scholarly journals Tibetan Birds Lay Larger Eggs at the Cost of Egg Number

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangyang Guo ◽  
Xin Lu
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Maternal Investment ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Offspring Number ◽  
Similar Body

Abstract Life history theory predicts that when breeding in harsh environments, selection favors organisms to allocate more energy into fewer offspring at the expense of offspring number. However, it is unclear whether such a trade-off remains evident in the presence of parental care, which might compromise the maternal investment to offspring quality. We address this question using a comparative approach for phylogenetically-paired passerines breeding in the Tibet Plateau vs. adjacent lowlands, the two systems that sharply differ in environmental hardness. While total biomass of eggs within a clutch became lighter towards Tibet, clutch size decreased and egg size increased. Tibetan birds were more time-constrained in breeding duration but had longer incubation and nestling periods than their lowland counterparts. Despite so, nestlings reared in Tibet were of similar body mass at fledging to those reared in lowlands. Therefore, more investment in fewer eggs as well as in incubation and provisioning young suggests that Tibetan birds are making the best of a bad job to ensure offspring survival under the hard conditions. This research supports a role of adaptive reproductive allocation by animals with parental care in the evolution of life history strategy along elevational gradients.

Experimentally increased costs of parental care are shunted to offspring in species with extended care

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen F. Wagner ◽  
Emeline Mourocq ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Trade Offs

Biparental care systems are a valuable model to examine conflict, cooperation, and coordination between unrelated individuals, as the product of the interactions between the parents influences the fitness of both individuals. A common experimental technique for testing coordinated responses to changes in the costs of parental care is to temporarily handicap one parent, inducing a higher cost of providing care. However, dissimilarity in experimental designs of these studies has hindered interspecific comparisons of the patterns of cost distribution between parents and offspring. Here we apply a comparative experimental approach by handicapping a parent at nests of five bird species using the same experimental treatment. In some species, a decrease in care by a handicapped parent was compensated by its partner, while in others the increased costs of care were shunted to the offspring. Parental responses to an increased cost of care primarily depended on the total duration of care that offspring require. However, life history pace (i.e., adult survival and fecundity) did not influence parental decisions when faced with a higher cost of caring. Our study highlights that a greater attention to intergenerational trade-offs is warranted, particularly in species with a large burden of parental care. Moreover, we demonstrate that parental care decisions may be weighed more against physiological workload constraints than against future prospects of reproduction, supporting evidence that avian species may devote comparable amounts of energy into survival, regardless of life history strategy.

Life History Strategies

2018 ◽  
pp. 95-126
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Extended Model ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Basic Model

The chapter introduces the basics of life history theory, the concept of life history strategy, and the fast–slow continuum of variation. After reviewing applications to animal behavior and physiology, the chapter reviews current theory and evidence on individual differences in humans as manifestations of alternative life history strategies. The chapter first presents a “basic model” of human life history–related traits, then advances an “extended model” that identifies multiple cognitive-behavioral profiles within fast and slow strategies. Specifically, it is proposed that slow strategies comprise prosocial/caregiving and skilled/provisioning profiles, whereas fast strategies comprise antisocial/exploitative and seductive/creative profiles. The chapter also reviews potential neurobiological markers of life history variation and considers key methodological issues in this area.

Maternal investment and delayed feeding in neonatal Lake Erie watersnakes: a life-history strategy

2016 ◽  
Vol 301 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth W. Mack ◽  
Jennifer L. Beck ◽  
Kristin M. Stanford ◽  
Richard B. King
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Maternal Investment

scholarly journals Why does offspring size affect performance? Integrating metabolic scaling with life-history theory

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1819) ◽  
pp. 20151946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda K. Pettersen ◽  
Craig R. White ◽  
Dustin J. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Maternal Investment ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Metabolic Efficiency ◽  
Metabolic Scaling ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
General Explanation ◽  
Better Than

Within species, larger offspring typically outperform smaller offspring. While the relationship between offspring size and performance is ubiquitous, the cause of this relationship remains elusive. By linking metabolic and life-history theory, we provide a general explanation for why larger offspring perform better than smaller offspring. Using high-throughput respirometry arrays, we link metabolic rate to offspring size in two species of marine bryozoan. We found that metabolism scales allometrically with offspring size in both species: while larger offspring use absolutely more energy than smaller offspring, larger offspring use proportionally less of their maternally derived energy throughout the dependent, non-feeding phase. The increased metabolic efficiency of larger offspring while dependent on maternal investment may explain offspring size effects—larger offspring reach nutritional independence (feed for themselves) with a higher proportion of energy relative to structure than smaller offspring. These findings offer a potentially universal explanation for why larger offspring tend to perform better than smaller offspring but studies on other taxa are needed.

Feeding ecology and life-history strategy of nesting males in a fish with long parental care, Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus, Batrachoididae)

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Félix ◽  
M.C.P. Amorim ◽  
T.J. Pereira ◽  
P.J. Fonseca ◽  
C. Sousa-Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Otter Trawl ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Limited Mobility ◽  
Egg Cannibalism ◽  
Male Condition

The Lusitanian toadfish,Halobatrachus didactylus, like other batrachoidids, is a benthic fish species with nesting behaviour during the breeding season. During this prolonged period it engages in mating activities and remains in the nest providing parental care. It is not known whether males feed while providing parental care but it is likely that their limited mobility may restrict their diet and influence their fitness. As a consequence, egg cannibalism could occur as a life-history strategy. The aim of the present study is to ascertain the feeding behaviour of nesting males, in comparison to mature non-nesting males, and to identify potential life-history traits related to egg cannibalism. Nest-holders were sampled from artificial nests placed in an intertidal area of the Tagus estuary, only exposed during spring low tides. The diet of nest-holders was compared with that of non-nesting mature males from the same area, captured by otter trawl. The present study demonstrates that despite their constrained mobility nest-holders feed during the breeding season, although in a more opportunistic fashion than non-nesting males. Nest-holders showed a generalist feeding behaviour, with a more heterogeneous diet. Egg cannibalism was not related to male condition, paternity or brood size but showed a higher incidence early in the season when water temperatures were lower. The results suggest a possible seasonal trade-off strategy between care and energy recovery, triggered by environmental factors, where under unfavourable conditions to sustain viable eggs the male may recover energy by eating eggs, thus benefiting future reproductive success, later in the season.

scholarly journals Too risky to settle: avian community structure changes in response to perceived predation risk on adults and offspring

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1764) ◽  
pp. 20130762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangyuan Hua ◽  
Robert J. Fletcher ◽  
Kathryn E. Sieving ◽  
Robert M. Dorazio
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Potential Force ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk

Predation risk is widely hypothesized as an important force structuring communities, but this potential force is rarely tested experimentally, particularly in terrestrial vertebrate communities. How animals respond to predation risk is generally considered predictable from species life-history and natural-history traits, but rigorous tests of these predictions remain scarce. We report on a large-scale playback experiment with a forest bird community that addresses two questions: (i) does perceived predation risk shape the richness and composition of a breeding bird community? And (ii) can species life-history and natural-history traits predict prey community responses to different types of predation risk? On 9 ha plots, we manipulated cues of three avian predators that preferentially prey on either adult birds or offspring, or both, throughout the breeding season. We found that increased perception of predation risk led to generally negative responses in the abundance, occurrence and/or detection probability of most prey species, which in turn reduced the species richness and shifted the composition of the breeding bird community. Species-level responses were largely predicted from the key natural-history trait of body size, but we did not find support for the life-history theory prediction of the relationship between species' slow/fast life-history strategy and their response to predation risk.

scholarly journals Perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy: A life history perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jody Dorgan
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Demographic Factors ◽  
Police Legitimacy ◽  
Prior Arrest

<p>Prior research on attitudes towards the police has largely focused on the relationship between demographic factors and perceptions of the police. These studies have produced inconclusive results, and there is no general consensus why and how demographic factors account for individual differences in attitudes towards the police. Life history theory, a “middle-level” evolutionary theory, is one that has largely been neglected in mainstream criminology, but has been used in the current research to explain individual differences in attitudes towards the police. Two studies, both using an online survey, were conducted to explore the extent to which life history strategy explained individual attitudes towards procedural justice, police legitimacy and police socialization after controlling for demographic factors, previous police interaction and prior arrest. Study one, a university sample of 305 participants and study two, a general population sample of 75 Wellington residents both found support for the application of life history theory being used to explain individual differences in attitudes towards the police. Overall, the current research showed that those with a slower life history strategy were more likely hold more positive perceptions of police legitimacy, procedural justice and police socialization regardless of demographic factors, previous police interaction, and prior arrest.</p>

Fecundity and reproductive habits in Patagonotothen tessellata (Richardson, 1845) from the Beagle Channel, Argentina

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A. Rae ◽  
J. Calvo
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Reproductive Period ◽  
Total Weight ◽  
Fish Length ◽  
Parental Behaviour ◽  
Beagle Channel ◽  
Spawning Periods

Population fecundity and reproductive habits in Patagonotothen tessellata were established for each reproductive period during 1988 and 1989. Fecundity/total length and fecundity/total weight relationships were analysed through regression models. Fecundity was positively correlated with fish length and weight. Mean fecundity was 25932 eggs (range 7634–62033). The regressions for each reproductive period are similar, suggesting that the amount of energy allocated to reproduction does not vary between spawning periods. Parental behaviour is described from both field and laboratory observations. Nesting and parental care were carried out by P. tessellata males. The life history strategy of this species is discussed in relation to that of other nototheniid species.

scholarly journals Strategic adjustment of parental care in tree swallows: life-history trade-offs and the role of glucocorticoids

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (12) ◽  
pp. 160740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çağlar Akçay ◽  
Ádám Z. Lendvai ◽  
Mark Stanback ◽  
Mark Haussmann ◽  
Ignacio T. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Optimal Strategies ◽  
Plasma Corticosterone ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Strategic Adjustment

Life-history theory predicts that optimal strategies of parental investment will depend on ecological and social factors, such as current brood value and offspring need. Parental care strategies are also likely to be mediated in part by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and glucocorticoid hormones. Here, we present an experiment in tree swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ), a biparental songbird with wide geographical distribution, asking whether parental care is strategically adjusted in response to signals of offspring need and brood value and if so, whether glucocorticoids are involved in these adjustments. Using an automated playback system, we carried out playbacks of nestling begging calls specifically to females in two populations differing in their brood value: a northern population in Ontario, Canada (relatively higher brood value) and a southern population in North Carolina, USA (relatively lower brood value). We quantified female offspring provisioning rates before and during playbacks and plasma corticosterone levels (cort) once during late incubation and once immediately after playbacks. Females in both populations increased feeding rates temporarily during the first 2 h of playback but the increase was not sustained for the entire duration of playback (6 h). Cort levels from samples at the end of the playback did not differ between control females and females that received playbacks. However, females that had higher increases in cort between the incubation and nestling period had greater fledging success. These results suggest that females are able to strategically respond to offspring need, although the role of glucocorticoids in this strategic adjustment remains unclear.

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