Female convict cichlids adjust gonadal investment in current reproduction in response to relative risk of brood predation

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Wisenden
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Care Theory ◽  
Convict Cichlids

Parental care theory predicts that investment in current reproduction should be increased when the prospects of success in current reproductive effort are relatively high, and reduced when they are poor relative to expected success from future reproductive effort. A number of studies have shown that levels of postspawning parental investment (brood defence, parents' willingness to risk predation) increase when the brood is augmented. However, few studies have shown a change in pre-spawning (gonadal) investment in response to indirect indicators of reproductive success, such as nest site quality. Convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) are small freshwater fish that have biparental care of their young. Pairs of convict cichlids were required to spawn in either "risky" or "secure" spawning caves in the presence of potential egg predators. As predicted by parental care theory, females laid significantly more eggs in secure spawning caves than in risky spawning caves. The ability of this iteroparous fish to adjust gonadal investment in this manner would serve to optimize the use of its resources under varying environmental conditions and ultimately allow it to realize maximize lifetime reproductive success.

Energy Expenditure in Reproductive Effort of Male and Female Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

The Auk ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne H. Brunton
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Mating Effort ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Nest Failure ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Charadrius Vociferus

Abstract The reproductive investment strategies of the sexes during the breeding season are detailed for Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), a monogamous plover. I measured the energy investments of the sexes in reproductive, mating, and parental effort. As predicted, males expend more mating effort than females; however, the sexes expend equal amounts of parental effort. Total energy expenditure in reproductive effort (mating and parental effort) during a successful nesting attempt was also equal for the sexes. However, early parental effort expenditures by females, early mating effort expenditures by males, and high rates of nest failure combine to result in female reproductive energy expenditures being significantly higher over the breeding season. This suggests that energy expenditure alone is not adequate for accurate comparisons of the relative investments of the sexes. Studies investigating male and female investments need to consider the degree and pattern of nest failures along with patterns of energy expenditure. The advantages to male and female Killdeer of sharing parental care is demonstrated using adult removal experiments. In general, a deserted parent expends more energy in parental effort than a bi-parental parent and has significantly lower reproductive success. However, males are able to hatch chicks, whereas females lose or abandon their nests within a few days of mate removal. Thus, monogamy in Killdeer appears to result from high nest failure rates, the necessity of two parents for any reproductive success, and the generalizable nature of Killdeer parental care.

Mating system, mate choice and parental care in a bark beetle

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Baruch ◽  
Z. Mendel ◽  
I. Scharf ◽  
A. R Harari
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Body Size

AbstractThe cypress bark beetle,Phloeosinus armatus, is a common element of the dying cypress tree system in East-Mediterranean countries. Adult beetles congregate for breeding on this ephemeral resource. We studied three traits that characterize this beetle's sexual behavior and linked them to its reproductive success: mating system, mate choice, and parental care. We found that the females are the ‘pioneering sex’, excavating the mating chamber. The average female is slightly larger than the male, and female and male body size is correlated, demonstrating size-assortative mating. The time it takes for a male to enter the mating chamber is positively correlated with female size and negatively correlated with its own size, which is perhaps responsible for this assortative mating. Males remain in the gallery during the period of oviposition, gradually leaving soon after the eggs hatch. The number of eggs laid and tunnel length are positively correlated with male body size. Finally, in the presence of both parents, more eggs are laid than when the female alone is present, demonstrating the important contribution of biparental care for reproductive success. We suggest that the interaction between a monogamous mating system, assortative mating, and biparental care contributes to reproductive success.

The terrestrial breeding biology of the ranid rock frog Nannophrys ceylonensis

Behaviour ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
pp. 899-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Nest Site Fidelity ◽  
Males And Females

Abstract Nannophrys ceylonensis (Ranidae) is a terrestrial breeding anuran, found on wet vertical or near-vertical rock surfaces. Non-breeding adult males and females take refuge in separate crevices in the rock surfaces during the day and emerge at night to forage. Males can be polygynous; mating takes place inside crevices. Fathers exhibit paternal care for multiple clutches of eggs and guard eggs from predators. Paternal care of this species is obligatory; hatching success decreases without it. Females do not contribute to parental care. Males show nest site fidelity and defend territories against conspecifics. A scarcity of suitable nest sites may limit reproductive success in N. ceylonensis. Larvae hatch at Gosner stages 21-22 and leave their nests at stages 24-25 to live as truly terrestrial tadpoles, foraging on the rock surfaces near their natal nests.

Introduction The 41–43 species of birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae) (Beehler & Pratt 2016; Gill & Donsker 2019) are renowned for their exquisite beauty and plumage, and their diversity of extraordinary courtship displays (Gilliard 1969; Cooper & Forshaw 1977; Coates 1990; Frith & Frith 2009; Laman & Scholes 2012; Ligon et al. 2018). Males of the majority of birds-of-paradise (35–37 species) are presumed to be promiscuous and polygynous, with females providing sole parental care (Frith & Beehler 1998; Frith & Frith 2009). By contrast, the four Manucodia species, the Trumpet Manucode Phonygammus keraudrenii, and the Paradise-crow Lycocorax pyrrhopterus are considered to be monogamous with biparental care of offspring (Beehler 1985; Frith & Beehler 1998; Frith & Frith 2009). The diets of adults and nestlings are important factors promoting the evolution of social systems such as mating system, male spatial dispersion and parental care in birds-of-paradise (Beehler 1983; Beehler & Pruett-Jones 1983; Diamond 1986; Frith & Beehler 1998). Male territorial dispersion in the presumed polygynous Brown Sicklebill Epimachus meyeri correlated with a more insectivorous diet but a far greater frugivorous diet favoured the evolution of true leks in the Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise Paradisaea raggiana (Beehler 1983; Beehler & Pruett-Jones 1983). In contrast, in a study at Mt Missim, the Trumpet Manucode specialised in eating nutrient-poor, spatially and temporally patchy, rare figs (Moraceae), which promoted biparental care of young, monogamy, and non-territorial dispersion (Beehler 1985; Diamond 1986). The phylogeny of birds-of-paradise by Irestedt et al. (2009) recognised five main clades, four of which represented the core birds-of-paradise. The five Astrapia species are included in the fourth clade together with the two Paradigalla species and the two long-tailed Epimachus sicklebills. The long-tailed Astrapia species, all endemic to mainland New Guinea, are sexually dimorphic in size and plumage: adult males are ~10% larger than females, and are predominantly black with an iridescent greenishblue head; females are dull blackish brown with barred underparts. The Huon Astrapia Astrapia rothschildi is confined to montane rainforest in the Finisterre, Saruwaged, Rawlinson, and Cromwell Mountains of the Huon Peninsula from 1460–3500 m above sea level (asl) (Beehler & Pratt 2016); here it is the only species of Astrapia present. It forages for arthropods and fruits in the middle-to-upper storeys of the forest. Solitary displaying, dispersed males have a unique inverted courtship display (Frith & Beehler 1998; Laman & Scholes 2012; Scholes et al. 2017). Thane Pratt (in Frith & Beehler 1998) described an inverted courtship display in which a male slides below a horizontal perch, points his bill skywards and cocks his long fanned tail upward. Laman & Scholes (2012) described a courtship display in which the male hangs upside down, resumes an upright posture for copulation and after copulation grasps the back of the female, leans forward, and both male and female tumble down locked together. Very little is known about the breeding biology of the Huon Astrapia. Two nests and an egg have been described (Frith 1971; Frith & Beehler 1998) but neither the nest-site nor height of nest above the ground is known. The incubation and nestling periods, incubation behaviour, and parental care of the young are unknown. In this paper, we describe the nest-site and nest height, and document female incubation behaviour and parental care of the single young (including feeding rates, nestling diet, and nest sanitation) at a nest in the Yopno Urawa Som Conservation Area (YUS CA), Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea (PNG). We present spectrograms of vocalisations of the female and nestling Huon Astrapia, and present photographs of the nest-site, nest, and an adult female feeding a nestling. Incubation behaviour and uniparental nestling care in the Huon Astrapia Astrapia rothschildi (Paradisaeidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Richard Donaghey ◽  
◽  
Donna Belder ◽  
Tony Baylis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Courtship Display ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Incubation Behaviour ◽  
Birds Of Paradise

scholarly journals Sharing the burden: on the division of parental care and vocalizations during incubation

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1062-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa M Kavelaars ◽  
Luc Lens ◽  
Wendt Müller
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Incubation Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Conflict ◽  
Larus Fuscus ◽  
Nestling Period

Abstract In species with biparental care, individuals only have to pay the costs for their own parental investment, whereas the contribution of their partner comes for free. Each parent hence benefits if its partner works harder, creating an evolutionary conflict of interest. How parents resolve this conflict and how they achieve the optimal division of parental tasks often remains elusive. In this study, we investigated whether lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) divide parental care during incubation equally and whether this correlates with the extent of vocalizations between pair-members during incubation. We then investigated whether pairs showing more evenly distributed incubation behavior had a higher reproductive success. To this end, we recorded incubation behavior and vocalizations for 24-h time periods. Subsequently, we experimentally increased or decreased brood sizes in order to manipulate parental effort, and followed offspring development from hatching till fledging. Although incubation bouts were, on average, slightly longer in females, patterns varied strongly between pairs, ranging from primarily female incubation over equal sex contributions to male-biased incubation. Pairs contributing more equally to incubation vocalized more during nest relief and had a higher reproductive output when brood sizes were experimentally increased. Thus, vocalizations and a more equal division of parental care during incubation may facilitate higher levels of care during the nestling period, as suggested by a greater reproductive success when facing high brood demand, or they indicate pair quality.

scholarly journals Natal dispersers pay a lifetime cost to increased reproductive effort in a wild bird population

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1851) ◽  
pp. 20162445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Germain ◽  
Tomas Pärt ◽  
Lars Gustafsson ◽  
Blandine Doligez
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Lifetime Cost ◽  
Natal Dispersal ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Sudden Increase ◽  
Ficedula Albicollis ◽  
Environmental Predictability ◽  
Phenotypic Quality ◽  
Dispersal Evolution

Natal dispersal is assumed to be costly. Such costs can be difficult to detect, and fitness consequences of dispersal are therefore poorly known. Because of lower phenotypic quality and/or familiarity with the environment, natal dispersers may be less buffered against a sudden increase in reproductive effort. Consequently, reproductive costs associated with natal dispersal may mostly be detected in harsh breeding conditions. We tested this prediction by comparing lifetime reproductive success between natal dispersers and non-dispersers in a patchy population of collared flycatchers ( Ficedula albicollis ) when they reared either a non-manipulated brood or an experimentally increased or decreased brood. Natal dispersers achieved lower lifetime reproductive success than non-dispersers only under more stressful breeding conditions (i.e. when brood size was experimentally increased). This was mostly due to a lower number of recruits produced in the year of the increase. Our results suggest a cost associated with natal dispersal paid immediately after an increase in reproductive effort and not subsequently compensated for through increased survival or future offspring recruitment. Natal dispersers adjusted their breeding investment when reproductive effort is as predicted but seemed unable to efficiently face a sudden increase in effort, which could affect the influence of environmental predictability on dispersal evolution.

The importance of pair duration and biparental care to reproductive success in the monogamous Australian magpie-lark

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Previous Season ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
First Clutch ◽  
Breeding Attempt ◽  
First Time ◽  
Australian Magpie

Biparental care is common in birds, where monogamy is the predominant mating system. Australian magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca) are socially monogamous, and relatively unusual among passerines in the extent to which parental care is shared. Males contributed as much or more to parental care as females, sharing nest-building, incubation, brooding and feeding of nestlings and fledglings. Biparental care was thus important to survival of offspring, and probably constrained partners to stay together thoughout a breeding attempt. However, partners usually remained together longer. Pairs that had bred together in the previous season tended to lay their first clutch earlier, were more likely to fledge two broods in the season, and had higher annual reproductive success than pairs breeding together for the first time. Females benefitted from staying with a male they had bred with previously, as females in established pairs decreased their feeding rates and their partners compensated to some extent. Differences between new and established pairs may have been due to the effects of the age and experience of each partner, or to pair duration, or both. Divorce rates were low, consistent with benefits associated with staying together, but also with high costs of divorce as year-round territoriality probably limited opportunities for taking different partners.

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