scholarly journals Importance of breeding season and maternal investment in studies of sex-ratio adjustment: a case study using tree swallows

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud Baeta ◽  
Marc Bélisle ◽  
Dany Garant
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Maternal Investment ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Maternal Characteristics ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Brood Sex Ratio ◽  
Allocation Patterns ◽  
Sex Ratio Adjustment

The control of primary sex-ratio by vertebrates has become a major focus in biology in recent years. Evolutionary theory predicts that a differential effect of maternal characteristics on the fitness of sons and daughters is an important route, whereby selection is expected to favour a bias towards the production of one sex. However, despite experimental evidence for adaptive brood sex-ratio manipulation, support for this prediction remains a major challenge in vertebrates where inconsistencies between correlative studies are frequently reported. Here, we used a large dataset (2215 nestlings over 3 years) from a wild population of tree swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ) and show that variations in breeding conditions affect female sex allocation in this species. Our results also suggest that such variation in sex allocation, owing to breeding season heterogeneity, modifies the relationships between maternal characteristics and maternal investment. Indeed, we detect a positive effect of maternal age on brood sex-ratio when age also affects offspring condition (in a low-quality breeding season). Our results indicate that including measures of both breeding season quality and maternal investment will help to better understand sex allocation patterns.

scholarly journals Breeding ecology and bias in offspring sex ratio in little grassbirds (Megalurus gramineus)

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca R. McIntosh ◽  
Romke Kats ◽  
Mathew Berg ◽  
Jan Komdeur ◽  
Mark A. Elgar
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Breeding Ecology ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Reed Beds ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex

Little grassbirds (Megalurus gramineus) are small, sexually monomorphic passerines that live in reed beds, lignum swamps and salt marshes in southern Australia. The breeding biology and patterns of sex allocation of the little grassbird were investigated over a single breeding season. Our observations of this species in the Edithvale Wetland Reserve revealed a highly male-biased population sex ratio, with some breeding territories containing several additional males. Nevertheless, there was little compelling evidence that little grassbirds breed cooperatively. The growth rates of male and female nestlings were similar and, as predicted by theory, there was no overall primary sex ratio bias. However, the primary sex ratio was female-biased early in the breeding season and became increasingly male-biased later in the breeding season.

scholarly journals Primary sex ratio adjustment to experimentally reduced male UV attractiveness in blue tits

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Korsten ◽  
C. (Kate) M. Lessells ◽  
A. Christa Mateman ◽  
Marco van der Velde ◽  
Jan Komdeur
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Adjustment ◽  
Blue Tits

scholarly journals Sperm sex ratio adjustment in a mammal: perceived male competition leads to elevated proportions of female-producing sperm

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 20190929
Author(s):  
Renée C. Firman ◽  
Jamie N. Tedeschi ◽  
Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Sex Ratio Adjustment ◽  
Adaptive Adjustment ◽  
Male House

Mammal sex allocation research has focused almost exclusively on maternal traits, but it is now apparent that fathers can also influence offspring sex ratios. Parents that produce female offspring under conditions of intense male–male competition can benefit with greater assurance of maximized grand-parentage. Adaptive adjustment in the sperm sex ratio, for example with an increase in the production of X-chromosome bearing sperm (CBS), is one potential paternal mechanism for achieving female-biased sex ratios. Here, we tested this mechanistic hypothesis by varying the risk of male–male competition that male house mice perceived during development, and quantifying sperm sex ratios at sexual maturity. Our analyses revealed that males exposed to a competitive ‘risk’ produced lower proportions of Y-CBS compared to males that matured under ‘no risk’ of competition. We also explored whether testosterone production was linked to sperm sex ratio variation, but found no evidence to support this. We discuss our findings in relation to the adaptive value of sperm sex ratio adjustments and the role of steroid hormones in socially induced sex allocation.

Facultative sex allocation in the viviparous lizard Eulamprus tympanum, a species with temperature-dependent sex determination

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie A. Robert ◽  
Michael B. Thompson ◽  
Frank Seebacher
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Maternal Manipulation

Females of the Australian scincid lizard Eulamprus tympanum can manipulate the sex of their offspring in response to gender imbalances in the population using temperature-dependent sex determination. Here we show that when adult males are scarce females produced male-biased litters and when adult males were common females produced female-biased litters. The cues used by a female to assess the adult population are not known but presumably depend upon her experience throughout the breeding season. Maternal manipulation of the sex ratio of the offspring in E. tympanum illustrates a selective advantage of temperature-dependent sex determination in a viviparous species.

scholarly journals Parental care and adaptive brood sex ratio manipulation in birds

2002 ◽  
Vol 357 (1419) ◽  
pp. 363-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hasselquist ◽  
B. Kempenaers
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Brood Sex Ratio ◽  
Power Studies ◽  
High Statistical Power

Under many circumstances, it might be adaptive for parents to bias the investment in offspring in relation to sex. Recently developed molecular techniques that allow sex determination of newly hatched offspring have caused a surge in studies of avian sex allocation. Whether females bias the primary brood sex ratio in relation to factors such as environmental and parental quality is debated. Progress is hampered because the mechanisms for primary sex ratio manipulation are unknown. Moreover, publication bias against non–significant results may distort our view of adaptive sex ratio manipulation. Despite this, there is recent experimental evidence for adaptive brood sex ratio manipulation in birds. Parental care is a particularly likely candidate to affect the brood sex ratio because it can have strong direct effects on the fitness of both parents and their offspring. We investigate and make predictions of factors that can be important for adaptive brood sex ratio manipulation under different patterns of parental care. We encourage correlational studies based on sufficiently large datasets to ensure high statistical power, studies identifying and experimentally altering factors with sex–differential fitness effects that may cause brood sex ratio skew, and studies that experimentally manipulate brood sex ratio and investigate fitness effects.

The effect of operational sex ratio on sex allocation and neonate phenotype in a viviparous lizard Eremias multiocellata

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 485-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Long Tang ◽  
Feng Yue ◽  
De-Jiu Zhang ◽  
Xue-Feng Yan ◽  
Ying Xin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Maternal Investment ◽  
Tail Length ◽  
Operational Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Allocation Theory ◽  
Female Investment ◽  
Eremias Multiocellata

Maternal investment in the production of male versus female neonates was approximately equal in most animal species. However, sex allocation theory predicts that under certain conditions, selection may favor the females’ ability to adjust the sex ratio of their offspring, which females tend to use more for an investment of the rare sex. The mechanism of operational sex ratio (OSR) influence on sex allocation is still unclear, and recent studies conducted on lizards have reached conflicting conclusions. Here, we selected a viviparous lizard Eremias multiocellata to test whether pregnant females could adjust the sex ratio of their offspring in response to OSRs. Our results showed that mothers did not adjust the sex ratios or phenotypes of neonates in the laboratory and field-based experiments, except tail length. However, the OSRs subsequently affected growth in both mass and SVL of the offspring in laboratory experiments; whereas only the mass was affected in the semi-nature field experiments. Our results, thus, contradict the predictions of sex allocation theory and challenge the idea that female investment in the scarcity sex might serve as a mechanism which is used for adjusting the population sex ratio.

Primary sex ratio adjustment by ant queens in response to local mate competition

2005 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 1031-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludivine de Menten ◽  
Sylvia Cremer ◽  
Jürgen Heinze ◽  
Serge Aron
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Local Mate Competition ◽  
Mate Competition ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Local Mate ◽  
Sex Ratio Adjustment
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