共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 484 毫秒
1.
Females of socially monogamous species may copulate with attractive non-mates to obtain access to the genes of such males,
and a preference for attractive copulation partners may result in sexual selection. Extra-pair copulations are common in the
socially monogamous barn swallow Hirundorustica, and a 2-year study of paternity using multi-locus DNA fingerprinting demonstrated that 33% of 63 broods and 28% of 261 offspring
were sired by extra-pair males. The frequency of extra-pair offspring within broods was highly skewed with the majority of
all broods having either no extra-pair offspring or only extra-pair offspring. Individual pairs were consistent in their frequency
of extra-pair paternity among broods, and the repeatability of extra-pair paternity of multiple broods of the same female
was statistically significant. The proportion of extra-pair offspring was negatively related to the tail length of the male
attending the nest. Behavioural observations showed that extra-pair fertilizations were more likely in broods raised by females
that had been observed to engage in extra-pair copulations. The frequency of extra-pair offspring was unrelated to the intensity
of two male paternity guards, mate guarding and the rate of intra-pair copulations. In an analysis of extra-pair paternity
and male parental care in different broods of the same male, male barn swallows fed their offspring relatively less frequently
if the brood contained more extra-pair offspring. Therefore, female barn swallows pursue extra-pair copulations with attractive
males, which may result in sexual selection, even though extra-pair paternity is costly for females due to the reduction of
paternal care by their social mates.
Received: 24 January 1997 / Accepted after revision: 2 August 1997 相似文献
2.
David F. Westneat Anne B. Clark Katherine C. Rambo D. F. Westneat 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1995,37(5):349-356
We video-taped male and female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) feeding individual chicks in order to test the hypothesis that food might be differently allocated to within-pair offspring and extra-pair young. We found no evidence that paternity influenced the allocation of food by either males or females. Both males and females fed male offspring significantly more, but there was no tendency for paternity to be skewed by gender. Females fed older offspring significantly more, whereas males did not; extra-pair fertilizations, however, were not associated with lay or hatch order of the chicks. Given that males do not appear to discriminate within-pair from extra-pair offspring directly, these results are consistent with current theory on the effect of paternity on paternal behavior. We discuss briefly some of the possible reasons why discrimination might be lacking in red-winged blackbirds and in other species in which the possibility of discrimination of paternity and allocation of paternal behavior has been studied. 相似文献
3.
Ola Svensson Maria Lissåker Kenyon B. Mobley 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(8):1325-1331
When parental care is costly, parents should avoid caring for unrelated young. Therefore, it is an advantage to discriminate
between related and unrelated offspring so that parents can make informed decisions about parental care. In the present study,
we test the hypothesis that male sand gobies (Pomatoschistus minutus) recognize and differentially care for their own offspring when given a choice between a nest with sired eggs and a second
nest with eggs sired by an unrelated male. The sand goby is a species with exclusive and costly paternal care. Male parasitic
spawnings (e.g., sneaking) as well as nest takeovers by other males are common. Our results show that nests containing sired
eggs were preferred and received significantly more care, as measured by nest building and nest occupancy, than nests with
foreign eggs even when males cared for both nests. These findings suggest that males respond to paternity cues and recognize
their own clutches. Relative clutch size also had a significant effect on male parental care. When sired clutches were larger
than foreign clutches, males preferred to care for their own nest. In the few cases where males chose to take care of foreign
nests, the foreign clutch was larger than their own clutch. Taken together, our results provide evidence that both paternity
cues and clutch size influence parenting decisions among male sand gobies. 相似文献
4.
High paternal investment in unrelated young: extra-pair paternity and male parental care in house martins 总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3
The response of males to reduced paternity has important consequences for the evolution and maintenance of a mixed reproductive strategy. Paternity is predicted to affect directly the level of male parental care in some cases but not in others. The response of males to reduced paternity will be influenced by their ability to assess their paternity, the predictability of cuckoldry and the costs and benefits of parental care. Although male house martins (Delichon urbica) provide among the highest levels of male parental care known in passerines (incubation, brooding and feeding nestlings), there was no evidence that cuckolded males substantially reduced their level of parental care, and, as a result, all young fledged successfully. Thus, extra-pair fertilizations enhanced the reproductive success of some males because they were able to parasitize the parental care of cuckolded males. We discuss several conditions which may favor extensive male parental care even when the male's paternity is very low. 相似文献
5.
Karen M. Cogliati Bryan D. Neff Sigal Balshine 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2013,67(3):399-408
In many mating systems, males adopt alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) to maximize reproductive success. In fishes, guarding males often invest more energy into courtship, defense, and paternal care, whereas cuckolding males forego such costs and steal fertilizations by releasing their sperm in the nest of a guarding male. These two tactics have been documented in the plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus), yet the relative reproductive success of the guarding and cuckolding male tactics remains unknown. In this study, we used microsatellite markers to determine the level of paternity of the guarding type I males. We explored how paternity varied with male phenotype and across the breeding season. Our results revealed the lowest documented levels of paternity in a species with obligate paternal care. Although paternity remained consistently low, it did increase as the breeding season progressed. Male body size did not significantly predict paternity. The low paternity in this species may be explained, in part, by aspects of their reproductive ecology including the duration of parental care period, limited nest availability and competition for nests, as well as the occurrence of nest takeovers. Overall, our findings contribute to the understanding of the ultimate factors underlying ARTs in this species and highlight the importance of investigating reproductive success across the entire breeding season. 相似文献
6.
James V. Briskie Robert Montgomerie Tarmo Põldmaa Peter T. Boag 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1998,43(3):181-190
In species where females copulate with more than one male during a single breeding attempt, males risk investing in offspring
that are not their own. In the polygynandrous Smith's longspur (Calcarius pictus), females copulate sequentially with one to three males for each clutch of eggs and most of these males later assist in feeding
the young. Using multilocus DNA profiling, we determined that there was mixed paternity in >75% of broods (n=31) but that few offspring (<1% of 114 nestlings) were sired by males outside the polygynandrous group. Male feeding rate
increased significantly with the number of young sired, with males siring four nestlings feeding the brood at double the frequency
of males siring only a single nestling. However, male Smith's longspurs appear to show a graded adjustment of paternal care
in response to paternity only when other males are available to compensate for reduced care: feeding rate did not vary in
relation to paternity when only one male provisioned young at the nest. There was no evidence that males could recognise their
own offspring within a brood and feed them preferentially. The number of offspring sired by each male was significantly correlated
with the number of days spent copulating with the attending female: on average, a male sired one offspring for every 2 days
of copulatory access. If males use their access to females to estimate paternity (and thereby decide on their subsequent level
of parental investment), a positive relationship is expected between the amount of female access and the subsequent feeding
rate to the nestlings. Nonetheless, male feeding effort was only weakly correlated with female access and more study is needed
to determine how males estimate their paternity in a brood.
Received: 1 June 1997 / Accepted after revision: 1 April 1998 相似文献
7.
Factors that affect extra-pair mating in birds are likely to vary across the breeding season. Changing densities of active
nests may alter the opportunities for extra-pair mating, and parental duties may alter a male’s opportunity to guard his mate
from extra-pair mating. The latter affects species with multiple broods, where males care for fledglings from first nests
while females initiate second nests. We studied a population of multi-brooded American robins (Turdus migratorius) to assess how seasonal changes in nesting density and changes in mate-guarding opportunity influenced paternity patterns
over successive breeding attempts. Extra-pair paternity (EPP) occurred in 71.9% of broods and accounted for 48.1% of young.
High nesting densities in the study population may explain the high overall rate of EPP, but seasonal variation in breeding
density did not explain patterns of EPP among nests. Contrary to the predictions of the mate-guarding hypothesis, EPP did
not increase in the second nests that followed successful first nests, and the percentage of extra-pair young in second nests
did not decline as the overlap between successive nests increased. The fact that EPP was actually lower when the interval
between clutches was shorter suggests that the sooner the males can assume sole care of first broods and allow their mates
to renest (indicative of superior paternal quality), the more paternity they realize in the next nest. These results suggest
that mate-guarding opportunity does not influence paternity in this population of American robins and that female robins may
allocate paternity based on their assessment of male parental performance at first nests. 相似文献
8.
Corey R. Freeman-Gallant 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1997,40(6):395-400
Empirical relationships between parentage and male parental care are commonly interpreted in the context of life-history
models that consider increased offspring survivorship as the only benefit of paternal effort. However, indirect benefits associated
with male care can also influence a male's response to cuckoldry: if females allocate paternity according to their prior experience
with male parental care, it may pay for males to provision extra-pair young in early broods. Here, I assess the relationship
between first-brood parentage and paternal care in a population of Savannah sparrows (Passerculussandwichensis) where a male's fertilization success in the second brood appears to be influenced by his prior parental performance. Based
on the multi-locus DNA fingerprinting of 17 first broods, male feeding effort was influenced by parentage (percent of brood
resulting from within-pair fertilizations) but not by brood size, male mating status (monogamous versus polygynous), timing
of breeding (hatching date), structural size (wing length) or condition (mass). Males provided more care to broods that contained
few within-pair young. This result supports the idea that males provision young to increase their future mating success, but
alternative hypotheses involving male quality and timing of breeding cannot be excluded.
Received: 13 August 1996 / Accepted after revision: 22 February 1997 相似文献
9.
Vedder O Magrath MJ Niehoff DL van der Velde M Komdeur J 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2012,66(4):603-612
Although functional explanations for female engagement in extra-pair copulation have been studied extensively in birds, little
is known about how extra-pair paternity is linked to other fundamental aspects of avian reproduction. However, recent studies
indicate that the occurrence of extra-pair offspring may generally decline with laying order, possibly because stimulation
by eggs induces incubation, which may suppress female motivation to acquire extra-pair paternity. Here we tested whether experimental
inhibition of incubation during the laying phase, induced by the temporary removal of eggs, resulted in increased extra-pair
paternity, in concert with a later cessation of laying, in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). As expected, experimental females showed a more gradual increase in nocturnal incubation duration over the laying phase
and produced larger clutches than controls. Moreover, incubation duration on the night after the first egg was laid predicted
how extra-pair paternity declined with laying order, with less incubation being associated with more extra-pair offspring
among the earliest eggs in the clutch. However, incubation duration on this first night was unrelated to our experimental
treatment and independent of final clutch size. Consequently, the observed decline in extra-pair paternity with laying order
was unaffected by our manipulation and larger clutches included proportionally fewer extra-pair offspring. We suggest that
female physiological state prior to laying, associated with incubation at the onset of laying, determines motivation to acquire
extra-pair paternity independent of final clutch size. This decline in proportion of extra-pair offspring with clutch size
may be a general pattern within bird species. 相似文献
10.
Courtship displays and paternal care in male birds are generally thought to be mutually exclusive, because testosterone, necessary for stimulation of sexual behaviours, suppresses paternal behaviours. Superb fairy-wrens, Malurus cyaneus, are unusual in that males concurrently engage in courtship and paternal care. Fairy-wrens live in stable socially monogamous pairs with 0-4 subordinate male helpers. Both helper and dominant males provide care whenever it is required but continue courtship throughout the period of care as most fertilisations are extra-group and females are multi-brooded. To examine the role of testosterone in this trade-off, we compared testosterone levels in males of different social status, while they had dependent nestlings, and determined the effect of testosterone treatment on provisioning rates of pairs. Testosterone levels were lower in subordinate helpers, although these do not provide more paternal care than dominant males. Conversely, testosterone levels were similar in dominant males with or without helpers, although as the number of helpers increases males invest substantially less in nestling care and more in extra-group courtship. Although testosterone levels are high, irrespective of paternal duties, experimental testosterone treatment of males resulted in a large (65%) reduction in nestling feeding rates. Surprisingly, there was no indication that females compensated for this reduction in provisioning, suggesting that females might assume a constant male contribution to offspring care. We conclude that during nestling provisioning, male fairy-wrens maintain testosterone at an individual level that does not interfere with parental duties, while allowing high investment in extra-group courtship. 相似文献
11.
René E. van Dijk Lidia A. Mészáros Marco van der Velde Tamás Székely Ákos Pogány János Szabad Jan Komdeur 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(9):1425-1435
Engagement in extra-pair copulations is an example of the abundant conflicting interests between males and females over reproduction.
Potential benefits for females and the risk of cuckoldry for males are expected to have important implications on the evolution
of parental care. However, whether parents adjust parental care in response to parentage remains unclear. In Eurasian penduline
tits Remiz pendulinus, which are small polygamous songbirds, parental care is carried out either by the male or by the female. In addition, one
third of clutches is deserted by both male and female. Desertion takes place during the egg-laying phase. Using genotypes
of nine microsatellite loci of 443 offspring and 211 adults, we test whether extra-pair paternity predicts parental care.
We expect males to be more likely to desert cuckolded broods, whereas we expect females, if they obtain benefits from having
multiple sires, to be more likely to care for broods with multiple paternity. Our results suggest that parental care is not
adjusted to parentage on an ecological timescale. Furthermore, we found that male attractiveness does not predict cuckoldry,
and we found no evidence for indirect benefits for females (i.e., increased growth rates or heterozygosity of extra-pair offspring).
We argue that male Eurasian penduline tits may not be able to assess the risk of cuckoldry; thus, a direct association with
parental care is unlikely to evolve. However, timing of desertion (i.e., when to desert during the egg-laying phase) may be
influenced by the risk of cuckoldry. Future work applying extensive gene sequencing and quantitative genetics is likely to
further our understanding of how selection may influence the association between parentage and parental care. 相似文献
12.
Effects of paternal care on reproductive success in the polygynous spotless starling Sturnus unicolor 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
J. Moreno José P. Veiga Pedro J. Cordero Eduardo Mínguez 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,47(1-2):47-53
For males of socially polygynous avian species like the spotless starling, there may exist a trade-off between investing in
paternal care and controlling several nests. To determine how the intensity of paternal care affects reproductive success
per brood sired or expressed as the total number of young raised in all nests controlled by the same male, it is necessary
to manipulate paternal care. Testosterone (T) has been shown to depress the tendency for males to care for their young, and
induces them to acquire more mates. The effects of paternal care on reproductive success were studied by treating certain
male starlings with exogenous T and others with the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate (CA), and comparing the parental behavior
of T- and CA-males throughout the breeding season with that of controls. CA-males fed their chicks more during the first week
after hatching than T-males, with controls feeding at intermediate rates, both on a per nest basis and as total effort for
all nests controlled by the same male. Paternal feeding rates during the first week of chick life had a significant positive
effect on the number of fledged young. The hormone treatment significantly affected the number of chicks raised per nest,
CA-males having a higher breeding success per nest than T-males, and controls showing intermediate levels of success. There
was no significant effect of treatment on total reproductive success attained by males throughout the season. In the polygonous
spotless starling, the intensity of paternal care of young affects reproductive success per nest positively but not on a seasonal
basis.
Received: 6 February 1999 / Received in revised form: 30 June 1999 / Accepted: 11 July 1999 相似文献
13.
Arild Johnsen Henrik Pärn Frode Fossøy Oddmund Kleven Terje Laskemoen Jan T. Lifjeld 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(11):1761-1767
Extra-pair paternity is common in birds and much research has focussed on the selective advantage of extra-pair matings for
both sexes. In contrast, little attention has been given to the fact that in most species the majority of offspring are sired
by the social male. We investigated whether extra-pair matings of female bluethroats (Luscinia svecica) are constrained by the presence of the pair male, by detaining males in cages on their territories for one morning during
the peak of female fertility. The proportion of offspring sired by extra-pair males was higher in broods where males had been
detained (35%) than in control broods (16%), while the proportion of broods that had at least one extra-pair offspring did
not differ significantly between experimental (65%) and control broods (44%). Within the experimental group, levels of extra-pair
paternity were not related to the day of experiment in relation to start of egg laying, but males caught early in the morning
lost more paternity than males caught later on. Our results show that pair males exert constraints on the frequency of extra-pair
paternity by being present during the period of peak fertility, which could be a direct effect of their mate guarding effort
and/or due to an advantage in sperm competition for pair males. 相似文献
14.
Ioana Chiver Bridget J. M. Stutchbury Eugene S. Morton 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(12):1981-1990
Extra-pair fertilizations are common in many socially monogamous species, and paternity studies have indicated that females
may use male vocal performance and plumage ornaments as cues to assess male quality. Female off-territory forays may represent
a key component of female choice and male extra-pair mating success, and female foray behaviour is expected to be strongly
influenced by indictors of male quality. In this study, we examined how male song and ornamentation affect how often females
left their territories, which males they visited and extra-pair paternity in a socially monogamous passerine, the hooded warbler
(Wilsonia citrina). We radiotracked 17 females during the fertile period and quantified male vocal performance (song output and rate) and plumage
characteristics (size of the black melanin hood and colour of the black hood, yellow cheeks and breast areas). We obtained
blood samples and determined paternity at 35 nests including those of 14 females that we radiotracked. Eleven (65%) of the
17 females forayed off-territory, whilst fertile and female foray rate was positively correlated with the number of extra-pair
young in the nest. Females that left their territories more frequently were paired with males that sang at a low rate. In
addition, extra-pair mates had higher song rates than the social mates they cuckolded (5.3 songs/min vs. 4.4 songs/min). Female
off-territory forays or extra-pair paternity were not significantly related to male plumage characteristics. Our results indicate
that a high song rate influences both the foray behaviour of a male’s social mate and the likelihood that he will sire extra-pair
offspring with neighbouring females. 相似文献
15.
Peter O. Dunn Raleigh J. Robertson Denise Michaud-Freeman Peter T. Boag 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1994,35(4):273-281
Recent studies of monogamous tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) suggest that females may receive some type of genetic benefit from extra-pair fertilizations. In this study we attempted to determine what type of genetic benefits might be gained by females. We compared numerous morphological and behavioral traits (Table 1) of every male nesting on one grid of nest-boxes (n = 23) to determine what male traits were correlated with male success at gaining extra-pair fertilizations. DNA fingerprinting revealed an increase in the level of extra-pair paternity from the previous year (50% of broods contained extra-pair young in 1990 vs. 87% of broods in 1991), but no significant correlates of paternity. We found six extra-pair fathers at seven nests (20 nests had extra-pair young). The traits of these extra-pair males did not differ from those of the males they cuckolded. We discuss several reasons for this lack of difference, but argue that our results are not inconsistent with females choosing extra-pair males to enhance the genotypic quality of their offspring. Despite a complete search of the nest-box grid for extra-pair fathers, we were able to explain the paternity of just 21% (13/63) of all extra-pair young. This suggests that extra-pair fathers were either residents off our study grid or non-territorial floaters. Tree swallows are quite mobile and spend only part of the day at their nest prior to laying. In addition, we rarely see swallows visiting other grids of nest-boxes. Therefore, we suggest that most extra-pair copulations occur at some unknown location, possibly at a feeding or roosting area where females may be able to choose from many more potential extra-pair fathers than at their nest-site. 相似文献
16.
The rhacophorid frog, Kurixalus eiffingeri, is one of only a few frog species that exhibits polyandry and paternal care of eggs. Previous studies predicted that multiple
paternity within an egg clutch could influence the degree of paternal care and reproductive strategies. We used microsatellite
DNA markers to assess the prevalence of multiple paternity within egg clutches and the relationship between male paternal
care and the percent of male’s genetic contribution to the clutch, i.e., paternal share. We conducted field observations of paternal care and collected tissues from both male frogs and tadpoles
for parentage analyses. Our results showed that at least five out of 31 egg clutches had multiple paternity. Attending males
were always the genetic fathers of some, if not all of the eggs in the clutch they guarded. All egg clutches except one were
attended by one male frog but the attending male did not necessarily sire the majority of offspring. Multiple paternity in
all cases consisted of two fathers and one mother and most likely resulted from synchronous polyandry. Paternal care effort
correlated significantly with the male’s genetic contribution to the clutch, suggesting that male frogs adjust the effort
expended in care in response to paternal share. In addition, our results suggest that externally fertilizing species with
parental care and multiple paternity may develop novel reproductive and behavioral strategies to safeguard their parental
investment and overcome sperm competition. 相似文献
17.
I. Nishiumi Satoshi Yamagishi Hiromi Maekawa Chikashi Shimoda 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1996,39(4):211-217
In many polygynous animals, parents invest more heavily in individual sons than in daughters. However, it is unclear if these
differences in investment are a consequence of sex differences in the demand of offspring related to sexual size dimorphism
or a consequence of parental manipulation. Here, we report on parental food delivery frequency in relation to brood size and
brood sex ratio in a wild population of polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus. We used the polymorphic microsatellite loci on the Z chromosome to sex chicks. We found that paternal feeding frequency
(times/h per nest) increased not with brood size, but with the proportion of males in the brood, although the demand per nest
was more closely related to brood size than to brood sex ratio. Additionally, the increase in rate of paternal feeding frequency
in relation to the brood sex ratio was much higher than the increase in rate of nestling food demands. Maternal feeding frequency
was independent of both brood size and brood sex ratio. These results strongly suggest that fathers preferentially invest
in their sons. We propose that parents can afford sex-biased parental care in animals in which food provisioning is enough
for all offspring to survive.
Received: 22 January 1996/Accepted after revision: 30 June 1996 相似文献
18.
In polygynous species, males appear to gain additional offspring by pairing with multiple females simultaneously. However, this may not be true if some females copulate outside of the social pair bond. Polygynous males could experience lower paternity because of trade-offs among gaining multiple social mates, guarding fertility with these mates, and pursuing extra-pair matings. Alternatively, polygynous males could simultaneously gain extra social mates and have high paternity, either because of female preferences or because of male competitive attributes. We tested four predictions stemming from these hypotheses in a facultatively polygynous songbird, the dickcissel (Spiza americana). Unlike most previous studies, we found that males with higher social mating success (harem size) also tended to have higher within-pair paternity and that the number of extra-pair young a male sired increased significantly with his social mating success. Females that paired with mated males were not more likely to produce extra-pair young. In contrast, extra-pair paternity was significantly lower in the nests of females whose nesting activity overlapped that of another female on the same territory. This pattern of mating was robust to differences in breeding density. Indeed, breeding density had no effect on either extra-pair mating or on the association between polygyny and paternity. Finally, nest survival increased with harem size. This result, combined with the positive association between polygyny and paternity, contributed to significantly higher realized reproductive success by polygynous male dickcissels. 相似文献
19.
Extra-pair paternity is common in socially monogamous passerines; however, despite considerable research attention, consistent
differences in fitness between within-pair offspring (WPO) and extra-pair offspring (EPO) have not been demonstrated. Recent
evidence indicates that differences between maternal half-siblings may depend on environmental conditions, but it is unclear
whether the influence of paternal genetic contribution should be most apparent under comparatively poor or favourable conditions.
We compared phenotypic characteristics of WPO and EPO in 30 mixed-paternity broods of the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) in relation to experimentally increased nest temperature (n = 13 heated nests; 17 control nests) and natural abundance of haematophagous parasites (Protocalliphora spp.). This allowed us to test the hypothesis that genetic benefits of extra-pair mating are environment dependent. EPO grew
their ninth primary feathers faster than WPO regardless of nest temperature or parasite load and had significantly longer
ninth primary feathers at fledging when parasite abundance was low, and when they were positioned early in the hatching sequence
relative to WPO. In contrast, WPO under similar conditions did not differ from EPO in any phenotypic trait measured. These
results indicate that the fitness benefits of extra-pair mating are likely to be context dependent, and that genetic effects
on some phenotypic traits may be more apparent when conditions are relatively favourable. 相似文献
20.
Sarah L. M. Stewart David F. Westneat Gary Ritchison 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(3):463-473
The causes of variation in rates of extra-pair paternity among avian populations remain unclear, but could include environmental
factors such as breeding density and synchrony. By experimentally manipulating nest site availability, we tested the effects
of breeding density on the frequency of extra-pair paternity in eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). We also examined the role of breeding synchrony on extra-pair paternity using natural timing of nests. Microsatellite analysis
revealed 34 of 305 nestlings (11.2%) were the result of extra-pair fertilizations; and 21 of 79 broods (26.6%) had at least
one extra-pair nestling. Several measures of breeding density had independent effects on extra-pair paternity. First, experimental
plot type affected extra-pair paternity, with 28 of 34 (82.4%) extra-pair young from nests in high density areas, and only
six (17.6%) from nests in low density areas. Independently of plot type, the number of breeding neighbors within a 320-m radius
was a significant predictor of the likelihood of extra-pair paternity at the nest. Extra-pair paternity was associated with
temporal factors such as absolute timing of breeding and natural levels of local breeding synchrony, but only in bivariate
comparisons. We found a positive interaction between density of neighbors within a 320-m radius and local breeding synchrony;
this term reduced the main effects of synchrony and number of neighbors, but not experimental treatment. Our results demonstrate
the importance of utilizing multiple aspects of proximity in breeding density analyses and testing for interactions between
ecological factors that can influence the behavioral events leading to extra-pair fertilizations. 相似文献