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Trnka A, Ma L, Yan H, Wang L, Liang W. Defense behavior of two closely related but geographically distant host species against cuckoo parasitism: A next test for the parallel coevolution. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10175. [PMID: 37304363 PMCID: PMC10251422 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Interactions between avian brood parasites, such as common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus), and their hosts are one of the best-studied examples of the coevolutionary arms race. Different stages of this arms race can be seen in different races of common cuckoos and their hosts across their range. However, little is known whether selected populations of two closely related but geographically distant species with probably different coevolutionary histories with the common cuckoo are also at different stages of the arms race. In this study, we tested this prediction experimentally using the same non-mimetic model eggs and three-dimensional (3D) printed models of the gray adult common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We examined egg recognition and egg rejection and aggression against the common cuckoo in the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), in Slovakia of Europe and northeast China of Asia. The results showed that the great reed warbler exhibited stronger responses to experimental model eggs and 3D models of the common cuckoo than the Oriental reed warbler. We conclude that both the great reed warbler and Oriental reed warbler have well-developed antiparasitic behaviors against common cuckoos in the studied populations, but with different levels of defense intensity, which may be due to local differences in parasitic pressure and the risk of parasitism. This provides an opportunity to study coevolutionary processes between the brood parasite and its hosts together in both species at large geographical scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfréd Trnka
- Department of BiologyUniversity of TrnavaTrnavaSlovakia
| | - Laikun Ma
- School of Life SciencesHebei UniversityBaodingChina
- Department of Biology and Food ScienceHebei Normal University for NationalitiesChengdeChina
| | - Hanlin Yan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Longwu Wang
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
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Mérő TO, Žuljević A, Kolykhanova O, Lengyel S. Reuse of nests in the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus: A behavior to save time and energy and to deter nest parasites? Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9452. [PMID: 36311413 PMCID: PMC9608790 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The reproductive period in animals is a demanding part in their life history. In birds, environmental factors, such as adverse weather, predation, or brood parasitism; and/or anthropogenic disturbance, can limit breeding success, resulting in failure of clutches. The nest loss in open‐cup nesting passerines is usually replaced with a new nest with a new clutch, however, in some cases the clutch replacement may occur in unusual forms. In this study, we report on three cases of within‐season nest reuse in the Great Reed Warbler. In the first case, a nest was reused for two times in the same season after unsuccessful nesting attempts (two‐time nest reuse). After the nest was depredated the first time, the female laid new eggs that were depredated again, then again the female laid new eggs that produced four fledglings. In the second case, the first clutch was depredated, after which the female laid a new clutch in the same nest that was again depredated. In the third case, the female laid new eggs among the eggs that failed to hatch previously. Our observations tend not to be consistent with the predator avoidance hypothesis because the depredated nests were reused by the parents. The time/energy saving hypothesis or possible deterrence of nest parasitism could explain nest reuse in this study, but because of low number of nests reused compared to the total number of nests found, this phenomenon needs further clarification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Oliver Mérő
- Department of Tisza ResearchCentre for Ecological Research, Institute of Aquatic EcologyDebrecenHungary,Nature Protection and Study Society – NATURASomborSerbia
| | - Antun Žuljević
- Nature Protection and Study Society – NATURASomborSerbia
| | | | - Szabolcs Lengyel
- Department of Tisza ResearchCentre for Ecological Research, Institute of Aquatic EcologyDebrecenHungary
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Li D, Li X, Zhang Y, Guan S, Ruan Y. Contrasting effects of egg size and appearance on egg recognition and rejection response by Oriental reed warblers. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:10508-10519. [PMID: 33072276 PMCID: PMC7548169 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Among potential hosts, the rejection of foreign eggs, which is a common and effective strategy to counter brood parasitism, depends on egg recognition. Multimodal and multicomponent recognition cues of brood parasitic eggs, which include both tactile (size, shape, and texture) and visual (size, shape, color, and maculation) cues, are potentially involved in the perception and discrimination of foreign eggs by hosts. An egg rejection experiment on the host with different types of model eggs can help to accurately assess the relative contribution of different components on egg recognition and constraints to rejection, in which videos can help identify the method of host rejection. Methods Here, we assessed egg recognition and rejection responses by Oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the most common hosts of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) which breed in eastern China. We designed six groups of model eggs for rejection experiments in which sensory cues included three grades of size and two categories of visual mimicry. Results Our experiments confirmed that the multimodal traits, which included variation in size, were significant predictors of egg rejection: We detected significantly higher rejection rates of mimetic spotted model eggs than of nonmimetic blue eggs. However, large model eggs did not yield higher rejection rates and, instead, these were less likely to be rejected and more likely to be deserted compared with smaller eggs. Further video‐recording data showed that there was no significant effect of egg size on the egg recognition rate (percentage of nests with evidence of egg pecking). No evidence that the egg appearance had an effect on the method of egg rejection (ejection or nest desertion) was found. Conclusions Only visual signals, such as color and maculation, contributed to the recognition of foreign eggs by Oriental reed warblers as recognizable clues, but not the egg size. The egg size had an impact on the type of egg rejection. It was less feasible for the warblers to eject large eggs and that is why they opted more often for desertion as the mean of model egg rejection. The significantly lower egg rejection rate of large eggs suggested that although some of them were recognized as foreign eggs, hosts failed to reject these eggs and finally the eggs were assumed to being accepted by the commonly used nest‐checking methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donglai Li
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
| | - Xiaoshuang Li
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
| | - Yan Zhang
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
| | - Shuang Guan
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
- Present address:
Changchun Longjia International AirportChangchunJilinChina
| | - Yanan Ruan
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
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Šulc M, Troscianko J, Štětková G, Hughes AE, Jelínek V, Capek M, Honza M. Mimicry cannot explain rejection type in a host–brood parasite system. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
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Abolins-Abols M, Hanley D, Moskát C, Grim T, Hauber ME. Anti-parasitic egg rejection by great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) tracks differences along an eggshell color gradient. Behav Processes 2019; 166:103902. [PMID: 31283976 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
One of the most effective defenses against avian brood parasitism is the rejection of the foreign egg from the host's nest. Until recently, most studies have tested whether hosts discriminate between own and foreign eggs based on the absolute differences in avian-perceivable eggshell coloration and maculation. However, recent studies suggest that hosts may instead contrast egg appearances across a directional eggshell color gradient. We assessed which discrimination rule best explained egg rejection by great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus, a frequent host to an egg-mimetic race of common cuckoos Cuculus canorus. We deployed 3D-printed model eggs varying in blue-green to brown coloration and in the presence of maculation. Using visual modeling, we calculated the absolute chromatic and achromatic just-noticeable differences (JNDs), as well as directional JNDs across a blue-green to brown egg color gradient, between host and model eggs. While most model eggs were rejected by great reed warblers, browner eggs were rejected with higher probability than more blue-green eggs, and the rejection probability did not depend on maculation. Directional egg color discrimination shown here and in a suite of recent studies on other host species may shape the cognitive decision rules that hosts use to recognize foreign eggs and affect the course of evolution in parasitic egg mimicry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikus Abolins-Abols
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
| | - Daniel Hanley
- Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Long Island University - Post, USA
| | - Csaba Moskát
- MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group: a joint research group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Eötvös Loránd University, and the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tomáš Grim
- Na Orátě 497, 78361, Hlubočky, Czech Republic
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
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Relationships between egg-recognition and egg-ejection in a grasp-ejector species. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0166283. [PMID: 28170402 PMCID: PMC5295713 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2016] [Accepted: 10/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Brood parasitism frequently leads to a total loss of host fitness, which selects for the evolution of defensive traits in host species. Experimental studies have demonstrated that recognition and rejection of the parasite egg is the most common and efficient defence used by host species. Egg-recognition experiments have advanced our knowledge of the evolutionary and coevolutionary implications of egg recognition and rejection. However, our understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying both processes remains poor. Egg rejection is a complex behavioural process consisting of three stages: egg recognition, the decision whether or not to reject the putative parasitic egg and the act of ejection itself. We have used the blackbird (Turdus merula) as a model species to explore the relationship between egg recognition and the act of egg ejection. We have manipulated the two main characteristics of parasitic eggs affecting egg ejection in this grasp-ejector species: the degree of colour mimicry (mimetic and non-mimetic, which mainly affects the egg-recognition stage of the egg-rejection process) and egg size (small, medium and large, which affects the decision to eject), while maintaining a control group of non-parasitized nests. The behaviour of the female when confronted with an experimental egg was filmed using a video camera. Our results show that egg touching is an indication of egg recognition and demonstrate that blackbirds recognized (i.e., touched) non-mimetic experimental eggs significantly more than mimetic eggs. However, twenty per cent of the experimental eggs were touched but not subsequently ejected, which confirms that egg recognition does not necessarily mean egg ejection and that accepting parasitic eggs, at least sometimes, is the consequence of acceptance decisions. Regarding proximate mechanisms, our results show that the delay in egg ejection is not only due to recognition problems as usually suggested, given that experimental eggs are not touched significantly more often. Thus, the delay in egg ejection is mainly the consequence of a delay in the decision to eject, probably triggered by mechanical constraints imposed by eggs that are harder to eject (i.e. larger). Our results offer important information on the relationships between recognition and ejection and contribute to a better understanding of host defences against brood parasites.
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Li D, Zhang Z, Grim T, Liang W, Stokke BG. Explaining variation in brood parasitism rates between potential host species with similar habitat requirements. Evol Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-016-9850-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Mérő T, Žuljević A. Nest position and reed density influence nest defence behaviour of Great Reed Warbler. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2015.1081295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- T.O. Mérő
- Nature Protection and Study Society – NATURA, Milana Rakića 20, SRB-25000 Sombor, Serbia
| | - A. Žuljević
- Nature Protection and Study Society – NATURA, Milana Rakića 20, SRB-25000 Sombor, Serbia
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Bán M, Moskát C, Barta Z, Hauber ME. Simultaneous viewing of own and parasitic eggs is not required for egg rejection by a cuckoo host. Behav Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/art004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Moskát C, Rosendaal EC, Boers M, Zölei A, Bán M, Komdeur J. Post-ejection nest-desertion of common cuckoo hosts: a second defense mechanism or avoiding reduced reproductive success? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-1109-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Požgayová M, Procházka P, Polačiková L, Honza M. Closer clutch inspection—quicker egg ejection: timing of host responses toward parasitic eggs. Behav Ecol 2010. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arq163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Moskát C, Bán M, Székely T, Komdeur J, Lucassen RWG, van Boheemen LA, Hauber ME. Discordancy or template-based recognition? Dissecting the cognitive basis of the rejection of foreign eggs in hosts of avian brood parasites. J Exp Biol 2010; 213:1976-83. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.040394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Many avian hosts have evolved antiparasite defence mechanisms, including egg rejection, to reduce the costs of brood parasitism. The two main alternative cognitive mechanisms of egg discrimination are thought to be based on the perceived discordancy of eggs in a clutch or the use of recognition templates by hosts. Our experiments reveal that the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), a host of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), relies on both mechanisms. In support of the discordancy mechanism, hosts rejected their own eggs (13%) and manipulated (‘parasitic’) eggs (27%) above control levels in experiments when manipulated eggs were in the majority but when clutches also included a minority of own eggs. Hosts that had the chance to observe the manipulated eggs daily just after laying did not show stronger rejection of manipulated eggs than when the eggs were manipulated at clutch completion. When clutches contained only manipulated eggs, in 33% of the nests hosts showed rejection, also supporting a mechanism of template-based egg discrimination. Rejection using a recognition template might be more advantageous because discordancy-based egg discrimination is increasingly error prone with higher rates of multiple parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Csaba Moskát
- Animal Ecology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, c/o Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Ludovika ter 2, PO Box 137, H-1088, Hungary
| | - Miklós Bán
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology, University of Debrecen, 4010, Hungary
| | - Tamás Székely
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AYUK
| | - Jan Komdeur
- Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Haren, 9750, The Netherlands
| | - Rim W. G. Lucassen
- Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Haren, 9750, The Netherlands
| | - Lotte A. van Boheemen
- Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Haren, 9750, The Netherlands
| | - Márk E. Hauber
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, NY 10065, USA
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