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

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Seizi Suzuki

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.

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
SM Pellis ◽  
VC Pellis

The vigilance behaviour of geese was measured by the amount of time per day they spent with their heads raised, and also by the frequency with which they interrupted feeding to look up. Goslings were vulnerable to predation in the first 4 weeks after hatching. The adults' vigilance behaviour was higher during the 4 weeks after hatching than later, and this reduced the amount of time they spent feeding. It is argued that brood size and the adults' ability to protect the young are inversely related, and that larger broods, for this reason, raise the cost of reproduction. These factors are considered as posthatching limitations on clutch size.


Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seizi Suzuki

There may be a trade-off between parental care and future reproductive success. Parental care usually consists of multiple components, and quantifying the cost of each component is necessary to assess the exact costs of parental care. In this study, I examined the trade-offs associated with maternal care in the earwig Anisolabis maritima (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae). I evaluated how many clutches A. maritima can produce and how the number and size of the clutch are affected by maternal care, distinguishing the cost of each component. The interval from the time point at which the mothers were removed from their eggs or young to produce the next clutch differed with treatment, and a significant interaction was observed between the effects of clutch order and presence of care on the size of the next clutch when the first clutch was removed immediately. However, longevity and total lifetime fecundity were not different in the presence or absence of care. This showed that females which were removed from a clutch produced the second or later clutches more rapidly although the clutch sizes were smaller. Because the total lifetime fecundity did not differ, irrespective of the presence or absence of care, it is possible that the costs of such care in A. maritima have a small effect.


2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Ortiz-Catedral ◽  
Dianne H. Brunton

At least four populations of the red-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) have been established via translocation within New Zealand over the last 40 years, but reproductive parameters of these populations have not been documented. We quantified differences in clutch parameters and reproductive success for a translocated population of this species on Tiritiri Matangi Island over two breeding seasons. Overall clutch parameters and estimates of reproductive success were consistent with reported values from natural populations. However, we found previously unreported differences in clutch size, hatching success and brood size between breeding seasons. The number of fledglings produced per breeding pair increased significantly from 1.4 to 3.4 fledglings during our two-year study. In contrast, egg volume and fertility per clutch did not vary during the same period. Overall, 7 eggs were laid per breeding pair but only 2.22 nestlings fledged, representing a 63.8% loss of initial reproductive potential. Losses during the incubation stage were caused by partial and total hatching failure, whereas starvation of nestlings caused all losses during the brood-rearing stage. Hatching success during our study was lower than that reported for wild populations of this and other parrot species, and remained lower even during the most productive breeding season. We found no cases of predation on eggs or nestlings during our study despite the presence of native and exotic avian predators on Tiritiri Matangi Island. We show that clutch size, brood size and changes in loss between breeding seasons are determinants of reproductive output in translocated red-crowned parakeet and also that reproductive output can vary greatly between breeding seasons. Finally, if reduced hatching success is the result of small founder size, management of parakeets should consider the movement of larger and more genetically diverse flocks.


Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (5) ◽  
pp. 525-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisha L. Berzins ◽  
Russell D. Dawson

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.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E Westrick ◽  
Ryan W Taylor ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
Jeffrey E Lane ◽  
Andrew G McAdam ◽  
...  

AbstractParental investment theory predicts that observed levels of parental care afforded to offspring are set by the benefits (to offspring quality and survival) relative to the costs (to parental survival or future reproduction). Although difficult to document in mammals, there is often substantial individual-variation in the amount of parental care within species. We measured the impact of individual variation in maternal care (“attentiveness” towards offspring or maternal motivation) on offspring growth and survival in a wild population of North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). We used latency to return to pups following a nest intrusion as a measure of maternal attentiveness to pups. We found this behavior to be repeatable within individuals suggesting this behavior is a personality trait or a “maternal style”. In this population, postnatal growth rate is important for pup overwinter survival. Pups from large litters grew faster if they had a highly attentive mother, indicating that maternal care behavior can mitigate the trade-off between litter size and offspring growth and potentially improve survival of pups. Additionally, more attentive mothers had slightly higher lifetime reproductive success than less attentive mothers. These results highlight important fitness effects of having a highly attentive mother and show that maternal care behavior can alter a fundamental life history trade-off between offspring quantity and quality.Lay SummaryIt pays to be attentive to your pups as a squirrel mom. In a long-term study of a wild population of North American red squirrels, we observed repeatable individual variation in maternal attentiveness towards offspring. Mothers who returned faster to pups following a nest intrusion produced faster growing pups and were able to produce larger fast-growing litters. Over their entire lifetime, attentive mothers also had more offspring recruit into the breeding population.


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