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1.
In avian species, maternal provisioning to the eggs is predicted to be more valuable for the offspring under adverse environmental conditions and intense sibling competition. However, studies manipulating both the amount of maternal pre-hatching resources and the harshness of post-hatching environment have seldom been performed to date. In this experimental study of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) nestlings, we tested the consequences of a reduction in the albumen content of the eggs for fitness-related offspring traits, while performing an unbalanced partial cross-fostering soon after hatching, either increasing or decreasing brood size by one nestling. By molecular sexing of the chicks, we additionally tested for sex-specific sensitivity of individual nestlings to experimental treatments and to sex ratio variation in nestmates. We predicted that chicks hatching from albumen-deprived eggs should suffer more than control chicks from the harsher rearing conditions of enlarged broods. However, although albumen removal depressed chick body mass, chicks hatching from control eggs did not fare better than those hatching from eggs with reduced albumen content in enlarged vs. reduced broods. Albumen removal had sex-specific effects on immunity, with males, but not females, hatching from eggs with reduced albumen content showing a lower T-cell-mediated immune response than controls, suggesting that the two sexes were differentially susceptible to resource deprivation during early ontogeny. In addition, both immune response and chick body mass at age 7 days, when maximum growth rate is attained, declined with an increasing proportion of male nestmates. The effect of brood size manipulation on chick body mass at age 12 days, when peak body mass is attained, was also found to depend on brood sex composition, in that an increase in the proportion of male nestmates depressed offspring body mass in reduced broods, while the reverse was true in enlarged broods. On the whole, these findings suggest that sex differences may exist in environmental sensitivity and patterns of resource allocation among different body functions, and that brood size variation and sex composition may affect offspring fitness-related traits. 相似文献
2.
Michael Tobler Dennis Hasselquist Henrik G. Smith Maria I. Sandell 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(5):717-727
Hormone-mediated maternal effects play an important role in the formation of a differentiated phenotype. They have been shown
to influence a wide array of offspring traits, both early in life and in adulthood. One important offspring trait that is
under the influence of maternal androgens is the immune system. In birds, a growing number of studies show that yolk androgens
modulate immune function during the chick stage. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding long-term effects of prenatal
androgens on offspring immunity. In this study, we therefore investigated the influence of prenatal testosterone (T) on several
measures of immunity in fledgling and adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Cell-mediated immune response (towards phytohaemagglutinin, PHA) of fledglings hatching from control eggs was negatively
related to brood size, whereas there was no such association for fledglings hatching from eggs with experimentally elevated
T levels (T fledglings). Male control fledglings showed reduced mass gain compared to female control fledglings within 24 h
after the PHA injection. This pattern was reversed in T fledglings. Total antibody levels in fledglings were not affected
by egg treatment. Neither cell-mediated immunity nor total antibody levels in sexually mature zebra finches were influenced
by egg treatment. However, there was an immuno-enhancing effect of elevated egg T on both primary and secondary humoral immune
responses toward diphtheria and tetanus antigens in ca 5 and 7 month old zebra finches. In addition, the covariation between
different immune components differed between T and control offspring, suggesting that egg treatment may have altered the potential
trade-offs between different parts of the immune system. Our results suggest that prenatal androgens could be an important
factor contributing to individual variation in immune function even in adulthood. 相似文献
3.
Parental condition, brood sex ratio and differential young survival: an experimental study in gulls (Larus fuscus) 总被引:6,自引:6,他引:0
R. G. Nager P. Monaghan D. C. Houston M. Genovart 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2000,48(6):452-457
Empirical evidence is growing that the offspring sex ratio in birds can be biased in relation to the body condition of parents
during breeding. The sex ratio bias may come about because (1) the actual production of the two sexes may be skewed and/or
(2) there may be a sex bias in early nestling mortality contingent on parental condition. By manipulating parental condition
and giving them a control brood to rear, thereby eliminating effects operating via the eggs, we examined the extent to which
parental condition influences the post-hatching survival of male and female lesser black-backed gulls, Larus fuscus. We found that the pre-fledging survival of male chicks was strongly reduced in all-male broods reared by parents in poor
condition. Pre-fledging survival of female chicks was, however, unaffected by parental condition or brood sex composition.
Thus, independently of any production biases, sex differences in nestling mortality alone can bias the offspring sex ratio
at fledging in relation to the prevailing rearing conditions. In other studies on gulls we have, however, also shown that
females in poor condition at laying preferentially produce female eggs. Clearly a bias in fledging sex ratio can occur within
the same species due to a combination of differential production and differential post-laying mortality; the latter can involve
a differential effect of poor egg quality on male and female offspring, differential effects of brood sex composition on their
survival and a difference in the capacity of parents to rear males and females. All of these processes need to be taken into
account in attempting to understand offspring sex ratios.
Received: 15 February 2000 / Revised: 7 August 2000 / Accepted: 26 August 2000 相似文献
4.
Diego Rubolini Maria Romano Roberta Martinelli Barbara Leoni Nicola Saino 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2006,59(4):549-560
Mothers may profoundly affect offspring phenotype and performance by adjusting egg components, including steroid hormones.
We studied the effects of elevated prenatal testosterone (T) exposure in the ring-necked pheasant on the expression of a suite
of male and female traits, including perinatal response to stress, immune response, growth, and secondary sexual traits. Prenatal
T levels were increased by injecting the yolk of unincubated eggs with physiological doses of the hormone. Yolk T injection
resulted in a reduced length of male tarsal spurs, a trait which positively predicts male success in intra- and intersexual
selection and viability, whereas no direct effect on male wattle characteristics or plumage traits of either sex was observed.
Female spur length was also negatively affected by T, but to a lesser extent than in males. In addition, the covariation between
male secondary sexual traits, which are reliable quality indicators, differed between T and control males, suggesting that
the manipulation may have altered the assessment of overall male quality by other males and females. In conclusion, the negative
effects of elevated yolk T on spur length, a trait which positively predicts male fitness, coupled with the lack of effects
on growth or other traits in both sexes, provided limited evidence for mothers being subjected to a trade-off between positive
and negative consequences of yolk T deposition on offspring traits and suggest that directional selection for reduced yolk
T levels may occur in the ring-necked pheasant. 相似文献
5.
Maternal yolk androgens in bird eggs represent an important pathway along which offspring phenotype is shaped. Most of the
hormone-mediated maternal effects are highly important in the context of sibling competition. However, there is also increasing
evidence for long-lasting effects far beyond the nestling period, and these effects may have important consequences on the
reproductive success of the offspring. Here, we investigated the effects of experimentally elevated yolk testosterone concentrations
on growth and reproduction in female canaries. Elevated yolk testosterone concentrations enhanced the post-natal growth rate,
but not the asymptotic mass, and reduced the survival probability. The latter may be a consequence of the higher growth rate,
which may have rendered females hatching from testosterone-treated eggs (T-females) more vulnerable to harsh environmental
conditions. Adult T-females made a larger investment in their clutch by laying more but not heavier eggs than females hatching
from control-treated eggs. Our results suggest that the observed long-lasting effect on clutch size relates to changes in
the growth trajectory rather than being a direct consequence of testosterone, since studies manipulating early growth conditions
obtained similar results. Clearly, further studies are now required in order to investigate the intriguing relationship between
yolk testosterone, elevated growth rates, and clutch size. 相似文献
6.
Suvi Ruuskanen Esa Lehikoinen Mikko Nikinmaa Heli Siitari Wolfgang Waser Toni Laaksonen 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2013,67(3):361-372
The hormonal environment during early development, such as maternally derived androgens in bird eggs, shapes the development of the offspring in ways that may have important long-term consequences for phenotype and behavior and, ultimately, fitness. We studied the long-term effects of yolk androgens on several phenotypic and physiological traits in male and female pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) by experimentally elevating yolk androgen levels and rearing birds in common-garden environment in captivity. We found that high yolk androgen levels increased the basal metabolic rates in both females and males in adulthood. High yolk androgen levels did not affect male melanin coloration or plumage ornaments, or timing or speed of moult in either sex. No effect of androgen treatment on cell-mediated or humoral immune response was found in either sex. Covariation among the measured phenotypic traits was further not altered by androgen treatment. Our results suggest that exposure to high androgen levels can have long-lasting effects on some offspring traits, but do not seem to lead to different phenotypes. Furthermore, the role of yolk androgens affecting sexually selected male traits in our study species seems to be minor. The fitness consequences of yolk androgen-induced higher metabolic rates remain to be studied. 相似文献
7.
Suvi Ruuskanen Blandine Doligez Lars Gustafsson Toni Laaksonen 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2012,66(9):1201-1211
Early growth conditions, such as exposure to maternally derived androgens in bird eggs, have been shown to shape offspring in ways that may have important long-term consequences for phenotype and behavior. Using an experimental approach, we studied the long-term effects of yolk androgens on several phenotypic traits and parental behavior in adult and female collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). We elevated yolk androgen levels and monitored the experimental recruits the following breeding seasons. Androgen treatment had a sex-dependent effect on adult body condition, yolk androgen-treated males being heavier than control males when controlling for size, a result which may be caused potentially by selective mortality, physiological differences, or different life-history strategies. Androgen treatment did not however affect the expression of sexually selected plumage ornaments (forehead and wing patch size), UV coloration, or parental feeding rate in either sex. Our results suggest that yolk androgens are unlikely to affect sexual selection via plumage characteristics or contribute to breeding success via altered parental care. Yolk androgens do not seem to act as a means for female collared flycatchers to enhance the attractiveness of their sons. The lower return rate previously observed for androgen-treated male offspring compared to controls may therefore not be due to lower mating or breeding success, but may rather reflect lower survival or higher dispersal propensity of yolk androgen-treated males. 相似文献
8.
Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Diego Rubolini Maria Romano Marco Cucco Mauro Fasola Manuela Caprioli Nicola Saino 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(5):845-855
Maternal effects through albumen quality are largely unexplored, despite the fundamental role that albumen exerts as source
of proteins and water, as well as for antimicrobial defence of the embryo. We analysed the variation of two major albumen
antimicrobials, avidin and lysozyme, by extracting samples from freshly laid eggs of the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) and by correlating their levels to egg features. Lysozyme concentration increased along the laying sequence, while avidin
concentration decreased. Both antimicrobials declined during the season. In addition, avidin concentration declined from first-
to last-laid male eggs, whereas the opposite was true among the female eggs. We also analysed chick body mass and size and
immune response, in relation to albumen antimicrobial levels in their original egg while controlling for potential covariation
between egg quality and rearing conditions by cross-fostering eggs between nests. Tarsus length decreased with avidin concentration,
particularly early in the season. Avidin concentration negatively predicted tarsus length of chicks and the phytohaemagglutinin
response of females, but not males. However, chick phenotype did not covary with lysozyme albumen concentration. This is the
first study where maternal effects mediated by albumen antimicrobials are investigated in relation to both sex and egg features
in any wild bird species. Whether the observed patterns of variation in antimicrobial concentration are the by-product of
maternal physiological constraints, or reflect adaptive allocation strategies, cannot be ascertained. The covariation between
chick cell-mediated immunity and albumen avidin concentration might be causal, according to the documented effects of albumen
proteins on immunity in other species. 相似文献
9.
Intra-specific interactions influence egg composition in the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)
Nanette Verboven Neil P. Evans Liliana D’Alba Ruedi G. Nager Jonathan D. Blount Peter F. Surai Pat Monaghan 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2005,57(4):357-365
Egg composition, which is under maternal control, can have a profound effect on offspring fitness. The presence of maternal testosterone and carotenoids in avian egg yolk, for example, is thought to enhance the development and competitive ability of the offspring and protect the hatching and growing chick against oxidative stress. Egg quality often differs between females and such variation can be due to differences in maternal social environment, e.g. breeding density. However, this is confounded by the possibility that the quality of individuals breeding in high- or low-density areas may vary. We tested if maternal social environment influences egg composition in a colonial seabird, the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus). To control for confounding effects of female quality, we experimentally manipulated maternal social environment during egg formation. We increased the frequency of intra-specific interactions (i.e. aggressive encounters with conspecifics other than nest mates) in which the females were involved, by placing an elevated platform in their territory. Females that took part in more intra-specific interactions produced a heavier last egg, but the yolk testosterone concentration in eggs laid by control and experimental females did not differ. Differences in yolk testosterone concentration in relation to embryo sex were found neither in the control nor in the experimental group. In contrast, within the control group, eggs with a male embryo contained more carotenoids than eggs with a female embryo. Moreover, experimental females that had been involved in more intra-specific interactions produced female eggs with higher carotenoid levels compared to female eggs of control birds. An experimental increase in carotenoid levels was not observed in eggs containing a male embryo. Our results suggest that intra-specific interactions experienced by female birds during egg formation can influence conditions for embryonic development.Communicated by J. Graves 相似文献
10.
Keith W. Sockman Jack Weiss Michael S. Webster Vanessa Talbott Hubert Schwabl 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(4):617-625
Maternally derived androgen hormones concentrate in avian egg yolks as the yolks grow on the female’s ovary, possibly forming
a basis for important maternal effects in birds. In the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), experimental elevation of yolk androgens in the first-laid egg of a clutch (a-egg) to the concentrations found naturally
in a clutch’s later-laid eggs reduces the growth rate of a-egg nestlings compared to controls. These findings, together with
discoveries from other species that the effects of yolk androgens on growth of female nestlings may differ from their effects
on growth of male nestlings, raise the hypothesis that natural changes in yolk-androgen concentrations with laying order are
ultimately due to a difference between the sexes in their yolk-androgen sensitivity and between early- and late-laid eggs
in their sex ratio. By re-analyzing previously published data and adding to the analysis data from previously unanalyzed blood
samples used for sex determination, we investigated possible sex-specific effects of yolk-androgens in the context of a potential
sex-biased laying order in free-living American kestrels. We used a multi-level, mixed model with a Gompertz function to analyze
growth of nestlings hatching from a-eggs that were control-treated or in which we experimentally elevated yolk-androgen concentrations
shortly after laying to the higher concentrations naturally found in later-laid eggs. We discovered that male nestlings were
more susceptible than female nestlings to growth inhibition by yolk-androgen elevation but did not find a bias in sex ratio
with respect to laying order. Together, these findings do not support the above hypothesis. However, they are consistent with
the hypothesis that sex differences in yolk-androgen sensitivity enable mothers to economically tune reproductive effort to
an individual offspring’s reproductive value, which can vary more for one sex than the other. 相似文献
11.
An organism’s pattern of development can have important long-term fitness effects. In species where the sexes differ in size
or other phenotypic traits, they may also have different optimal developmental rates. This influences both parental sex allocation
strategies and susceptibility of the sexes to early developmental conditions. However, sex differences in developmental rate
and vulnerability to environment during the embryonic period are not well understood. In birds, sibling competition and hatching
asynchrony may select for accelerated embryonic development of the last offspring in order to reduce their competitive disadvantage
after hatching. They may advance their hatching in response to vocal stimuli by the older siblings. It is, however, unclear
whether this flexibility in developmental rates is sex specific. In this study, we experimentally manipulated between-embryo
contact and tested whether this affected the pre-natal developmental rate and post-hatching performance of male and female
offspring from last-laid eggs in the herring gull. Post-hatching performance was measured both in competitive and non-competitive
situations. Among young incubated in isolation, males hatched faster than females, but both sexes fledged in similar, relatively
good condition. Among young incubated with normal between-embryo contact, hatching time did not differ between sexes, but
males fledged in poorer condition than females, regardless of whether they were reared singly or in a brood. These results
suggest that male and female offspring differ in their ability to mitigate the costs of hatching asynchrony. 相似文献
12.
Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Diego Rubolini Manuela Caprioli Roberto Ambrosini Maria Romano Nicola Saino 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(9):1779-1790
Transfer of maternal hormones to the eggs is a major source of offspring phenotypic variation. The developmental and organizational
effects of egg hormones can extend into adulthood and affect behavioral and morphological traits involved in sexual and reproductive
behavior, with important consequences for offspring fitness. In this study, we injected testosterone (T) in egg albumen of
captive ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) eggs. We then assessed the consequences for chick growth, cell-mediated immunity, and multiple male secondary sexual traits
at maturity by comparison with a control group. We also compared the covariation between traits in the two experimental groups.
We found that control males had redder wattles than males from T-injected eggs, suggesting that attractiveness and reproductive
success of the offspring might vary depending on maternal transfer of T to the eggs. T treatment also modified the covariation
between cell-mediated immunity and wattle coloration and between the area of the wattle and the expression of another secondary
sexual trait, the ear tufts. These effects are likely to translate into fitness differences among the offspring if mate acquisition
depends on the simultaneous expression of several traits that are differentially affected by the same maternal contribution.
Maternal effects mediated by egg hormones might affect the fitness of the offspring not only by directional modification of
phenotypic traits, but also by facilitating or inhibiting their covariation. This suggests the possibility that female choice
based on the relative expression of multiple secondary sexual traits exerts a pressure on how maternal transfer of androgens
contributes to developmental programs. 相似文献
13.
E. C. Pariser L. Gilbert N. Hazon K. E. Arnold J. A. Graves 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2012,66(4):519-527
Females are expected to partition resources between offspring in a context-dependent way to maximise total fitness returns
from a reproductive attempt. Female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) vary the allocation of yolk androgens and antioxidants among offspring. Importantly, the balance between androgens and antioxidants
in yolks may be more important than their independent absolute amounts in terms of fitness consequences for developing young.
Therefore, we tested whether the relative allocation of these two resources in yolks varies according to either the Trivers–Willard,
positive or compensatory maternal investment hypothesis. We manipulated male attractiveness using coloured leg bands (red-banded
males appear attractive; green-banded males, unattractive) and measured yolk androgens and antioxidants in each egg, egg sex,
clutch sex ratio and female condition. While female zebra finches manipulated the balance of androgens and antioxidants within
and between clutches in response to mate attractiveness, offspring sex and their own condition, they did not do so in a way
that consistently followed any of the hypotheses. Mothers paired with unattractive males allocated a larger antioxidant/androgen
ratio to daughters than sons. This pattern was reversed when paired to an attractive male; sons received a larger antioxidant/androgen
ratio than daughters. We also found offspring sex ratio decreased with increasing female condition for unattractive males,
but not for attractive males. However, without knowing the fitness consequences of the balance of different egg constituents,
it is difficult to interpret the patterns consistently in terms of the Trivers–Willard, compensatory and positive investment
hypotheses. 相似文献
14.
Willow B. English Douglas Schamel Diane M. Tracy David F. Westneat David B. Lank 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2014,68(12):1939-1949
Fisher’s sex ratio theory predicts that on average parents should allocate resources equally to the production of males and females. However, when the cost/benefit ratio for producing males versus females differs, the theory predicts that parents may bias production, typically through underproduction of the sex with greater variation in fitness. We tested theoretical predictions in the red-necked phalarope, a polyandrous shorebird with sex-role reversal. Since females are larger and therefore potentially more expensive to produce and may have greater variation in reproductive success, we predicted from Fisher’s hypothesis a male bias in population embryonic sex ratio, and from sex allocation theory, female biases in the clutches of females allocating more resources to reproduction. We measured eggs and chicks and sexed 535 offspring from 163 clutches laid over 6 years at two sites in Alaska. The embryonic sex ratio of 51.1 M:48.9 F did not vary from parity. Clutch sex ratio (% male) was positively correlated with clutch mean egg size, opposite to our prediction. Within clutches, however, egg size did not differ by sex. Male phalarope fitness may be more variable than previously thought, and/or differential investment in eggs may affect the within-sex fitness of males more than females. Eggs producing males were less dense than those producing females, possibly indicating they contained more yolk relative to albumen. Albumen contributes to chick structural size, while yolk supports survivorship after hatch. Sex-specific chick growth strategies may affect egg size and allocation patterns by female phalaropes and other birds. 相似文献
15.
Nicola Saino Maria Romano Diego Rubolini Manuela Caprioli Roberto Ambrosini Mauro Fasola 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(11):1813-1821
Parental decisions can determine offspring experience of environmental conditions. Such ‘maternal’ effects act both before and after hatching via, e.g., egg quality or the social milieu predisposed by parents. Resource availability may constrain the expression of adaptive maternal effects, and the specific pattern of allocation of these effects among offspring depending on their sex or birth order can result in different fitness payoffs to parents. Declining egg mass with laying order observed in several bird species may constitute an adaptive strategy of parental favouritism towards early hatching offspring with larger reproductive value but may also result from nutritional constraints on laying effort. A previous study has shown that the small size of the third, last laid (c-)egg in yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) clutches depends on food availability and that food-supplemented mothers increase the size of their female but not male c-eggs. Here, we show that increased mass of c-eggs laid by females supplemented with food after clutch initiation depends on increased albumen mass, which, in turn, enhances the size of daughters at hatching. Because asynchronous hatching results in a competitive disadvantage of c-chicks, present results suggest that mothers relieved from nutritional constraints enhance the size of daughters to compensate for their larger susceptibility to hatching last. The study also confirms the role of egg albumen content in determining hatchling size, previously experimentally detected only in one species in the wild. The effect of increased egg mass on offspring size persisted at least until day 8 after hatching, when, however, it did not vary with sex, suggesting intense negative selection on small female c-chicks in control broods. Hence, maternal effects mediated by egg albumen content had persistent effects on offspring size. 相似文献
16.
Rebecca J. Safran Kevin M. Pilz Kevin J. McGraw Stephanie M. Correa Hubert Schwabl 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(3):427-438
Recently, evidence is mounting that females can adaptively engineer the quality of their offspring via the deposition of yolk
compounds, including carotenoids and androgens. In this study, we simultaneously consider how both carotenoids and androgens
in egg yolk relate to parental quality in barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster). First, we found no relationship between concentrations or amounts of yolk androgens and carotenoids. Yolk carotenoids decreased
with laying order, whereas we found no relationship between yolk androgens and laying order. Second, we tested the Investment
Hypothesis, which predicts that high-quality females or females paired to high quality mates, allocate differentially more
of these yolk compounds to their offspring. For carotenoids, we mostly found evidence to counter predictions of the Investment
hypothesis: (1) Carotenoid concentrations varied among females, (2) heavier eggs contained lower carotenoid concentrations,
although heavier yolks contained greater amounts of carotenoids, (3) eggs of earlier-laying females had lower concentrations
in their eggs, and (4) yolk carotenoids were not correlated with clutch size or male plumage ornamentation. For androgens,
we found weak support for the Investment Hypothesis: (1) Yolk androgens varied among females, (2) heavier eggs and yolks contained
greater amounts, although not concentrations of androgens, (3) females paired to more colorful males laid eggs with greater
concentrations of androgens, and (4) no effects of laying date or morphological correlates of female quality on androgen concentrations
in egg yolks. Overall, these findings suggest that each yolk compound may have different functions and therefore may be regulated
by different mechanisms. 相似文献
17.
Vladimír Remeš 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(6):1257-1266
Females can adaptively adjust phenotype of their offspring via deposition of various compounds into eggs, including androgens
and other hormones. Here, I investigated how egg yolk androgens (testosterone and androstenedione) related to environmental
conditions and parental traits in the great tit (Parus major) across three breeding seasons. Male and female traits studied included age, condition and multiple feather ornaments, both
carotenoid- and melanin-based (carotenoid and UV chroma of yellow breast feathers, area of black breast band and white cheek
immaculateness). Yolk mass increased with laying temperature, laying date and area of male black breast band. Concentration
of androgens increased with breeding density, territory quality and carotenoid chroma of male yellow breast feathers and was
higher in mates of 1 year old as compared to older males. Yolk androgens were not related to any of the female traits analysed.
These patterns were thus consistent with (1) social and environmental effects on yolk mass and composition and (2) both positive
and negative differential allocation strategies of resource allocation in females. Overall, male traits were the most important
predictors of egg yolk characteristics in this socially monogamous songbird. 相似文献
18.
Laaksonen T Adamczyk F Ahola M Möstl E Lessells CK 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(2):257-264
Female birds might be able to manipulate the parental effort of their male partner through elevated transfer of hormones to
the eggs, since these hormones affect many chick traits that males might use as cues for adjusting the level of their investment.
We experimentally studied whether female pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca could manipulate male investment via yolk androgens. There is much more variation in yolk androgen levels between females
than within clutches, and in order to change the androgen levels of the eggs, we swapped whole clutches between nests. To
estimate the androgen levels of the clutch, we measured the androgen content of a single egg per clutch. Females did not succeed
in manipulating male effort using yolk androgens, since there was no relationship between the division of parental care within
a pair and either original or foster egg androgen levels. One of these relationships should have occurred if females were
manipulating males. The proportion of feeding visits by the male was higher when the male was old (55%) than when he was young
(45%) and females laid eggs with higher androgen levels when mated with a young male. Young males did not exhibit any responses
to yolk androgen levels either, which indicates that females cannot exploit their effort more than that of old males. We suggest
that females may allocate yolk androgens to adjust the growth trajectories of the chicks to poor growing conditions when mated
with young males that are poor providers or occupying a poor territory. 相似文献
19.
The theory of sex allocation suggests that if the reproductive value and the cost of producing/rearing offspring differ between
male and female offspring, parents should invest differently in sexes depending on environmental conditions. Female parents
could allocate more resources to eggs of one sex to compensate potential sex-dependent constraints later during the nestling
period. In this study, we tested the influence of environmental conditions on sexual dimorphism in eggs of Eurasian kestrels
(Falco tinnunculus) by experimentally manipulating food availability before laying. We found that an increase in food abundance before laying
did not increase egg mass but changed sex-dependent resource distribution in eggs. In food-supplemented pairs, but not in
control pairs, egg mass and hatchling mass were similar between males and females. In addition, we found, in the food-supplemented
group, that the latest hatched females showed shorter hatching times than in the control group. In control pairs, female eggs,
hatchlings and nestlings were heavier than males. In addition, male fledglings in the food-supplemented group gained less
mass than those in the control group. As that food abundance was only increased until the onset of laying, female kestrels
were expected to invest in eggs taking food abundance before egg formation as a predictor of future conditions during brood
rearing. Our study shows that environmental conditions before laying promote a subtle adjustment of the resources invested
in both sexes of offspring rather than in other breeding parameters. This adjustment resulted in a shortening of hatching
time of the last hatched females that possibly gives them advantages in their competitive capacity with respect to male nest-mates. 相似文献
20.
Diego Rubolini Roberto Ambrosini Maria Romano Manuela Caprioli Mauro Fasola Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Nicola Saino 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2009,63(12):1809-1819
Non-random sex allocation may occur whenever the expected reproductive value of sons and daughters differs, as is the case when the sexes differ in susceptibility to environmental conditions or maternal effects (e.g. egg size and hatch order). Under such circumstances, covariation between egg and clutch characteristics and egg sex may be expected, and this covariation should vary with maternal state or ecological conditions. In this 2-year study (2007–2008), we examined sex allocation in relation to egg and clutch traits in the yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, a species where male chicks are larger and more susceptible to harsh rearing conditions than female ones. In 2008, eggs were more likely male early in the season in two- but not three-egg clutches, and large eggs were more likely males late in the season. No egg/clutch traits predicted egg sex in 2007. Within-clutch egg mass asymmetry (the difference in egg mass between the first- and last-laid eggs) predicted sex in both years. In 2007, clutches with smaller egg mass variation were more likely to contain males, while in 2008 this relationship held for the last-laid egg and was reversed for the preceding egg(s). Laying order and sex of the previous egg did not predict egg sex, providing no evidence of sex-specific oocyte clustering. Thus, the relationships between egg sex and egg/clutch traits differed among years, suggesting a phenotypically plastic response of females to extrinsic conditions, and involved within-clutch egg mass asymmetry, a trait likely reflecting variation in maternal quality and/or reproductive tactics, which has been largely neglected in previous studies of sex allocation. 相似文献