1
|
D'Amelio PB, Ferreira AC, Fortuna R, Paquet M, Silva LR, Theron F, Doutrelant C, Covas R. Disentangling climatic and nest predator impact on reproductive output reveals adverse high-temperature effects regardless of helper number in an arid-region cooperative bird. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:151-162. [PMID: 34787354 PMCID: PMC9299450 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Climate exerts a major influence on reproductive processes, and an understanding of the mechanisms involved and which factors might mitigate adverse weather is fundamental under the ongoing climate change. Here, we study how weather and nest predation influence reproductive output in a social species, and examine whether larger group sizes can mitigate the adverse effects of these factors. We used a 7‐year nest predator‐exclusion experiment on an arid‐region cooperatively breeding bird, the sociable weaver. We found that dry and, especially, hot weather were major drivers of nestling mortality through their influence on nest predation. However, when we experimentally excluded nest predators, these conditions were still strongly associated with nestling mortality. Group size was unimportant against nest predation and, although positively associated with reproductive success, it did not mitigate the effects of adverse weather. Hence, cooperative breeding might have a limited capacity to mitigate extreme weather effects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pietro B D'Amelio
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.,Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, 34293, France
| | - André C Ferreira
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, 34293, France.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.,CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Rita Fortuna
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.,CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.,Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, 4099-002, Porto, Portugal
| | - Matthieu Paquet
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SE-75007, Sweden
| | - Liliana R Silva
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.,CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Franck Theron
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, 34293, France.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.,CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Claire Doutrelant
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.,Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, 34293, France
| | - Rita Covas
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.,CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fortuna R, Paquet M, Ferreira AC, Silva LR, Theron F, Doutrelant C, Covas R. Maternal allocation in relation to weather, predation and social factors in a colonial cooperative bird. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:1122-1133. [PMID: 33550597 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Females may adjust prenatal allocation in relation to ecological conditions that affect reproductive success, such as weather conditions or predation risk. In cooperative breeders, helpers might also influence reproductive success, and previous studies suggest that females can lay smaller eggs or larger clutches when breeding with more helpers. Although recent work suggests that helper effects can vary according to climatic variables, how social and ecological factors interact to shape prenatal allocation is poorly understood. Here, we examine how ecological and social components of the breeding environment covary with egg mass and clutch size, using as a model the sociable weaver Philetairus socius, a colonial, cooperatively breeding passerine. The study spanned 9 years and included over 1,900 eggs from over 550 clutches. Our analyses combined natural variation in weather conditions (rainfall before each reproductive event) with a nest predator-exclusion experiment and continuous monitoring of the mother's social environment, allowing us to estimate how individual females adjust allocation to reproduction as their number of helpers varies. We found that egg mass varied consistently within females and did not clearly differ in relation to rainfall or predation risk. Contrary to previous studies, there was no evidence for plastic adjustments as females gained and lost helpers, and egg mass was instead better predicted by mother size and identity. Females laid larger clutches when breeding in environments where predation risk was experimentally reduced and after higher rainfall levels. Yet, there was no evidence for increasing clutch size as the number of helpers increased, nor for an interaction between helper effects and ecological factors. We conclude that while sociable weaver females can vary their clutch size, they show high individual consistency in egg mass. In addition, we found no evidence that females may maximize fitness through plastic prenatal allocation in relation to the number of helpers, or that the presence/absence of helper effects is modulated by rainfall levels or predation risk. These results challenge our current knowledge on some of the possible benefits of breeding with helpers and call for more long-term analyses on reproductive allocation adjustments in other cooperative systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rita Fortuna
- CIBIO-InBIO - Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Matthieu Paquet
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - André C Ferreira
- CIBIO-InBIO - Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Vairão, Portugal.,CEFE-UMR5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Liliana R Silva
- CIBIO-InBIO - Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Franck Theron
- CEFE-UMR5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Claire Doutrelant
- CEFE-UMR5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Rita Covas
- CIBIO-InBIO - Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Vairão, Portugal.,Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Fargevieille A, Grégoire A, Charmantier A, Del Rey Granado M, Doutrelant C. Assortative mating by colored ornaments in blue tits: space and time matter. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:2069-2078. [PMID: 28405273 PMCID: PMC5383486 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2016] [Revised: 01/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Assortative mating is a potential outcome of sexual selection, and estimating its level is important to better understand local adaptation and underlying trait evolution. However, assortative mating studies frequently base their conclusions on small numbers of individuals sampled over short periods of time and limited spatial scales even though spatiotemporal variation is common. Here, we characterized assortative mating patterns over 10 years in four populations of the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), a passerine bird. We focused on two plumage ornaments-the blue crown and the yellow breast patch. Based on data for 1,657 pairs of birds, we found large interannual variation: assortative mating varied from positive to negative. To determine whether there was nonetheless a general trend in the data, we ran a within-study meta-analysis. It revealed that assortative mating was moderately positive for both ornaments. It also showed that mating patterns differed among populations and especially between two neighboring populations that displayed phenotypic divergence. Our results therefore underscore that long-term studies are needed to draw broad conclusions about mating patterns in natural populations. They also call for studying the potential role of assortative mating in local adaptation and evolution of ornaments in both sexes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Arnaud Grégoire
- CEFE UMR5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier Montpellier France
| | - Anne Charmantier
- CEFE UMR5175 CNRS - Université de Montpellier Montpellier France
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Holtmann B, Grosser S, Lagisz M, Johnson SL, Santos ESA, Lara CE, Robertson BC, Nakagawa S. Population differentiation and behavioural association of the two ‘personality’ genesDRD4andSERTin dunnocks (Prunella modularis). Mol Ecol 2016; 25:706-22. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.13514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2015] [Revised: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 11/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- B. Holtmann
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
| | - S. Grosser
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
| | - M. Lagisz
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; University of New South Wales; Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
| | - S. L. Johnson
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
| | - E. S. A. Santos
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
- Departamento de Zoologia; Universidade de São Paulo; Rua do Matão, Trav. 14, n˚ 101 Cid. Universitária São Paulo SP 05508-090 Brazil
| | - C. E. Lara
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
| | - B. C. Robertson
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
| | - S. Nakagawa
- Department of Zoology; University of Otago; 340 Great King Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; University of New South Wales; Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
| |
Collapse
|