scholarly journals Kin selection in den sharing develops under limited availability of tree hollows for a forest marsupial

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1719) ◽  
pp. 2768-2776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam C. Banks ◽  
David B. Lindenmayer ◽  
Lachlan McBurney ◽  
David Blair ◽  
Emma J. Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kin Selection ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Tree Hollows ◽  
Hollow Trees ◽  
Resource Decline ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Hollow Tree

Animal social behaviour is not static with regard to environmental change. Flexibility in cooperative resource use may be an important response to resource decline, mediating the impacts of resource availability on fitness and demography. In forest ecosystems, hollow trees are key den resources for many species, but are declining worldwide owing to forestry. Altered patterns of den sharing may mediate the effects of the decline of this resource. We studied den-sharing interactions among hollow-dependent Australian mountain brushtail possums to investigate how spatial variation in hollow tree availability affects resource sharing and kin selection. Under reduced den availability, individuals used fewer dens and shared them less often. This suggests increased territoriality in the presence of resource competition. Further, there was a switch from kin avoidance to kin preference with decreasing hollow tree availability. This was driven primarily by a change in den sharing among siblings. The inclusive fitness benefits of den sharing with kin are likely to increase under resource-limiting conditions, but are potentially outweighed by the benefits of associating with non-relatives (avoidance of inbreeding or pathogen transmission) where dens are abundant. We discuss how predictions from social evolutionary theory can contribute to understanding animal responses to landscape change.

No support for relatedness and kin selection to explain high rates of conspecific brood parasitism in colonial Red-breasted Mergansers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Noel ◽  
Rodger Titman ◽  
Shawn R. Craik
Keyword(s):  
Kin Selection ◽  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Conspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Small Decline ◽  
Diurnal Period

Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) has been observed in approximately half of all species of waterfowl, a philopatric group in which breeding females are frequently locally related. It has been suggested that kin selection can facilitate the evolution of CBP in waterfowl via fitness benefits for the host and parasite. One model demonstrates that discrimination of related and unrelated parasites by the host must be sufficient for kinship to promote CBP, provided that costs of brood parasitism to host fitness are sufficiently low. We parameterized the model using demographic data and behavioural observations from a population of colonial Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator (Linnaeus, 1758)) in which 47% of nests were parasitized by conspecifics. The costs of 1-3 foreign eggs to host hatching success were generally small (decline of 1.8% per additional egg). Nevertheless, model outputs revealed that brood parasites maximize their inclusive fitness by avoiding nests of relatives, primarily because of constraints on a host’s ability to detect parasites at the nest. Indeed, hosts spent <8% of the diurnal period at the nest during egg laying, a period when parasite activity is greatest. It is thus highly unlikely that relatedness and kin selection promote brood parasitism in this population.

Male relatedness, lekking behavior patterns, and the potential for kin selection in a Neotropical hummingbird

The Auk ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clementina González ◽  
Juan Francisco Ornelas
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Behavior Patterns ◽  
Song Type ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Gain Access

AbstractSeveral models have been proposed to explain the evolution of leks, both in terms of direct or indirect fitness benefits, and in survival. According to kin selection theory, male skewed reproductive success leads unsuccessful males to join successful relatives to increase their inclusive fitness, because their genes would be transmitted indirectly to the next generation. Wedge-tailed Sabrewing (Campylopterus curvipennis) is a hummingbird species whose males congregate at leks, in which spatially clustered males sing a particular song with marked differences among neighboring males (song neighborhoods). The maintenance of song neighborhoods presumably depends on juvenile newcomers copying the song type of their neighbors when they establish within a lek, and their acceptance could be more likely if a relative has already settled down in a territory, which in turn could offer fitness benefits explained by kin selection theory. To investigate the potential for kin selection in this species, we genotyped 126 hummingbirds at 10 microsatellite loci and estimated pairwise relatedness among males at 6 leks and in 4 song neighborhoods within 1 focal lek. Within leks, most males were unrelated and only a few were relatives. Moreover, even though relatedness within leks was higher than between leks, it was not higher than 0, which is likely due to isolation by distance. Our results do not support the idea of kin selection as an important force acting on the formation of leks in this species. Additionally, we found no evidence for kin clustering within song neighborhoods, suggesting that juveniles attempting to settle in a lek have to learn the song of the neighborhood (regardless of their kinship) to gain access to territories.

scholarly journals Kin selection and polygyny: can relatedness lower the polygyny threshold?

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 140409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaute Grønstøl ◽  
Donald Blomqvist ◽  
Angela Pauliny ◽  
Richard H. Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Dna Fingerprinting ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Nest Defence ◽  
Natal Philopatry ◽  
Vanellus Vanellus ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Breeding Resources

Resource polygyny incurs costs of having to share breeding resources for female breeders. When breeding with a relative, however, such costs may be lessened by indirect fitness benefits through kin selection, while benefits from mutualistic behaviour, such as communal defence, may increase. If so, females should be less resistant to sharing a territory with a related female than with a non-related one. We investigated whether kin selection may lower the threshold of breeding polygynously, predicting a closer relatedness between polygynous females breeding on the same territory than between females breeding on different territories. Northern lapwings, Vanellus vanellus , are suitable for testing this hypothesis as they are commonly polygynous, both sexes take part in nest defence, and the efficiency of nest defence increases with the number of defenders. Using an index of relatedness derived from DNA fingerprinting, we found that female lapwings that shared polygynous dyads were on average twice as closely related as were random females. Furthermore, relatedness did not correlate with distance between breeders, indicating that our findings cannot be explained by natal philopatry alone. Our results suggest that the polygyny threshold in lapwings may be lowered by inclusive fitness advantages of kin selection.

scholarly journals Adaptive suicide: is a kin-selected driver of fatal behaviours likely?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 20180823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind K. Humphreys ◽  
Graeme D. Ruxton
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Behaviour ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Severe Effect ◽  
Direct Fitness ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Host Death ◽  
Selection Of

While several manipulated host behaviours are accepted as extended phenotypes of parasites, there remains debate over whether other altered behaviours in hosts following parasitic invasion represent cases of parasite manipulation, host defence or the pathology of infection. One particularly controversial subject is ‘suicidal behaviour’ in infected hosts. The host-suicide hypothesis proposes that host death benefits hosts doomed to reduced direct fitness by protecting kin from parasitism and therefore increasing inclusive fitness. However, adaptive suicide has been difficult to demonstrate conclusively as a host adaptation in studies on social or clonal insects, for whom high relatedness should enable greater inclusive fitness benefits. Following discussion of empirical and theoretical works from a behavioural ecology perspective, this review finds that the most persuasive evidence for selection of adaptive suicide comes from bacteria. Despite a focus on parasites, driven by the existing literature, the potential for the evolution of adaptive suicidal behaviour in hosts is also considered to apply to cases of infection by pathogens, provided that the disease has a severe effect on direct fitness and that suicidal behaviour can affect pathogen transmission dynamics. Suggestions are made for future research and a broadening of the possible implications for coevolution between parasites and hosts.

scholarly journals Trinidadian guppies use a social heuristic that can support cooperation among non-kin

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1934) ◽  
pp. 20200487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safi K. Darden ◽  
Richard James ◽  
James M. Cave ◽  
Josefine Bohr Brask ◽  
Darren P. Croft
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Evolution Of Cooperation ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Limitations ◽  
Fitness Benefits

Cooperation among non-kin is well documented in humans and widespread in non-human animals, but explaining the occurrence of cooperation in the absence of inclusive fitness benefits has proven a significant challenge. Current theoretical explanations converge on a single point: cooperators can prevail when they cluster in social space. However, we know very little about the real-world mechanisms that drive such clustering, particularly in systems where cognitive limitations make it unlikely that mechanisms such as score keeping and reputation are at play. Here, we show that Trinidadian guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ) use a ‘walk away’ strategy, a simple social heuristic by which assortment by cooperativeness can come about among mobile agents. Guppies cooperate during predator inspection and we found that when experiencing defection in this context, individuals prefer to move to a new social environment, despite having no prior information about this new social group. Our results provide evidence in non-human animals that individuals use a simple social partner updating strategy in response to defection, supporting theoretical work applying heuristics to understanding the proximate mechanisms underpinning the evolution of cooperation among non-kin.

scholarly journals The validity and value of inclusive fitness theory

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1723) ◽  
pp. 3313-3320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew F. G. Bourke
Keyword(s):  
Kin Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Alternative Theory ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Inclusive Fitness Theory ◽  
Evolution Of Eusociality ◽  
Natural Selection Theory

Social evolution is a central topic in evolutionary biology, with the evolution of eusociality (societies with altruistic, non-reproductive helpers) representing a long-standing evolutionary conundrum. Recent critiques have questioned the validity of the leading theory for explaining social evolution and eusociality, namely inclusive fitness (kin selection) theory. I review recent and past literature to argue that these critiques do not succeed. Inclusive fitness theory has added fundamental insights to natural selection theory. These are the realization that selection on a gene for social behaviour depends on its effects on co-bearers, the explanation of social behaviours as unalike as altruism and selfishness using the same underlying parameters, and the explanation of within-group conflict in terms of non-coinciding inclusive fitness optima. A proposed alternative theory for eusocial evolution assumes mistakenly that workers' interests are subordinate to the queen's, contains no new elements and fails to make novel predictions. The haplodiploidy hypothesis has yet to be rigorously tested and positive relatedness within diploid eusocial societies supports inclusive fitness theory. The theory has made unique, falsifiable predictions that have been confirmed, and its evidence base is extensive and robust. Hence, inclusive fitness theory deserves to keep its position as the leading theory for social evolution.

scholarly journals We were all young once: an intragenomic perspective on parent–offspring conflict

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1754) ◽  
pp. 20122637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bossan ◽  
Peter Hammerstein ◽  
Arnulf Koehncke
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Life History ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Fitness Effect ◽  
Intragenomic Conflict ◽  
Evolutionary Conflict ◽  
Inclusive Fitness Theory

Parent–offspring conflict (POC) describes the evolutionary conflict between offspring and their parents over parental resource allocation. Offspring are expected to demand more resources than their parents are willing to supply because these offspring are more related to their own than to their siblings' offspring. Kin selection acts to limit these divergent interests. Our model departs from previous models by describing POC as an intragenomic conflict between genes determining life-history traits during infancy or parenthood. We explain why a direct fitness approach that measures the total fitness effect during exactly one generation is required to correctly assess POC in interbrood rivalry. We find that incorrect assumptions in previous models led to an overestimation of the scope of POC. Moreover, we show why the degree of monogamy is more important for POC than previously thought. Overall, we demonstrate that a life-history-centred intragenomic approach is necessary to correctly interpret POCs. We further discuss how our work relates to the current debate about the usefulness of inclusive fitness theory.

scholarly journals Do networks of social interactions reflect patterns of kinship?

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joah R. Madden ◽  
Johanna F. Nielsen ◽  
Tim H. Clutton-Brock
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Temporal Association ◽  
Kinship Networks ◽  
Suricata Suricatta ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Dominance Interactions ◽  
Kin Structure ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Close Relatives

Abstract The underlying kin structure of groups of animals may be glimpsed from patterns of spatial position or temporal association between individuals, and is presumed to facilitate inclusive fitness benefits. Such structure may be evident at a finer, behavioural, scale with individuals preferentially interacting with kin. We tested whether kin structure within groups of meerkats Suricata suricatta matched three forms of social interaction networks: grooming, dominance or foraging competitions. Networks of dominance interactions were positively related to networks of kinship, with close relatives engaging in dominance interactions with each other. This relationship persisted even after excluding the breeding dominant pair and when we restricted the kinship network to only include links between first order kin, which are most likely to be able to discern kin through simple rules of thumb. Conversely, we found no relationship between kinship networks and either grooming networks or networks of foraging competitions. This is surprising because a positive association between kin in a grooming network, or a negative association between kin in a network of foraging competitions offers opportunities for inclusive fitness benefits. Indeed, the positive association between kin in a network of dominance interactions that we did detect does not offer clear inclusive fitness benefits to group members. We conclude that kin structure in behavioural interactions in meerkats may be driven by factors other than indirect fitness benefits, and that networks of cooperative behaviours such as grooming may be driven by direct benefits accruing to individuals perhaps through mutualism or manipulation [Current Zoology 58 (2): 319–328, 2012].

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