Food Availability, Parental Care and Male Mating Success in Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)

10.2307/5590 ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda A. Whittingham ◽  
Raleigh J. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Agelaius Phoeniceus ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success

Parental care as a constraint on male mating success in fishes: a comparative study of threespine and white sticklebacks

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 956-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. G. Jamieson ◽  
D. M. Blouw ◽  
P. W. Colgan
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
The Other ◽  
Random Pattern ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
The Third ◽  
Courtship Intensity

To investigate constraints imposed by male parental behavior on male mating success we compared mate competition in two related 'species' of stickleback, one showing parental care (threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus), the other not (white stickleback, Gasterosteus sp.). Three males of each species (tested separately) competed for spawnings with gravid females over a 10-day period. Our findings showed that once a threespine male acquires its first clutch of eggs, the chances of it spawning successively over the next 4 days increase, after which courtship activity declines and parental care of eggs increases. This leads to a serial pattern of spawning amongst the three males in which the second male spawns successively in its nest after the first male has completed its spawnings, followed by the third male, if it spawns at all. However, the third male is more likely to steal fertilizations in the nests of the other two males; stolen fertilizations represented an estimated 29% of the spawning frequency of the third male, compared with 5 and 0% for the second and first males, respectively. The order in which threespine males spawned was correlated with the order in which they initiated nest construction and their ability to defend and maintain a nest site. Immediately after spawning, white stickleback males disperse their eggs among clumps of filamentous algae, where the eggs develop without further parental assistance. In contrast to threespines, white sticklebacks tested under the same competitive conditions showed a random pattern of spawning amongst the three males and stolen fertilizations were not observed. This difference in spawning pattern presumably reflects the time constraint imposed on the sexual phase by the imminent need for parental care once a threespine male obtains eggs. Without the need for parental care of eggs, white males that spawn are not under the same time constraints and therefore each successive spawning is of equal value among competing males, resulting in a random pattern of spawning. In contrast, an asymmetry exists in threespines in which males with freshly spawned eggs in their nest increase their courtship intensity relative to males without eggs, resulting in a serial or ordered pattern of spawning among the males. It is further suggested that stolen fertilizations may be a secondary adaptation to offset any inability to compete effectively for nest sites and females during the initial part of the breeding period.

scholarly journals Experimental food supplementation reveals habitat-dependent male reproductive investment in a migratory bird

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20142523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara A. Kaiser ◽  
T. Scott Sillett ◽  
Benjamin B. Risk ◽  
Michael S. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Food Supplementation ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Extrapair Paternity ◽  
Trade Offs

Environmental factors can shape reproductive investment strategies and influence the variance in male mating success. Environmental effects on extrapair paternity have traditionally been ascribed to aspects of the social environment, such as breeding density and synchrony. However, social factors are often confounded with habitat quality and are challenging to disentangle. We used both natural variation in habitat quality and a food supplementation experiment to separate the effects of food availability—one key aspect of habitat quality—on extrapair paternity (EPP) and reproductive success in the black-throated blue warbler, Setophaga caerulescens . High natural food availability was associated with higher within-pair paternity (WPP) and fledging two broods late in the breeding season, but lower EPP. Food-supplemented males had higher WPP leading to higher reproductive success relative to controls, and when in low-quality habitat, food-supplemented males were more likely to fledge two broods but less likely to gain EPP. Our results demonstrate that food availability affects trade-offs in reproductive activities. When food constraints are reduced, males invest in WPP at the expense of EPP. These findings imply that environmental change could alter how individuals allocate their resources and affect the selective environment that drives variation in male mating success.

Longevity and Male Mating Success in Drosophila pseudoobscura

1981 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 1035-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Taylor ◽  
Cindra Condra ◽  
Michael Conconi ◽  
Mary Prout
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Drosophila Pseudoobscura ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success

scholarly journals ADAPTATION AT SPECIFIC LOCI. IV. DIFFERENTIAL MATING SUCCESS AMONG GLYCOLYTIC ALLOZYME GENOTYPES OF COLIAS BUTTERFLIES

Genetics ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-175
Author(s):  
Ward B Watt ◽  
Patrick A Carter ◽  
Sally M Blower
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Heterozygote Advantage ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Genotype Distribution ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Fitness Index ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Specific Variation

ABSTRACT Male mating success as a function of genotype is an important fitness component. It can be studied in wild populations, in species for which a given group of progeny has exactly one father, by determining genotypes of wild-caught mothers and of sufficient numbers of their progeny. Here, we study male mating success as a function of allozyme genotype at two glycolytic loci in Colias butterflies, in which sperm precedence is complete, so that the most recent male to mate fathers all of a female's subsequent progeny.—For the phosphoglucose isomerase, PGI, polymorphism, we predict mating advantage and disadvantage of male genotypes based on evaluation of their biochemical functional differences in the context of thermal-physiological-ecological constraints on the insects' flight activity. As predicted, we find major, significant advantage in mating success for kinetically favored genotypes, compared to the genotype distribution of males active with the sampled females in the wild. These effects are repeatable among samples and on different semispecies' genetic backgrounds.—Initial study of the phosphoglucomutase, PGM, polymorphism in the same samples reveals heterozygote advantage in male-mating success, compared to males active with the females sampled. This contrasts with a lack of correspondence between PGI and PGM genotypes in other fitness index or component differences.—Epistatic interactions in mating success between the two loci are absent.—There is no evidence for segregation distortion associated with the alleles of either primary locus studied, nor is there significant assortative mating.—These results extend our understanding of the specific variation studied and suggest that even loci closely related in function may have distinctive experience of evolutionary forces. Implications of the specificity of the effects seen are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Male competition and the evolution of mating and life-history traits in experimental populations of Aedes aegypti

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1904) ◽  
pp. 20190591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alima Qureshi ◽  
Andrew Aldersley ◽  
Brian Hollis ◽  
Alongkot Ponlawat ◽  
Lauren J. Cator
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Reproductive Control ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
Mating Conditions

Aedes aegypti is an important disease vector and a major target of reproductive control efforts. We manipulated the opportunity for sexual selection in populations of Ae . aegypti by controlling the number of males competing for a single female. Populations exposed to higher levels of male competition rapidly evolved higher male competitive mating success relative to populations evolved in the absence of competition, with an evolutionary response visible after only five generations. We also detected correlated evolution in other important mating and life-history traits, such as acoustic signalling, fecundity and body size. Our results indicate that there is ample segregating variation for determinants of male mating competitiveness in wild populations and that increased male mating success trades-off with other important life-history traits. The mating conditions imposed on laboratory-reared mosquitoes are likely a significant determinant of male mating success in populations destined for release.

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