Relationship between Intensity of Blowfly Infestation and Reproductive Success in a Corsican Population of Blue Tits

Repeatable behavioural traits (‘personality’) have been shown to covary with fitness, but it remains poorly understood how such behaviour–fitness relationships come about. We applied a multivariate approach to reveal the mechanistic pathways by which variation in exploratory and aggressive behaviour is translated into variation in reproductive success in a natural population of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus . Using path analysis, we demonstrate a key role for provisioning behaviour in mediating the link between personality and reproductive success (number of fledged offspring). Aggressive males fed their nestlings at lower rates than less aggressive individuals. At the same time, their low parental investment was associated with increased female effort, thereby positively affecting fledgling production. Whereas male exploratory behaviour was unrelated to provisioning behaviour and reproductive success, fast-exploring females fed their offspring at higher rates and initiated breeding earlier, thus increasing reproductive success. Our findings provide strong support for specific mechanistic pathways linking components of behavioural syndromes to reproductive success. Importantly, relationships between behavioural phenotypes and reproductive success were obscured when considering simple bivariate relationships, underlining the importance of adopting multivariate views and statistical tools as path analysis to the study of behavioural evolution.

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Do glucocorticoids predict fitness? Linking environmental conditions, corticosterone and reproductive success in the blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.170875 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (10) ◽

pp. 170875 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

L. J. Henderson ◽

N. P. Evans ◽

B. J. Heidinger ◽

K. A. Herborn ◽

K. E. Arnold

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Blue Tit ◽

Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽

Free Living ◽

Brood Rearing ◽

Fledging Success ◽

Harsh Conditions ◽

Blue Tits

Glucocorticoids, including corticosterone (CORT), have been suggested to provide a physiological link between ecological conditions and fitness. Specifically, CORT, which is elevated in response to harsh conditions, is predicted to be correlated with reduced fitness. Yet, empirical studies show that CORT can be non-significantly, positively and negatively linked with fitness. Divergent environmental conditions between years or study systems may influence whether CORT is linked to fitness. To test this, we monitored free-living blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) during breeding over 3 years. We quantified foraging conditions during brood rearing, and examined whether they were correlated with parental baseline CORT and reproductive success. We then tested whether CORT predicted fitness. Elevated parental CORT was associated with lower temperatures, greater rainfall and lower territory-scale oak density. Whereas asynchrony with the caterpillar food peak was correlated with reduced nestling mass and fledging success, but not parental CORT. Only low temperatures were associated with both reduced nestling mass and elevated parental CORT. Despite this, parents with elevated CORT had lighter offspring in all years. Contrarily, in 2009 parental CORT was positively correlated with the number fledged. The absence of a direct link between the foraging conditions that reduce nestling quality and elevate parental CORT suggests that parental CORT may provide a holistic measure of conditions where parents are working harder to meet the demands of developing young. As the positive correlation between parental CORT and fledging success differed between years, this suggests that contrasting conditions between years can influence correlations between parental CORT and fitness. Ultimately, as CORT concentrations are intrinsically variable and linked to the prevalent conditions, studies that incorporate environmental harshness will improve our understanding of evolutionary endocrinology.

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The reproductive success and quality of blue tits (Parus caeruleus) in a heavy metal pollution gradient

Environmental Pollution ◽

10.1016/j.envpol.2005.01.009 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 136 (2) ◽

pp. 243-251 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Tom Dauwe ◽

Ellen Janssens ◽

Rianne Pinxten ◽

Marcel Eens

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Reproductive Success ◽

Metal Pollution ◽

Heavy Metal Pollution ◽

Parus Caeruleus ◽

Pollution Gradient ◽

Blue Tits

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Ultraviolet crown coloration in female blue tits predicts reproductive success and baseline corticosterone

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/art066 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 24 (6) ◽

pp. 1299-1305 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Lindsay J. Henderson ◽

Britt J. Heidinger ◽

Neil P. Evans ◽

Kathryn E. Arnold

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Baseline Corticosterone ◽

Blue Tits

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Seasonal Variation in the Reproductive Success of Blue Tits: An Experimental Study

Journal of Animal Ecology ◽

10.2307/5360 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 287 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

Ken Norris

Keyword(s):

Experimental Study ◽

Seasonal Variation ◽

Reproductive Success ◽

Blue Tits

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Timing of arrival in the breeding area is repeatable and affects reproductive success in a non-migratory population of blue tits

10.1101/626788 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Carol Gilsenan ◽

Mihai Valcu ◽

Bart Kempenaers

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Breeding Season ◽

Individual Characteristics ◽

List Type ◽

Migratory Species ◽

Breeding Area ◽

Arrival Date ◽

Migratory Population ◽

Blue Tits ◽

Timing Of Arrival

ABSTRACTEvents in one part of the annual cycle often affect the performance (and subsequently fitness) of individuals later in the season (carry-over effects). An important aspect of this relates to the timing of activities. For example, many studies on migratory birds have shown that relatively late spring arrival in the breeding area reduces both the likelihood of getting a mate or territory and reproductive success.In contrast, relatively little is known about movements of individuals in non-migratory populations during the non-breeding season. Few studies have investigated the timing of arrival at the breeding area in such species, possibly due to the assumption that most individuals remain in the area during the non-breeding season.In this study, we used four years of data from a transponder-based automated recording system set up in a non-migratory population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) to describe individual variation in arrival at the breeding site. We investigated whether this variation can be explained by individual characteristics (sex, body size, or status), and we assessed its effect on aspects of reproductive success in the subsequent breeding season.We found substantial variation in arrival date and demonstrate that this trait is individual-specific (repeatable). Females arrived later than males, but the arrival dates of social pair members were more similar than expected by chance. Arrival predicted both whether an individual would end up breeding that season, and several aspects of its breeding success.Our study suggests that non-migratory species show a form of incipient migration behaviour in that they leave the breeding area during the non-breeding season. We conclude that the timing of pre-breeding events, in particular arrival date, may be an overlooked, but important, fitness-relevant trait in non-migratory species.

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