1
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Lambert GA, Smiseth PT. Flexible females: nutritional state influences biparental cooperation in a burying beetle. Behav Ecol 2024; 35:arae009. [PMID: 38456179 PMCID: PMC10919768 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arae009] [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: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
In species that provide biparental care, there is a sexual conflict between parents over how much each should contribute toward caring for their joint offspring. Theoretical models for the resolution of this conflict through behavioral negotiation between parents assume that parents cannot assess their partner's state directly but do so indirectly by monitoring their partner's contribution. Here, we test whether parents can assess their partner's state directly by investigating the effect of nutritional state on cooperation between parents in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We used a two-by-two factorial design, in which a well-fed or food-deprived female was paired with a well-fed or food-deprived male. We found that females adjusted their level of care in response to both their own nutritional state and that of their partner and that these decisions were independent of their partner's contribution. We found no evidence that males responded directly to the nutritional state. Males instead responded indirectly based on the contribution of their partner. Our results suggest that parents are able to assess the state of their partner, in contrast to what has been assumed, and that these assessments play an important role in the mediation of sexual conflict between caring parents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia A Lambert
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Per T Smiseth
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
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2
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Wang D, Zhang W, Yang S, Richter XYL. Sex differences in avian parental care patterns vary across the breeding cycle. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6980. [PMID: 37914691 PMCID: PMC10620184 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42767-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Parental care in birds consists of elaborate forms across stages, including nest building, incubation, and offspring provision. Despite their evolutionary importance, knowledge gaps exist in the extent to which parents contribute disproportionately to these forms and factors that are associated with variations in care patterns between sexes. Here, we analyzed 1533 bird species and discovered remarkable variability in care patterns. We show that parental care should not be viewed as a unitary trait but rather as a set of integrated features that exhibit considerable temporal and sex-specific variation. Our analyses also reveal moderate consistency in care patterns between breeding stages, pointing towards shared intrinsic factors driving sex-specific care. Notably, we found that species experiencing strong sexual selection on males or species facing paternity uncertainty display a tendency towards female-biased care. This work advances our understanding of the temporal variations in sex-specific contributions to avian parental care and their potential evolutionary drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daiping Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang, 100101, Beijing, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China.
| | - Wenyuan Zhang
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
- Department of Biology, Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Shuai Yang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang, 100101, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
| | - Xiang-Yi Li Richter
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland.
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3
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Schiavinato M, Griggio M, Pilastro AA, Baldan D. Compensatory responses differ between parental tasks in a songbird species. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
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4
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Semenova OV, Brazhnikov AA, Butovskaya ML. Evolution of parental roles in phase portraits of bimatrix asymmetric games. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.930795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we address the evolutionary dynamic of parental roles using game theory. The main purpose of the article was to expand a classical list of evolutionary dynamic parental conflicts by adding some important cases which hitherto have not been intensively studied. Our models are apt to deliver some novel insights into the evolution of parental care. We also introduced several hypothetical events that served as illustrations of an arising alteration in cost-benefits for both parents and simulated a subsequent evolutionary endpoint. Our models revealed that evolutionary outcomes for reproductive decisions of both parents could be completely predicted by certain payoff matrices, which serve as proxies for a Darwinian fitness gain. In this sense, the result of a frequency-dependent selection on reproductive traits would inevitably depend on fitness costs and benefits arising for both parents in various circumstances. We demonstrated that population division could be a plausible evolutionary consequence for any human mating game where ‘reproductive defection’ represents the best response to any action by the reproductive opponent. We conclude that future evolutionary studies of human reproductive behavior should be more oriented on estimating a sex-biased asymmetry in potential fitness gains obtained by cooperative and deceptive parents in diverse environments and cultures.
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5
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Bebbington K, Groothuis TG. Partner retention as a mechanism to reduce sexual conflict over care in a seabird. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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6
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Grissot A, Borrel C, Devogel M, Altmeyer L, Johansen MK, Strøm H, Wojczulanis‐Jakubas K. Use of geolocators for investigating breeding ecology of a rock crevice-nesting seabird: Method validation and impact assessment. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9846. [PMID: 36937057 PMCID: PMC10017308 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigating ecology of marine animals imposes a continuous challenge due to their temporal and/or spatial unavailability. Light-based geolocators (GLS) are animal-borne devices that provide relatively cheap and efficient method to track seabird movement and are commonly used to study migration. Here, we explore the potential of GLS data to establish individual behavior during the breeding period in a rock crevice-nesting seabird, the Little Auk, Alle alle. By deploying GLS on 12 breeding pairs, we developed a methodological workflow to extract birds' behavior from GLS data (nest attendance, colony attendance, and foraging activity), and validated its accuracy using behavior extracted from a well-established method based on video recordings. We also compared breeding outcome, as well as behavioral patterns of logged individuals with a control group treated similarly in all aspects except for the deployment of a logger, to assess short-term logger effects on fitness and behavior. We found a high accuracy of GLS-established behavioral patterns, especially during the incubation and early chick rearing period (when birds spend relatively long time in the nest). We observed no apparent effect of logger deployment on breeding outcome of logged pairs, but recorded some behavioral changes in logged individuals (longer incubation bouts and shorter foraging trips). Our study provides a useful framework for establishing behavioral patterns (nest attendance and foraging) of a crevice-nesting seabird from GLS data (light and conductivity), especially during incubation and early chick rearing period. Given that GLS deployment does not seem to affect the breeding outcome of logged individuals but does affect fine-scale behavior, our framework is likely to be applicable to a variety of crevice/burrow nesting seabirds, even though precautions should be taken to reduce deployment effect. Finally, because each species may have its own behavioral and ecological specificity, we recommend performing a pilot study before implementing the method in a new study system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Grissot
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and ZoologyUniversity of GdańskGdańskPoland
| | - Clara Borrel
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and ZoologyUniversity of GdańskGdańskPoland
- Université de Rennes 1Rennes CedexFrance
- L'institut Agro (AgroCampus Ouest Rennes)Rennes CedexFrance
| | - Marion Devogel
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and ZoologyUniversity of GdańskGdańskPoland
| | - Lauraleen Altmeyer
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and ZoologyUniversity of GdańskGdańskPoland
- Université de Rennes 1Rennes CedexFrance
- L'institut Agro (AgroCampus Ouest Rennes)Rennes CedexFrance
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7
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Paying attention but not coordinating: parental care in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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8
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Provisioning challenge: self-consumption versus nestling provisioning, an experimental study. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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9
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Wu J, Yi X. Bargain to be Dominant. Am Nat 2022; 200:457-466. [DOI: 10.1086/720666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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10
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Ma L, Versteegh MA, Hammers M, Komdeur J. Sex-specific influence of communal breeding experience on parenting performance and fitness in a burying beetle. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211179. [PMID: 35223054 PMCID: PMC8847889 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Communal breeding, wherein multiple conspecifics live and reproduce together, may generate short-term benefits in terms of defence and reproduction. However, its carry-over effects remain unclear. We experimentally tested the effects of communal breeding on parental care and reproduction in burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides), which use carcasses as breeding resources and provide parental care to offspring. We subjected individuals to communal or non-communal breeding (i.e. pair breeding) during their first breeding event and to non-communal breeding during their second breeding event. We measured the parental care of individuals and of groups and the reproductive success of groups during both breeding events. In communal groups, large individuals became dominant and largely monopolized the carcass, whereas small individuals (i.e. subordinates) had restricted access to the carcass. At the first breeding event, large males in communal groups spent more time providing care than large males in non-communal groups, whereas such an effect was not observed for large females and small individuals. Reproductive successes were similar in communal and non-communal groups, indicating no short-term benefits of communal breeding in terms of reproduction. Compared with males from non-communal groups, males originating from communal groups produced a larger size of brood during their second breeding event, whereas such an effect was not observed for females. Our results demonstrate the sex-specific effects of communal breeding experience on parenting performance and fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Ma
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Maaike A. Versteegh
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Martijn Hammers
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands
- Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Arboretum West 98, 1325 WB Almere, The Netherlands
| | - Jan Komdeur
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands
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11
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Morvai B, Fazekas EA, Miklósi Á, Pogány Á. Genetic and Social Transmission of Parental Sex Roles in Zebra Finch Families. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.799996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Parental care plays a central, reinforcing role in the evolution of sex roles and its development is often reported to be driven by genetic, rather than environmental effects. Based on these studies, however, genetic inheritance does not account fully for the often-significant phenotypic variability observed within species, a variation that we hypothesized may be explained by social effects from parents. Following a full cross-fostering design, here we aimed at disentangling genetic and social parental effects in the ontogeny of parental behaviours. Clutches of eggs were swapped, and we monitored parental behaviours in two consecutive generations of a captive population of the socially monogamous, biparental zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Using nest box cameras, parental behaviour was recorded for 3 h in two reproductive stages: on day 8 of incubation and day 10 post-hatching. These fostered birds, after becoming fully matured, received a pair randomly and we observed parental care of this second generation too, following the same protocol. We then compared various parental behaviours (such as time spent incubating, or number of nest attendances during offspring provisioning) in the second generation to those of their genetic and social parents. Based on the results of our experiment, both genetic and social effects can contribute to intergenerational transmission of specific parental behaviours, with various weights. However, the strongest and most consistent effect that we found is that of the current mate; a social effect that can manifest both in negative and positive directions, depending on the behavioural trait. Our study suggests context-specific and sexually different genetic, social and non-social environmental effects in the ontogeny of parental sex roles and outline the importance of parental negotiation in explaining individual variation of parental behaviour in biparental species.
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12
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13
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Barbasch TA, Branconi R, Francis R, Pacaro M, Srinivasan M, Jones GP, Buston PM. Negotiations over parental care: a test of alternative hypotheses in the clown anemonefish. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
In species with biparental care, conflict arises over how much each parent provides to their offspring because both parents benefit from shifting the burden of care to the other. Here, we tested alternative hypotheses for how parents will negotiate offspring care using a wild population of clownfish (Amphiprion percula). We experimentally handicapped parents by fin-clipping the female in 23 groups, the male in 23 groups, and neither parent in 23 groups and measured changes in indicators of female, male, and pair effort in response to handicapping. First, we found that handicapping resulted in a decrease in the number of eggs laid by fin-clipped females and a decrease in the amount of parental care by fin-clipped males. Second, contrary to predictions, female effort did not change in response to the male being handicapped, or vice versa. Finally, the number of embryos that matured to hatching, an indicator of pair effort, was not influenced by the manipulation, suggesting that although the handicap was effective, clownfish do not face the predicted “cost to conflict” when one parent is handicapped. Together, these results test the generality of theoretical predictions and uncover novel questions about whether and how negotiations operate in systems where interests are aligned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina A Barbasch
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rebecca Branconi
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robin Francis
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Madison Pacaro
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maya Srinivasan
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Geoffrey P Jones
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Peter M Buston
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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14
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Schulte LM, Summers K. Who cares for the eggs? Analysis of egg attendance behaviour in Ranitomeya imitator, a poison frog with biparental care. BEHAVIOUR 2021. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Dendrobatid poison frogs are known for their diverse parental care behaviours, including terrestrial egg attendance. While usually this behaviour is conducted by males, this study compared the pre-hatching investment of males and females in Ranitomeya imitator, a species with biparental care. Although males tended to spend more time with their eggs overall, there was no difference between sexes when comparing different types of care behaviour. Furthermore, both sexes increased general care behaviour when caring for more than one clutch. The finding that the sexes are relatively equal in their contribution to basic parental care forms provides a basis to understand why biparental care is stable in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa M. Schulte
- Department of Wildlife-/Zoo-Animal-Biology and Systematics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Kyle Summers
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, 1001 E Tenth Street, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
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15
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Wojczulanis-Jakubas K. Being the Winner Is Being the Loser When Playing a Parental Tug-of-War – A New Framework on Stability of Biparental Care. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.763075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Because there are basic sexual differences in reproductive potential, and the cost of parental care is assumed to be high, biparental care is viewed as a constant tug-of-war between the partners. This raises the question of the system’s evolutionary stability. Several models have been proposed to resolve this problem but none has received unequivocal support. Here, I propose a framework that not only integrates the earlier theoretical ideas (sealed bids, negotiation) but also considers the importance of the environment (frequently neglected in previous models) and views the cost of parental care from a different perspective (costly in terms of parent’s survival only when performed close to the boundary of parental capacity). The framework suggests that sexual conflict may not be such a significant factor mediating parental care as commonly assumed, and that a parent trying to shift the parental burden onto the partner – assumed to be the winner in the tug-of-war interplay – is actually more likely to be a loser, as doing so may put the success of the current breeding attempt in jeopardy, thereby reducing overall fitness of the parent. Once it is realized that the importance of sexual conflict is actually much less than it seems, it becomes clear that the stability of the biparental care system no longer seems to be such a puzzling issue.
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16
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Griffioen M, Iserbyt A, Müller W. Turn taking is not restricted by task specialisation but does not facilitate equality in offspring provisioning. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21884. [PMID: 34750443 PMCID: PMC8575876 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01298-z] [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: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual conflict arises when two individuals invest in their common offspring because both individuals benefit when their partner invests more. Conditional cooperation is a theoretical concept that could resolve this conflict. Here, parents are thought to motivate each other to contribute to provisioning visits by following the rules of turn taking, which results in equal and efficient investment. However, parents have other tasks besides provisioning, which might hinder taking turns. To investigate restrictions by other care tasks and whether turn taking can be used to match investment, we manipulated brooding duration in female blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) during the early nestling phase by changing nest box temperature. As expected, females subjected to cold conditions brooded longer than females under warm conditions. Yet, contrary to our prediction, females had similar visit rates in both treatments, which suggests that females in the cold treatment invested more overall. In addition, the females' turn taking level was higher in the more demanding cold condition (and the calculated randomised turn taking levels of females did not differ), hence females don't seem to be restricted in their turn taking strategy by other care tasks. However, males did not seem to match the females' turn taking levels because they did not adjust their visit rates. Thus, level of turn taking was not restricted by an other sex-specific task in females and did not facilitate a greater investment by their male partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maaike Griffioen
- Department of Biology, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
| | - Arne Iserbyt
- grid.5284.b0000 0001 0790 3681Department of Biology, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Wendt Müller
- grid.5284.b0000 0001 0790 3681Department of Biology, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
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17
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Wang W, Ma L, Versteegh MA, Wu H, Komdeur J. Parental Care System and Brood Size Drive Sex Difference in Reproductive Allocation: An Experimental Study on Burying Beetles. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.739396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Life-history theory predicts that increased resource allocation in current reproduction comes at the cost of survival and future reproductive fitness. In taxa with biparental care, each parent can adjust investment on current reproduction according to changes in their partner’s effort, but these adjustments may be different for males and females as they may have different reproductive strategies. Numerous theoretical and empirical studies have proposed the mechanism underlying such adjustments. In addition, the value of the brood or litter (brood size) has also been suggested to affect the amount of care through manipulation of brood size. While the two conditions have been studied independently, the impact of their interplay on potential sex-dependent future reproductive performance remains largely unknown. In this study, we simultaneously manipulated both care system (removal of either parent vs. no removal) and brood size in a burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides) to understand their joint effect on reproductive allocation and trade-off between current and future reproduction. Our results show that males compensated for mate loss by significantly increasing the level of care regardless of brood size, while females exhibited such compensation only for small brood size. Additionally, with an increase in allocation to current reproduction, males showed decreased parental investment during the subsequent breeding event as a pair. These findings imply a dual influence of parental care system and brood size on allocation in current reproduction. Moreover, the impact of such adjustments on sex-dependent differences in future reproduction (parental care, larvae number, and average larval mass at dispersal) is also demonstrated. Our findings enhance the understanding of sex roles in parental investment and highlight their importance as drivers of reproductive allocation.
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18
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Spatafora D, Massamba N'Siala G, Quattrocchi F, Milazzo M, Calosi P. Plastic adjustments of biparental care behavior across embryonic development under elevated temperature in a marine ectotherm. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:11155-11167. [PMID: 34429909 PMCID: PMC8366872 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity in parental care investment allows organisms to promptly respond to rapid environmental changes by potentially benefiting offspring survival and thus parental fitness. To date, a knowledge gap exists on whether plasticity in parental care behaviors can mediate responses to climate change in marine ectotherms. Here, we assessed the plasticity of parental care investment under elevated temperatures in a gonochoric marine annelid with biparental care, Ophryotrocha labronica, and investigated its role in maintaining the reproductive success of this species in a warming ocean. We measured the time individuals spent carrying out parental care activities across three phases of embryonic development, as well as the hatching success of the offspring as a proxy for reproductive success, at control (24℃) and elevated (27℃) temperature conditions. Under elevated temperature, we observed: (a) a significant decrease in total parental care activity, underpinned by a decreased in male and simultaneous parental care activity, in the late stage of embryonic development; and (b) a reduction in hatching success that was however not significantly related to changes in parental care activity levels. These findings, along with the observed unaltered somatic growth of parents and decreased brood size, suggest that potential cost-benefit trade-offs between offspring survival (i.e., immediate fitness) and parents' somatic condition (i.e., longer-term fitness potential) may occur under ongoing ocean warming. Finally, our results suggest that plasticity in parental care behavior is a mechanism able to partially mitigate the negative effects of temperature-dependent impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Spatafora
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences (DiSTeM)University of PalermoPalermoItaly
| | - Gloria Massamba N'Siala
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et GéographieUniversité du Québec à RimouskiRimouskiQCCanada
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (CEFE‐CNRS)UMR 5175Montpellier Cedex 5France
| | - Federico Quattrocchi
- Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM)National Research Council CNRMazara del Vallo (TP)Italy
| | - Marco Milazzo
- Department of Earth and Marine Sciences (DiSTeM)University of PalermoPalermoItaly
| | - Piero Calosi
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et GéographieUniversité du Québec à RimouskiRimouskiQCCanada
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19
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Jenkins JB, Mueller AJ, Thompson CF, Sakaluk SK, Bowers EK. Female birds monitor the activity of their mates while brooding nest-bound young. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:613-628. [PMID: 33392914 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01453-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
In addition to food and protection, altricial young in many species are ectothermic and require that endothermic parents provide warmth to foster growth, yet only one parent-typically the female-broods these young to keep them warm. When this occurs, reduced provisioning by males obliges females to forage instead of providing warmth for offspring, favoring the temporal mapping of male activities. We assessed this in a wild house wren population while experimentally feeding nestlings to control offspring satiety. While brooding, females look out from the nest to inspect their surroundings, and we hypothesized that this helps to determine if their mate is nearby and likely to deliver food to the brood (males pass food to brooding females, which pass the food to nestlings). Females looked out from the nest less often when their partner was singing nearby and when his singing and provisioning were temporally linked, signaling his impending food delivery. Females also left to forage less often when their mate was nearby and likely to deliver food. Nestling begging did not affect these behaviors. Females looking out from the nest more often also provisioned at a higher rate and were more likely to divorce and find a new mate prior to nesting again within seasons, as expected if females switch mates when a male fails to meet expectations. Our results suggest anticipatory effects generated by male behavior and that brooding females temporally map male activity to inform decisions about whether to continue brooding or to leave the nest to forage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan B Jenkins
- Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Biodiversity Research, Edward J. Meeman Biological Station, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Alexander J Mueller
- Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Biodiversity Research, Edward J. Meeman Biological Station, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA.,National Park Service, Southeast Utah Group, Moab, UT, 84532, USA
| | - Charles F Thompson
- Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Section, School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 61790-4120, USA
| | - Scott K Sakaluk
- Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Section, School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 61790-4120, USA
| | - E Keith Bowers
- Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Biodiversity Research, Edward J. Meeman Biological Station, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA.
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20
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Snekser JL, Itzkowitz M. Convict cichlid parents that stay with the same mate develop unique and consistent divisions of roles. PeerJ 2020; 8:e10534. [PMID: 33362975 PMCID: PMC7745672 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies, largely on avian species, have suggested that pairs that are permanently monogamous and have biparental care develop a coordination over time that enhances offspring survival. If this is the case, we predicted that a parent involved in biparental care would develop a pattern of biparental care specific to a particular mate and remain consistent in that pattern over time but would lose this pattern if it were to change mates. We tested this prediction with the convict cichlid fish (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) which has biparental care that is both complex and flexible. In this species, each parent can perform all parental roles but typically shows a division of labor in which males typically defend against offspring predators while the female typically provides direct care to the offspring. At various times, the parents briefly switch roles. Our experiments revealed that pairs that remained together for two consecutive broods were more consistent in their parental behaviors, including time they spent near the intruder and in the nest compared to pairs that were comprised of individuals that had previously mated with other partners. Also individuals that remained with the same partner were also more consistent as a parental unit, maintaining their sex-specific roles of males defending aggressively against an intruder and females spending more time directly caring for young. While our experiment clearly support our prediction that individuals do develop unique coordination with specific individuals, convict cichlids in nature appear to be largely serially monogamous in which they mate only once before changing partners. Thus, it is likely this coordination may be available in many species that have biparental care but become adaptive when repeated matings become common.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Snekser
- Department of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY, United States of America
| | - Murray Itzkowitz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh Univervsity, Bethlehem, PA, United States of America
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21
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Savage JL, Hinde CA, Johnstone RA. Editorial: Cooperation and Coordination in the Family. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.614863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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22
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Wen Y, Guan H, Xu J, Li J. Do Parental Feeding Rate and Feeding Synchrony Affect Nest Survival in a Songbird? Zoolog Sci 2020; 37:580-585. [DOI: 10.2108/zs200039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ye Wen
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Haohui Guan
- Experimental Centre of Forestry in North China, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 102300, China
| | - Jiliang Xu
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Jianqiang Li
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
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23
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Baldan D, Ouyang JQ. Urban resources limit pair coordination over offspring provisioning. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15888. [PMID: 32985594 PMCID: PMC7522258 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72951-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The amount of care parents provide to the offspring is complicated by an evolutionary conflict of interest (‘sexual conflict’) between the two parents. Recent theoretical models suggest that pair coordination of the provisioning may reduce this conflict and increase parent and offspring fitness. Despite empirical studies showing that pair coordination is common in avian species, it remains unclear how environmental and ecological conditions might promote or limit the ability of parents to coordinate care. We compared the level of pair coordination, measured as alternation and synchrony of the nest visits, of house wrens Troglodytes aedon pairs breeding in a rural (10 nests) and a suburban (9 nests) site and investigated how differences in parental behaviours were related to habitat composition, prey abundance and how they ultimately related to reproductive success. We found that parents alternated and synchronized their nest visits more in the rural site compared to the suburban one. The suburban site is characterized by a more fragmented habitat with more coniferous trees and less caterpillar availability. Offspring from the rural site were heavier at fledging than at the suburban site. Taken together, these results suggest that environmental conditions play an important role on the emergence of coordinated parental care and that considering environmental variables is pivotal to assess the fitness consequences of parental strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Baldan
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N Virginia St., Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
| | - Jenny Q Ouyang
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N Virginia St., Reno, NV, 89557, USA
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24
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Patrick SC, Corbeau A, Réale D, Weimerskirch H. Coordination in parental effort decreases with age in a long‐lived seabird. OIKOS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.07404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha C. Patrick
- School of Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Liverpool Nicholson Building, Brownlow Street Liverpool L69 3GP UK
| | - Alexandre Corbeau
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS – Univ. La Rochelle Villiers‐en‐Bois France
| | - Denis Réale
- UQAM Dept des Sciences Biologiques, Dept des Sciences Biologiques Montreal QC Canada
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS – Univ. La Rochelle Villiers‐en‐Bois France
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25
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Suzuki S. Biparental negotiation or larval begging? Determinant of male provisioning in a burying beetle (Nicrophorus quadripunctatus). BEHAVIOUR 2020. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
In species showing biparental care, parents often adjust their level of care facultatively. Partners can potentially monitor each other directly (modify their effort sequentially in direct response to the prior effort of their mate) or indirectly (parents modify their effort through the begging rates of their offspring). This study examined whether partner negotiation or begging by larvae best explains male provisioning in Nicrophorus quadripunctatus. The frequency of males approaching larvae to feed did not increase with either female removal or female handicapping. However, larval begging toward males increased with female removal, but not with female handicapping. This suggests that larvae are not affected by the change of female investment in care but larvae reacted to the absence of a female parent. Although larvae begged more towards the male when the female was removed, my findings show that males did not respond by increasing their care, which suggests that males are insensitive to variation in their partner’s state or offspring behaviour in N. quadripunctatus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seizi Suzuki
- Department of Ecology and Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kitaku kita 9 Nishi 9,Sapporo 060-8589, Japan
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26
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Barbasch TA, Alonzo SH, Buston PM. Power and punishment influence negotiations over parental care. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Asymmetries in power (the ability to influence the outcome of conflict) are ubiquitous in social interactions because interacting individuals are rarely identical. It is well documented that asymmetries in power influence the outcome of reproductive conflict in social groups. Yet power asymmetries have received little attention in the context of negotiations between caring parents, which is surprising given that parents are often markedly different in size. Here we built on an existing negotiation model to examine how power and punishment influence negotiations over care. We incorporated power asymmetry by allowing the more-powerful parent, rank 1, to inflict punishment on the less-powerful parent, rank 2. We then determined when punishment will be favored by selection and how it would affect the negotiated behavioral response of each parent. We found that with power and punishment, a reduction in one parent’s effort results in partial compensation by the other parent. However, the degree of compensation is asymmetric: the rank 2 compensates more than the rank 1. As a result, the fitness of rank 1 increases and the fitness of rank 2 decreases, relative to the original negotiation model. Furthermore, because power and punishment enable one parent to extract greater effort from the other, offspring can do better, that is, receive more total effort, when there is power and punishment involved in negotiations over care. These results reveal how power and punishment alter the outcome of conflict between parents and affect offspring, providing insights into the evolutionary consequences of exerting power in negotiations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina A Barbasch
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Suzanne H Alonzo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Peter M Buston
- Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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27
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Ratz T, Perodaskalaki A, Moorad J, Smiseth PT. Effects of inbreeding on behavioural plasticity of parent-offspring interactions in a burying beetle. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:1006-1016. [PMID: 32390294 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Revised: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Inbreeding depression is defined as a fitness decline in progeny resulting from mating between related individuals, the severity of which may vary across environmental conditions. Such inbreeding-by-environment interactions might reflect that inbred individuals have a lower capacity for adjusting their phenotype to match different environmental conditions better, as shown in prior studies on developmental plasticity. Behavioural plasticity is more flexible than developmental plasticity because it is reversible and relatively quick, but little is known about its sensitivity to inbreeding. Here, we investigate effects of inbreeding on behavioural plasticity in the context of parent-offspring interactions in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Larvae increase begging with the level of hunger, and parents increase their level of care when brood sizes increase. Here, we find that inbreeding increased behavioural plasticity in larvae: inbred larvae reduced their time spent associating with a parent in response to the length of food deprivation more than outbred larvae. However, inbreeding had no effect on the behavioural plasticity of offspring begging or any parental behaviour. Overall, our results show that inbreeding can increase behavioural plasticity. We suggest that inbreeding-by-environment interactions might arise when inbreeding is associated with too little or too much plasticity in response to changing environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Ratz
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Jacob Moorad
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Per T Smiseth
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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28
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Burdick C, Siefferman L. Interspecific Density Influences the Adaptive Significance of Provisioning Coordination Between Breeding Partners. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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29
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Sex-specific patterns of minimal compensation of care during and after short term mate removal in biparental blue tits. Behav Processes 2020; 173:104026. [PMID: 31987847 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.104026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2019] [Revised: 11/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Early theoretical models predicted that over evolutionary timescales, changes in effort by one biparental parent should result in incomplete compensation by the other. Empirical studies, however, report responses ranging from no compensation through to complete compensation which may mean that parents respond to each other's efforts over short time scales, as predicted by some recent theoretical models. Few studies have examined behavioural changes over short time periods which mimic the onset of reduced effort so we removed one blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) parent for 20 min during nestling provisioning. We then quantified the provisioning rates of both parents for 60 min 'pre-removal', the non-removed partner during the 20 min 'removal' period and both parents for 60 min 'post-removal'. When compared to pre-removal, both sexes reduced their provisioning rates during the removal stage and also during the post-removal stage. There were, however, sex-specific provisioning patterns in the hour after the parent was returned because after females were released, males began provisioning at a relatively high rate and then maintained that rate across the hour after removal whereas after males were released, females began provisioning at a low rate but significantly increased thereafter. There was no long term effect on offspring fitness, which probably reflects the short time parents were removed and so we conclude that parents with biparental care adjust their provisioning rates to successfully overcome very short term decreases in care.
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30
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Paciorek T, Joseph L. Behavioral and Endocrine Alterations to Partner Interactions and Offspring Care during Periods of Conflict. Integr Org Biol 2020; 2:obaa002. [PMID: 33791546 PMCID: PMC7671132 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obaa002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Biparental care has evolved to ensure successful rearing of offspring. However, separation during periods of care can lead to conflicts that might negatively impact pair bonds and offspring care. In this study, pair-bonded convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) were observed for changes in behavior toward their partners and offspring before and after a period of separation. Males and females were designated either as a Resident (remain with offspring) or Removed (separated from partner and offspring for 5 days) individual. Behaviors between partners and toward offspring were measured before and after separation, and compared to the levels of behavior of control pairs (never separated), as well as individuals introduced to a novel partner instead. Cortisol levels of Resident male and female A. nigrofasciata were assayed using water-borne hormone collection before and after separation. Aggression between pair bond members did increase following reintroduction, but did not lead to the termination of pair bonds. Resident females showed more aggression to novel partners than Resident males. Offspring care decreased in both Resident and Removed females. Experimental pairs decreased the amount of time spent interacting with intruders. Cortisol levels were significantly higher among experimental pairs compared with control pairs that did not experience a separation. Females (both control and experimental) showed small, yet significant increases in cortisol levels, while both control and experimental males did not. These results suggest that while pair bonds appear resilient, prolonged separations influence pair bond and parental care dynamics, both behaviorally and hormonally, and require pairs to re-establish roles, resulting in less time caring for offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Paciorek
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
| | - Leese Joseph
- Department of Biology, DeSales University, Center Valley, PA 18034, USA
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31
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Akçay E. Deconstructing Evolutionary Game Theory: Coevolution of Social Behaviors with Their Evolutionary Setting. Am Nat 2019; 195:315-330. [PMID: 32017621 DOI: 10.1086/706811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Evolution of social behaviors is one of the most fascinating and active fields of evolutionary biology. During the past half century, social evolution theory developed into a mature field with powerful tools to understand the dynamics of social traits such as cooperation under a wide range of conditions. In this article, I argue that the next stage in the development of social evolution theory should consider the evolution of the setting in which social behaviors evolve. To that end, I propose a conceptual map of the components that make up the evolutionary setting of social behaviors, review existing work that considers the evolution of each component, and discuss potential future directions. The theoretical work reviewed here illustrates how unexpected dynamics can happen when the setting of social evolution itself is evolving, such as cooperation sometimes being self-limiting. I argue that a theory of how the setting of social evolution itself evolves will lead to a deeper understanding of when cooperation and other social behaviors evolve and diversify.
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32
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Baldan D, Hinde CA, Lessells CM. Turn-Taking Between Provisioning Parents: Partitioning Alternation. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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33
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Griffith SC. Cooperation and Coordination in Socially Monogamous Birds: Moving Away From a Focus on Sexual Conflict. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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34
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Wagner GF, Mourocq E, Griesser M. Distribution of Experimentally Increased Costs of Parental Care Among Family Members Depends on Duration of Offspring Care in Biparental Birds. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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35
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Mariette MM. Acoustic Cooperation: Acoustic Communication Regulates Conflict and Cooperation Within the Family. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
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36
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37
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Johnstone RA, Savage JL. Conditional Cooperation and Turn-Taking in Parental Care. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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38
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Lejeune L, Savage JL, Bründl AC, Thiney A, Russell AF, Chaine AS. Environmental Effects on Parental Care Visitation Patterns in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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39
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Ducouret P, Romano A, Dreiss AN, Marmaroli P, Falourd X, Roulin A. The Art of Diplomacy in Vocally Negotiating Barn Owl Siblings. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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40
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Grissot A, Araya-Salas M, Jakubas D, Kidawa D, Boehnke R, Błachowiak-Samołyk K, Wojczulanis-Jakubas K. Parental Coordination of Chick Provisioning in a Planktivorous Arctic Seabird Under Divergent Conditions on Foraging Grounds. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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41
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Griffioen M, Iserbyt A, Müller W. Handicapping Males Does Not Affect Their Rate of Parental Provisioning, but Impinges on Their Partners' Turn Taking Behavior. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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42
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Pogány Á, Morvai B, Krause ET, Kitsios E, Böhm T, Ruploh T, von Engelhardt N, Székely T, Komdeur J, Miklósi Á, Krüger O. Short- and Long-Term Social Effects of Parental Sex Roles in Zebra Finches. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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43
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Groenewoud F, Kingma SA, Bebbington K, Richardson DS, Komdeur J. Experimentally induced antipredator responses are mediated by social and environmental factors. Behav Ecol 2019; 30:986-992. [PMID: 31289428 PMCID: PMC6606998 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Nest predation is a common cause of reproductive failure for many bird species, and various antipredator defense behaviors have evolved to reduce the risk of nest predation. However, trade-offs between current reproductive duties and future reproduction often limit the parent's ability to respond to nest predation risk. Individual responses to experimentally increased nest predation risk can give insights into these trade-offs. Here, we investigate whether social and ecological factors affect individual responses to predation risk by experimentally manipulating the risk of nest predation using taxidermic mounts in the cooperative breeding Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis). Our results show that dominant females, but not males, alarm called more often when they confront a nest predator model alone than when they do so with a partner, and that individuals that confront a predator together attacked more than those that did so alone. Dominant males increased their antipredator defense by spending more time nest guarding after a presentation with a nest predator, compared with a nonpredator control, but no such effect was found for females, who did not increase the time spent incubating. In contrast to incubation by females, nest guarding responses by dominant males depended on the presence of other group members and food availability. These results suggest that while female investment in incubation is always high and not dependent on social and ecological conditions, males have a lower initial investment, which allows them to respond to sudden changes in nest predation risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Groenewoud
- Behavioural Physiology and Ecology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, CC Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Sjouke A Kingma
- Behavioural Physiology and Ecology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, CC Groningen, the Netherlands
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University & Research,AH Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Kat Bebbington
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - David S Richardson
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- Nature Seychelles, Mahé, Republic of Seychelles
| | - Jan Komdeur
- Behavioural Physiology and Ecology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, CC Groningen, the Netherlands
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44
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Bründl AC, Sorato E, Sallé L, Thiney AC, Kaulbarsch S, Chaine AS, Russell AF. Experimentally induced increases in fecundity lead to greater nestling care in blue tits. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191013. [PMID: 31238840 PMCID: PMC6599988 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Models on the evolution of bi-parental care typically assume that maternal investment in offspring production is fixed and predict subsequent contributions to offspring care by the pair are stabilized by partial compensation. While experimental tests of this prediction are supportive, exceptions are commonplace. Using wild blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), we provide, to our knowledge, the first investigation into the effects of increasing maternal investment in offspring production for subsequent contributions to nestling provisioning by mothers and male partners. Females that were induced to lay two extra eggs provisioned nestlings 43% more frequently than controls, despite clutch size being made comparable between treatment groups at the onset of incubation. Further, experimental males did not significantly reduce provisioning rates as expected by partial compensation, and if anything contributed slightly (9%) more than controls. Finally, nestlings were significantly heavier in experimental nests compared with controls, suggesting that the 22% average increase in provisioning rates by experimental pairs was beneficial. Our results have potential implications for our understanding of provisioning rules, the maintenance of bi-parental care and the timescale over which current–future life-history trade-offs operate. We recommend greater consideration of female investment at the egg stage to more fully understand the evolutionary dynamics of bi-parental care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aisha C Bründl
- 1 Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK.,2 Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (UMR5321), CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier , 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis , France
| | - Enrico Sorato
- 2 Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (UMR5321), CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier , 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis , France
| | - Louis Sallé
- 2 Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (UMR5321), CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier , 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis , France
| | - Alice C Thiney
- 2 Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (UMR5321), CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier , 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis , France
| | - Sonja Kaulbarsch
- 1 Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Alexis S Chaine
- 2 Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (UMR5321), CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier , 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis , France.,3 Toulouse School of Economics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Toulouse , 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse , France
| | - Andrew F Russell
- 1 Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
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45
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Griffioen M, Müller W, Iserbyt A. A fixed agreement-consequences of brood size manipulation on alternation in blue tits. PeerJ 2019; 7:e6826. [PMID: 31086746 PMCID: PMC6486810 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have proposed that conditional cooperation may resolve sexual conflict over the amount of care provided by each parent. Such conditional cooperation may allow parents to equalize their investment by alternating their provisioning visits. This alternated pattern of male and female visits, that is, alternation, is thought to stimulate each other’s investment leading to higher levels of provisioning and potential benefits for offspring development. However, experimental studies testing the role of alternation as an adaptive parental strategy to negotiate the level of investment are still absent. Therefore, we manipulated blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) parents by temporarily changing their brood sizes to induce changes in demand and thus visit rates. Parents were expected to visit more—assuming that prey sizes were constant—and alternate at higher levels when confronted with an enlarged brood given the greater potential for sexual conflict. In contrast, in reduced broods visit rates and alternation may become lower due to the smaller investment that is needed for reduced broods. We show that the level of alternation did not differ in response to the manipulated brood sizes, despite a directional change in visit rates for enlarged and reduced broods as expected. Nestlings did not benefit from high levels of alternation as no effects on nestling mass gain were present in either of the different manipulations. These findings indicate that alternation does not serve as a mechanism to motivate each other to feed at higher rates. Parents hence appeared to be inflexible in their level of alternation. We therefore suggest that the level of alternation might reflect a fixed agreement about the relative investment by each of the caring parents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maaike Griffioen
- Department of Biology, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Wendt Müller
- Department of Biology, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Arne Iserbyt
- Department of Biology, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
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Bulla M, Valcu M, Rutten AL, Kempenaers B. Temporary Mate Removal During Incubation Leads to Variable Compensation in a Biparental Shorebird. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Enduring rules of care within pairs - how blue tit parents resume provisioning behaviour after experimental disturbance. Sci Rep 2019; 9:2776. [PMID: 30808890 PMCID: PMC6391394 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-39139-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual conflict over parental investment can result in suboptimal reproductive output. A recent hypothesis suggests that equality in investment, and hence conflict resolution, may be reached via coordination of parental activities like alternating nest visits. However, how robust patterns of care within couples are against temporal disturbances that create asymmetries in parental investment remains as yet to be shown. We here experimentally created such a social disturbance in a wild population of biparental blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) when provisioning their nestlings. We randomly caught and subsequently released one of the parents when nestlings were 6 and 12 days old respectively. On average, the parent that was caught did not resume care for nearly two hours. We then compared the levels of individual investment and within-pair coordination before, during and after the absence of the disturbed parent. We show that the remaining parent partially compensated by increasing its provisioning rate, but this compensatory response was strongest in females when nestlings were 6 days old. Once the caught parent returned to feed its nestlings, both parents resumed provisioning at a similar rate as before the disturbance. Likewise, the within-pair alternation level quickly resembled the pre-manipulated level, independent of nestling age or which sex was caught. Thus our experiment highlights the resilience of parental behaviour against temporal disturbances of individual parents.
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48
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Male parental investment reflects the level of partner contributions and brood value in tree swallows. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2594-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Sowersby W, Lehtonen TK, Wong BBM. Threat sensitive adjustment of aggression by males and females in a biparental cichlid. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Will Sowersby
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Topi K Lehtonen
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Biosciences, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Bob B M Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
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