Parental Care in a Stressful World: Experimentally Elevated Cortisol and Brood Size Manipulation Influence Nest Success Probability and Nest-Tending Behavior in a Wild Teleost Fish

The differential allocation hypothesis posits that individuals should invest in the current reproductive attempt according to the attractiveness of their mate, but studies of allocation by males when female traits are manipulated to be more attractive are lacking. In the current study, we experimentally enhanced and reduced the plumage brightness of female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) relative to controls to examine whether males adjust investment in parental care according to female attractiveness, while simultaneously performing a brood size manipulation. Contrary to our predictions, we found no evidence that males provisioned nestlings according to the plumage brightness of females. However, we found that nestling quality and fledging success were lowest when female plumage brightness was reduced and brood size was enlarged. This may be due to the plumage brightness treatment influencing agonistic interactions with other females, and may suggest that plumage brightness is a signal assessed by females.

Download Full-text

Brood size manipulation reveals cost on the size of the second clutch in the earwig Anisolabis maritime

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/1568539x-bja10121 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Seizi Suzuki

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Parental Care ◽

Clutch Size ◽

Maternal Care ◽

Brood Size ◽

Trade Off ◽

Brood Size Manipulation ◽

Second Clutch ◽

The Cost

Abstract There may be a trade-off between the duration of parental care and future reproductive success. Traditionally, studies about the cost of parental care have included the removal of the parent. However, producing a secondary clutch after the failure of the first one is a compensatory behaviour that occurs in cases of brood failure. In this study, attempts were made to detect the cost of maternal care in the earwig, Anisolabis maritima (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae) by either extending the period of care or increasing the brood size to prevent compensation through the brood’s success. The results indicated that manipulation did not change the inter-clutch interval, although my previous study revealed shortening of these intervals after the removal of the clutch in this species. In this study, decreased clutch size manipulation increased the size of the following clutch.

Download Full-text

Offspring telomere length in the long lived Alpine swift is negatively related to the age of their biological father and foster mother

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2017.0188 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 20170188 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

François Criscuolo ◽

Sandrine Zahn ◽

Pierre Bize

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Brood Size ◽

Foster Parents ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Early Growth ◽

Foster Mother ◽

Biological Father ◽

Accumulation Of Damage ◽

Older Males

A growing body of studies is showing that offspring telomere length (TL) can be influenced by the age of their parents. Such a relationship might be explained by variation in TL at conception (gamete effect) and/or by alteration of early growth conditions in species providing parental care. In a long-lived bird with bi-parental care, the Alpine swift ( Apus melba ), we exchanged an uneven number of 2 to 4-day-old nestlings between pairs as part of a brood size manipulation. Nestling TL was measured at 50 days after hatching, which allowed investigation of the influence of the age of both their biological and foster parents on offspring TL, after controlling for the manipulation. Nestling TL was negatively related to the age of their biological father and foster mother. Nestling TL did not differ between enlarged and reduced broods. These findings suggest that offspring from older males were fertilized by gametes with shorter telomeres, presumably due to a greater cell division history or a longer accumulation of damage, and that older females may have provided poorer parental care to their offspring.

Download Full-text

Reproductive History and Nest Environment Are Correlated with Circulating Androgen and Glucocorticoid Concentrations in a Parental Care–Providing Teleost Fish

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology ◽

10.1086/665272 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 85 (3) ◽

pp. 209-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Constance M. O’Connor ◽

Brandon L. Barthel ◽

Kathleen M. Gilmour ◽

David P. Philipp ◽

Glen Van Der Kraak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Teleost Fish ◽

Reproductive History

Download Full-text

When to pay the cost of reproduction? A brood size manipulation experiment in great tits (Parus major)

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology ◽

10.1007/s00265-003-0608-1 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 105-112 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Peeter Hõrak

Keyword(s):

Brood Size ◽

Parus Major ◽

Cost Of Reproduction ◽

Brood Size Manipulation ◽

The Cost ◽

Manipulation Experiment

Download Full-text

Parental genetic similarity and offspring performance in blue tits in relation to brood size manipulation

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.5367 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (18) ◽

pp. 10085-10091

Author(s):

Aneta Arct ◽

Szymon M. Drobniak ◽

Samantha Mellinger ◽

Lars Gustafsson ◽

Mariusz Cichoń

Keyword(s):

Genetic Similarity ◽

Brood Size ◽

Offspring Performance ◽

Brood Size Manipulation ◽

Blue Tits

Download Full-text

Erratum: Sex differences in parental care in the common swift (Apus apus): effect of brood size and nestling age

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z99-900 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 76 (11) ◽

pp. 2130 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Claudio Carere ◽

Enrico Alleva

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Parental Care ◽

Brood Size ◽

The Common

Download Full-text

Variation in the Mating System of a Biparental Cichlid Fish, Cichlasoma Panamense

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/156853985x00118 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 95 (3-4) ◽

pp. 181-197 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

R.J. Wootton ◽

T.J. Townshend

Keyword(s):

Game Theory ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Parental Care ◽

Attack Rate ◽

Brood Size ◽

Cichlid Fish ◽

Dry Season ◽

Water Levels ◽

Time Away ◽

A Current

AbstractCichlasoma panamense is a biparental, substrate-spawning cichlid which breeds during the dry season in Panamanian streams. In one population some males helped to defend their offspring throughout the period of parental care but many deserted their mates to achieve additional spawnings leaving females to guard alone. The proportion of C. panamense guarding in pairs increased throughout the breeding season. This was associated with an increase in the rate with which parental cichlids attacked potential brood predators and an increase in brood size. The increase in attack rate was due to the crowding of fishes as water levels receded during the dry season and especially to the increasing numbers of newly independent cichlids which congregated in the shallow water areas where C. panamense brood. The sex ratio in the population was strongly biased towards females. Males spent more time away from the brood than females which enabled them to find and spawn with unmated females. The attack rate of females brooding alone was not significantly higher than that of those with mates and their foraging rate not significantly lower although they spent less time away from their brood. In a more productive stream where population density was high, breeding was almost entirely in monogamous pairs. The rate at which parents attacked potential predators was higher, the sex ratio was 1:1 and brood size was large. The male's decision to guard or desert appears to depend on his opportunities for further matings, the ability of the female to guard alone and the value of a current brood. These results agree with the predictions of game theory models of parental care.

Download Full-text