A two-sex demographic model with single-dependent divorce rate

Maxin, Daniel; Berec, Luděk

doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.06.013

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The level of maintenance of pair bonds will depend on levels of widowing (i.e. If divorce influences fitness or pairing decisions, we can also expect it to shape population productivity and dynamics (Sugg et al, 1996;Berec & Boukal, 2004;Maxin & Berec, 2010), and the genetic structure of populations (Sugg et al, 1996;Cézilly & Zayan, 2000). both partners are alive, and at least one of them has re-mated with a new partner, Black, 1996; however, we note that, while divorce has been defined by all of the empirical studies that we review as occurring when re-mating with a new partner occurs for at least one member of a surviving pair, broader definitions are conceivable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trading up: the fitness consequences of divorce in monogamous birds

2014

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Social and genetic mating systems play an important role in natural and sexual selection, as well as in the dynamics of populations. In socially monogamous species different genetic mating patterns appear when individuals mate outside the breeding pair within a breeding season (extra-pair mating) or when they change partners between two breeding seasons (widowing or divorce). Divorce can be defined as having occurred when two previously paired individuals are alive during the next breeding season and at least one of them has re-mated with a new partner. In socially monogamous birds divorce is widespread, but it is not clear whether it is a behavioural adaptation to improve the quality of a mating decision or whether, alternatively, it results as a non-selected consequence of other processes: existing studies suggest a heterogeneous set of results with respect to this central question. This heterogeneity could result from a number of factors, ranging from the methodological approaches used, to population- or species-specific characters. In this review we use phylogenetic meta-analyses to assess the evidence that divorce is adaptive (in terms of breeding success) across 64 species of socially monogamous birds. Second, we explore biological and methodological reasons for the heterogeneity in the results of previous studies. Results of our analyses supported the hypothesis that divorce is, in general, an adaptive behavioural strategy as: (1) divorce is triggered by relatively low breeding success; (2) there is a positive change in breeding success as a result of divorce. More specifically, while controlling for methodological moderators, we show that: (i) earlier stages of breeding are better predictors of divorce than later stages (r = 0.231; 95% CI: 0.061-0.391 for clutch size; similar for laying date); (ii) females benefited from divorce more than males in terms of increasing breeding success between successive breeding attempts, with different stages of the breeding cycle improving at different rates (e.g. r = 0.637; 95% CI: 0.328-0.817 for brood-level measures). We show that the effect size was dependent on the methodological approach used across studies and argue that research on the adaptive nature of divorce should be cautious when designing the study and interpreting the results. Altogether, by providing strong evidence that divorce is an adaptive strategy across monogamous birds, the results of our analysis provide a firm ground for further exploration of external covariates of divorce (e.g. demographic factors) and the mechanisms underlying the differences in the effect sizes of the proximal fitness causes and consequences of divorce.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trading up: the fitness consequences of divorce in monogamous birds

2014

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“…Moreover, the dynamics of the formation and maintenance of pair bonds can influence population productivity and hence shape population dynamics, both through determining the number of reproductive pairs (Sugg et al. ; Berec and Boukal ; Maxin and Berec ), and through differences in reproductive success of newly formed and existing pairs (e.g., Pampus et al. ; Hatch and Westneat ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Explaining why these differences occur is important for understanding the evolution of social monogamy and long-term partnerships (reviewed in Black 1996;Reichard and Boesch 2003;Shuster and Wade 2003). Moreover, the dynamics of the formation and maintenance of pair bonds can influence population productivity and hence shape population dynamics, both through determining the number of reproductive pairs (Sugg et al 1996;Berec and Boukal 2004;Maxin and Berec 2010), and through differences in reproductive success of newly formed and existing pairs (e.g., Pampus et al 2005;Hatch and Westneat 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multievent approach to estimating pair fidelity and heterogeneity in state transitions

Culina

Lachish

Pradel

et al. 2013

Ecology and Evolution

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Fidelity rates of pair-bonded individuals are of considerable interest to behavioral and population biologists as they can influence population structure, mating rates, population productivity, and gene flow. Estimates of fidelity rates calculated from direct observations of pairs in consecutive breeding seasons may be biased because (i) individuals that are not seen are assumed to be dead, (ii) variation in the detectability of individuals is ignored, and (iii) pair status must be known with certainty. This can lead to a high proportion of observations being ignored. This approach also restricts the way variation in fidelity rates for different types of individuals, or the covariation between fidelity and other vital rates (e.g., survival) can be analyzed. In this study, we develop a probabilistic multievent capture–mark–recapture (MECMR) modeling framework for estimating pair fidelity rates that accounts for imperfect detection rates and capture heterogeneity, explicitly incorporates uncertainty in the assessment of pair status, and allows estimates of state-dependent survival and fidelity rates to be obtained simultaneously. We demonstrate the utility of our approach for investigating patterns of fidelity in pair-bonded individuals, by applying it to 30 years of breeding data from a wild population of great tits Parus major Linnaeus. Results of model selection supported state-dependent recapture, survival, and fidelity rates. Recapture rates were higher for individuals breeding with their previous partner than for those breeding with a different partner. Faithful birds that were breeding with the same partner as in the previous breeding season (i.e., at t − 1) experienced substantially higher survival rates (between t and t + 1) and were also more likely to remain faithful to their current partner (i.e., to remain in the faithful state at t + 1). First year breeders were more likely to change partner than older birds. These findings imply that traditional estimates, which do not account for state-dependent parameters, may be both inaccurate and biased, and hence, inferences based on them may conceal important biological effects. This was demonstrated in the analysis of simulated capture histories, which showed that our MECMR model was able to estimate state-dependant survival and pair fidelity rates in the face of varying state-dependant recapture rates robustly, and more accurately, than the traditional method. In addition, this new modeling approach provides a statistically rigorous framework for testing hypothesis about the causes and consequences of fidelity to a partner for natural populations. The novel modeling approach described here can readily be applied, either in its current form or via extension, to other populations and other types of dyadic interactions (e.g., between nonpaired individuals, such as parent–offspring relationships, or between individuals and locations, such as nest-site fidelity).

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“…We controlled for the winter block of data. We also controlled for clutch size in each model because we have evidence [14,24] that clutch size is an important predictor of divorce in great tits and closely related tit species. To additionally test for the influence of between-sex degree and proportion of the opposite sex associates on divorce probability, we used the full dataset, including all new pairs (i.e.…”

Section: (D) Data Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…infidelity) and/or by divorcing a partner after initial breeding [9][10][11][12]. Consequently, when the social environment influences initial mate choice by determining the number of opposite sex associates [13,14], it should also influence the emergence of secondary mating strategies. In this way, the social environment may not only impact breeding success through the immediate effects of the quality of the social partnership, but also through later fitness effects of secondary mating strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population

2015

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ResearchCite this article: Culina A, Hinde CA, Sheldon BC. 2015 Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population. Proc. R. Soc. Initial mate choice and re-mating strategies (infidelity and divorce) influence individual fitness. Both of these should be influenced by the social environment, which determines the number and availability of potential partners. While most studies looking at this relationship take a population-level approach, individual-level responses to variation in the social environment remain largely unstudied. Here, we explore carry-over effects on future mating decisions of the social environment in which the initial mating decision occurred. Using detailed data on the winter social networks of great tits, we tested whether the probability of subsequent divorce, a year later, could be predicted by measures of the social environment at the time of pairing. We found that males that had a lower proportion of female associates, and whose partner ranked lower among these, as well as inexperienced breeders, were more likely to divorce after breeding. We found no evidence that a female's social environment influenced the probability of divorce. Our findings highlight the importance of the social environment that individuals experience during initial pair formation on later pairing outcomes, and demonstrate that such effects can be delayed. Exploring these extended effects of the social environment can yield valuable insights into processes and selective pressures acting upon the mating strategies that individuals adopt.

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A two-sex demographic model with single-dependent divorce rate

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Trading up: the fitness consequences of divorce in monogamous birds

Trading up: the fitness consequences of divorce in monogamous birds

A multievent approach to estimating pair fidelity and heterogeneity in state transitions

Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population

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