Two eggs, two different constraints: a potential explanation for the puzzling intraclutch egg size dimorphism in Eudyptes penguins

Food resource uncertainty shapes the fitness consequences of early spring onset in capital and income breeding migratory birds

Due to climate change, the timing of spring arrival and nesting onset in many migratory bird species have advanced. Earlier spring onsets prolong the available breeding period but can also deteriorate local conditions, leading to increased temporal variation in resource availability. This interaction between phenological shifts in nesting onset and short-term temporal variation in food gain has unknown consequences for fitness of migratory bird species. We model two contrasting breeding strategies to investigate the fitness consequences of stochastically fluctuating food gain and storing of energetic reserves for reproduction. The model was inspired by the biology of common eiders (Somateria mollissima), which store extensive reserves prior to egg laying and incubation (capital breeding strategy), and king eiders (S. spectabilis), which continue to forage during nesting (income breeding strategy). For capital breeders, foraging prior to breeding increases energy reserves and clutch size, but for both strategies, postponing nesting reduces the chances of recruitment. We found that in scenarios with early spring onset, the average number of recruits produced by capital breeders was higher under conditions of stochastic rather than deterministic food gain. This is because under highly variable daily food gain, individuals successful in obtaining food can produce large clutches early in the season. However, income breeders do not build up reserve buffers; consequently, their fitness is always reduced, when food availability fluctuates. For both modeled strategies, resource uncertainty had only a minor effect on the timing of nesting onset. Our work shows that the fitness consequences of global changes in breeding season onset depend on the level of uncertainty in food intake and the degree to which reserves are used to fuel the reproductive effort. We predict that among migratory bird species producing one clutch per year, capital breeders are more resilient to climate-induced changes in spring phenology than income breeders.

Nesting Synchrony and Clutch Size in Migratory Birds: Capital versus Income Breeding Determines Responses to Variable Spring Onset

AbstractSynchronous reproduction of birds has often been explained by benefits from nesting together, but this concept fails to explain observed intraspecific variation and climate-mediated changes of breeding synchrony. Here, we present a theoretical model of birds that store resources for reproduction (capital breeders) to show how breeding synchrony, clutch size, and offspring recruitment respond to changes in timing of first possible breeding date. Our approach is based on individual fitness maximization when both prebreeding foraging and offspring development are time constrained. The model predicts less synchronous breeding, smaller clutch size, and higher chances for offspring recruitment in capital breeding birds that advance their nesting. For contrast, we also show that birds that need to acquire resources during egg laying (income breeders) do not change nesting synchrony but increase clutch size along with earlier breeding. The prediction of stronger nesting synchronization of capital breeders in years with late nesting onset is confirmed by empirical data on breeding synchrony of a high-latitude capital breeding sea duck, the common eider (Somateria mollissima). We predict that in warming high-latitude ecosystems, bird species that depend on stored reserves for reproduction are expected to desynchronize their nesting.

Organohalogenated contaminants in plasma and eggs of rockhopper penguins: Does vitellogenin affect maternal transfer?

Although many studies have investigated organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs) in yolk, little is known about the mechanisms and timing of transfer of OHCs from the female to the egg. Vitellogenin, a yolk precursor, has been suggested to play a role in this transport. We here report for the first time the temporal changes in OHC and an index of vitellogenin concentrations in female plasma from the pre-laying period to clutch completion in free-living birds: the southern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome) breeding in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands. In addition, OHC concentrations in the corresponding clutches were analysed. OHC concentrations in female plasma and in the yolk of both the first (A-) and the second (B-)eggs followed a similar pattern, with hexachlorobenzene (HCB) > Σpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) > Σdichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) > Σmethoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) > Σchlordanes (CHLs) > Σpolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) ≈ Σhexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs). The higher concentrations of MeO-PBDEs compared to PBDEs indicate a diet containing naturally-produced MeO-PBDEs. All OHC compounds except for PBDEs increased from the pre-laying period to A-egg laying and subsequently declined from A-egg laying to B-egg laying, and female plasma vitellogenin showed the same pattern. For ΣPCBs and ΣMeO-PBDEs, we found positive correlations between female plasma during A-egg laying and both eggs, and for HCB between female plasma and A-eggs only. During pre-laying, only ΣMeO-PBDEs correlated between both eggs and female plasma, and no correlations between OHC concentrations in eggs and female plasma were found during B-egg laying, highlighting that maternal transfer of OHCs is time- and compound-specific. Finally, female vitellogenin concentrations did not significantly correlate with any OHC compounds in either female plasma or eggs, and our results therefore did not confirm the suggested role of vitellogenin in the maternal transfer of OHC molecules into their eggs.

Extreme intra-clutch egg size dimorphism is not coupled with corresponding differences in antioxidant capacity and stable isotopes between eggs

Oviparous females need to allocate resources optimally to their eggs in order to maximize their fitness. Among these resources, dietary antioxidants, acquired by females and transferred to the eggs during egg formation, can greatly affect the development and survival of the embryo and chick. In crested penguins, incubation starts after the second and last egg is laid and, as opposed to many other bird species, this egg hatches first, thereby enhancing the survival of the chick. Here, we assessed whether antioxidant and isotopic composition could underlie these differences between eggs within clutches of southern rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome). The second-laid egg had higher total antioxidant capacity than the first-laid egg, although this was not due to higher antioxidant concentration but to its higher mass. This suggests that resources are allocated by females at a constant rate in both eggs within clutches. Accordingly, we found a strong correlation for isotopic compositions between eggs suggesting that resources were allocated similarly to each egg within the clutch. Overall, we found little evidence for a significant role of antioxidant and isotopic compositions to explain differences in terms of embryo/chick development between eggs in crested penguins. However, since our results suggest a constant rate of antioxidant transfer from females to eggs, limiting the mass of the first-laid egg might represent a strategy for females to spare antioxidant defences and preserve self-maintenance.