scholarly journals Selection on reproductive plasticity in a wild population of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heung Ying Janet Chik ◽  
Catalina Estrada ◽  
Yiqing Wang ◽  
Priyesha Vijendra ◽  
Alex Lord ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Reaction Norms ◽  
Random Regression ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Blue Tits

In the plant-insect-insectivorous-bird system, changing climates can result in mis-timing in bird reproduction, potentially impacting chick survival. To adapt to earlier prey emergence, birds can make use of phenotypic plasticity, which can be characterized by reaction norms. Despite gaining focus in research, studies on avian reproductive reaction norms as traits are scarce, particularly on laying-date-budburst-date and clutch-size-laying-date reaction norms. Here we examined the possibility of evolution of these two reaction norms from a quantitative genetics viewpoint, and tested whether 1) there is among-individual variance in reaction norms properties (intercept and slope); 2) there is selection on these reaction norm properties; and 3) variances and selection pressures differ between the two reaction norms. Data of oak (genus Quercus) budburst and blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) reproduction were collected from a wild population for 18 years. We used bivariate random regression models with a Bayesian approach to test for among-individual variance in reaction norm properties and their covariance with fitness. Individuals significantly differed in intercepts and slopes of both laying-date-budburst-date and clutch-size-laying-date reaction norms, and directional selection was present for an earlier laying date and a larger clutch size, but not on either plasticity. Results suggested that variation in reaction norm properties can be attributed to genetic and environmental effects, and that stabilizing selection on plasticity could be tested as a next step. This study compliments previous research on the evolution of reaction norms and helps shed light on their genetic structure, the context of their selection, and their mediation in birds.

Influence of fine-scale habitat structure on nest-site occupancy, laying date and clutch size in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Mehdi Amininasab ◽  
Oscar Vedder ◽  
Elske Schut ◽  
Berber de Jong ◽  
Michael J.L. Magrath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Site Occupancy ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Blue Tits

Eggshell coloration indicates female condition during egg-laying: a field experiment in blue tits

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Jeanne Holveck ◽  
Romain Guerreiro ◽  
Philippe Perret ◽  
Claire Doutrelant ◽  
Arnaud Grégoire
Keyword(s):  
Paternal Care ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Structural Function ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Ground Colour ◽  
Female Condition ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Blue Tits

AbstractSeveral selection pressures may explain the evolution of avian eggshell coloration patterns. In cavity-nesting species, there are two main non-exclusive hypotheses. The sexually selected eggshell colour hypothesis proposes that eggshell coloration is a sexually selected signal of female and offspring quality used by males that influences paternal care or future re-mating decisions. The structural function hypothesis proposes that pigments help strengthen the eggshell and are present at higher levels and at the blunt end of the egg when females face calcium shortages. We tested whether eggshell coloration (brown spots on a white ground colour) in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) could reliably indicate female condition at laying by forcing females to produce two consecutive clutches, thus increasing their reproductive costs. Three measures of eggshell coloration – the area covered by spots as well as white ground UV-chroma and brightness – changed between clutches; the fourth measure, spot distribution, did not. The changes were more dramatic in young and lower-quality females. All the measures varied with female quality (i.e. body condition and/or laying date). Overall, higher-quality females produced more colourful (larger, more concentrated spotted surface area; higher UV-chroma) and less bright (i.e. putatively more pigmented) eggshells, a result that is generally in line with past research. We found a clear empirical link between eggshell coloration and female condition in blue tits, an important step in determining whether eggshell coloration is a sexual signal, but which does not exclude a potential concomitant structural function.

scholarly journals Habitat shapes diversity of gut microbiomes in a wild population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Szymon Marian Drobniak ◽  
Magdalena Zagalska-Neubauer ◽  
Mariusz Cichoń
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Hay Meadows ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Ecological Feedbacks ◽  
Blue Tits

Microbiome constitutes and important axis of individual variation, affecting physiology and body condition via a number of pathways. Consequently, microbiome may be involved in ecological feedbacks, manifesting themselves as associations between microbiome characteristics and ecological factors experienced by individuals. In this study we report on the diversity and habitat dependence of microbiomes in a wild population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Our results indicate, that birds nesting in different habitats (full-grown deciduous forest vs. open forest hay meadows) have microbiomes of different composition and microbial diversity, with birds nesting in dens forests having higher diversity of microbial species.

scholarly journals Covariance of paternity and sex with laying order explains male bias in extra-pair offspring in a wild bird population

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 20130616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Vedder ◽  
Michael J. L. Magrath ◽  
Marco van der Velde ◽  
Jan Komdeur
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Bird Population ◽  
Male Bias ◽  
Laying Order ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Blue Tits

It has been hypothesized that parents increase their fitness by biasing the sex ratio of extra-pair offspring (EPO) towards males. Here, we report a male bias among EPO in a wild population of blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ). This resulted from a decline in both the proportion of males and EPO over the laying order of eggs in the clutch. However, previous studies suggest that, unlike the decline in EPO with laying order, the relationship between offspring sex ratio and laying order is not consistent between years and populations in this species. Hence, we caution against treating the decline in proportion of males with laying order, and the resulting male bias among EPO, as support for the above hypothesis. Variable patterns of offspring sex and paternity over the laying order may explain inconsistent associations between offspring sex and paternity, between and within species.

scholarly journals A Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus population: its recent increase and breeding data

Ornis Svecica ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1–2) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Karl Gustav Schölin ◽  
Hans Källander
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Blue Tit ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
South Central ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Blue Tits

Before 1983, Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus never made up more than four pairs of the breeding population in a nestbox study carried out in South Central Sweden. From five breeding pairs in 1983, the population increased to 29 pairs in 2007 and remained high to the end of the study in 2011. Mean laying date was strongly correlated with mean April temperature, which increased during 1983–2011. During the same period mean laying date became nearly ten days earlier. Mean clutch size was 9.90 eggs but varied both within and between years and showed a negative relationship to population size. The mean number of fledglings varied strongly between years, partly because of predation but also due to nestling starvation.

Variable effects of laying date on clutch size in the Canary Island Blue Tits (Cyanistes teneriffae)

Ibis ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDUARDO GARCIA-DEL-REY ◽  
WILL CRESSWELL ◽  
CHRISTOPHER M. PERRINS ◽  
ANDREW G. GOSLER
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Canary Island ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Blue Tits

scholarly journals Habitat shapes diversity of gut microbiomes in a wild population of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Szymon M. Drobniak ◽  
Mariusz Cichoń ◽  
Katarzyna Janas ◽  
Julia Barczyk ◽  
Lars Gustafsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wild Population ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Blue Tits

scholarly journals Maintenance of genetic variation in phenotypic plasticity: the role of environmental variation

2000 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERDIEN de JONG ◽  
SERGEY GAVRILETS
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Genetic Variance ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Reaction Norms ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Variable Environment ◽  
Linear Reaction

We study genetic variation in phenotypic plasticity maintained by a balance between mutation and weak stabilizing selection. We consider linear reaction norms allowing for spatial and/or temporal variation in the environments of development and selection. We show that the overall genetic variation maintained does not depend on whether the trait is plastic or not. The genetic variances in height and slope of a linear reaction norm, and their covariance, are predicted to decrease with the variation in the environment. Non-pleiotropic loci influencing either height or slope are expected to decrease the genetic variance in slope relative to that in height. Decrease in the ratio of genetic variance in slope to genetic variance in height with increasing variation in the environment presents a test for the presence of loci that only influence the slope, and not the height. We use data on Drosophila to test the theory. In seven of eight pair-wise comparisons genetic variation in reaction norm is higher in a less variable environment than in a more variable environment, which is in accord with the model's predictions.

Between-population differences in egg composition in Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrice Bourgault ◽  
Donald W. Thomas ◽  
Jacques Blondel ◽  
Philippe Perret ◽  
Marcel M. Lambrechts
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Population Differences ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Shell Mass ◽  
Habitat Differences ◽  
Egg Composition ◽  
Blue Tits

Egg production may be influenced by environmental conditions such as local climate or food availability, which may impose physiological constraints on the acquisition and mobilization of egg constituents. We analyzed egg composition of free-ranging female Blue Tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus (L., 1758)) in both deciduous and evergreen oak habitats, which showed large differences in temperature and food availability. We found marked interhabitat differences in yolk mass, shell mass, protein content, and the abundance of linolenic (18:3) and palmitoleic (16:1) fatty acids. A weak but significant decline in total lipid content, as well as 14:0, 16:0, and 18:0 fatty acids, through the laying sequence was also detected. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of between-population differences in nutrient allocation in eggs for a wild passerine. These differences in egg composition could be viewed as evidence of habitat-specific physiological and nutritional constraints, which in turn may contribute to the contrasting differences in timing of breeding and clutch size that we observed between both habitats. Our results point out the importance of habitat differences in our understanding of the causes and consequences of interhabitat phenotypic variation in breeding traits (timing of egg laying, clutch size) and variation in nestling traits such as growth and development.

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