The work considers two biological aspects of herring reproduction: dependence of number of underyearlings on the number of females in the end of feeding; assessment of survival rate of herring juveniles from the stage of fish egg to the stage of underyearlings. Besides fecundity of individual species, scientists take into account sex ratio in spawning populations, population fecundity, loss of reproductive capacity due to the resorption in unscreened roe. The materials obtained within 2009-2015 show that the dependence of herring underyearling number on the number of females arriving at spawning ground is extremely low. Despite a great number of females on the spawning grounds, the reasons of decreasing number of the first generation can be different: unfavorable hydrological and hydrochemical environment in foraging area, insufficient nutritive base, rescheduling of the spawning etc. The varying number of underyearlings from year to year is more pronounced with predatory fishes: the Dolginsk herring - 2.1 times, big-eyed shad - 1.7 times. The underyearling number of zoo-plankton feeder - Caspian shad is consistently high with minimal yearly variations. The young of Caspian shad have the highest survival ratio (0.0122); the young of predatory herring species the ratio is lower: Dolginsk herring is 4 times less (0.0031), big-eyed shad - 5 times less (0.0024). The data on herring survival from stage of a fish egg to an underyearling stage will become a starting point in the investigation of the environmental influence on to the new herring generations.


The Auk ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Pascual ◽  
Juan Carlos Senar ◽  
Jordi Domènech

Author(s):  
Kristina Noreikienė ◽  
Kim Jaatinen ◽  
Benjamin B. Steele ◽  
Markus Öst

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.


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