Age‐dependent changes in infidelity in Seychelles warblers

Pant, Sara Raj; Hammers, Martijn; Komdeur, Jan; Burke, Terry; Dugdale, Hannah L.; Richardson, David S.

doi:10.1111/mec.15563

Cited by 17 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 112 publications

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“…In our results, this was supported by significant effects of ALR on fledgling production, and direct and indirect fitness accrual, suggesting selective disappearance of poor‐quality individuals. We did not, however, find any effects of age or ALR on the probability of a female engaging in extra‐pair mating, or a male gaining or losing offspring to EPP, adding to the variable results for age effects on EPP among passerines (Cooper et al, 2021; Hsu et al, 2017; Raj Pant et al, 2020). The increase in breeder reproductive performance we found was not followed by significant late‐life decline, which can be difficult to detect in wild populations due to low sampling of older age classes (Nussey et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Individual variation explains ageing patterns in a cooperatively breeding bird, the long‐tailed titAegithalos caudatus

Roper

Sturrock

Hatchwell

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

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1. Alloparental care in cooperatively breeding species may alter breeder agespecific survival and reproduction and subsequently senescence. The helping behaviour itself might also undergo age-related change, and decisions to help in facultative cooperative breeders are likely to be affected by individual condition.2. Helpers in long-tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus assist relatives after failing to raise their own brood, with offspring from helped nests being more likely to recruit into the breeding population.3. Using data collected over 25 years, we examined the age trajectories of survival and reproduction in adult long-tailed tits to determine how these were affected by the presence or absence of helpers and how helper behaviour changed with age.4. There was evidence for increased reproductive performance with breeder age, but no effect of age on the probability of survival. We found no evidence of significant senescent decline in survival or reproductive performance, although individuals accrued less inclusive fitness in their last year of life. Lifetime reproductive success was positively related to both reproductive life span and body mass. Within a season, breeders that were assisted by helpers enjoyed greater reproductive success through enhanced offspring recruitment in the following year. We found no evidence that age affected an individual's propensity to help, or the amount of indirect fitness accrued through helping. 5. We found a positive correlation between life span and multiple components of reproductive success, suggesting that individual variation in quality underpins age-related variation in fitness in this species. Helping decisions are driven by condition, and lifetime inclusive fitness of immigrants was predicted by body mass. These findings further support individual heterogeneity in quality being a major driver for fitness gains across the life course of long-tailed tits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Individual variation explains ageing patterns in a cooperatively breeding bird, the long‐tailed titAegithalos caudatus

Roper

Sturrock

Hatchwell

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…In Seychelles warblers, males increase both their within‐ and extra‐group offspring production till ca 6 and 8 years, respectively, after which they show a senescent decline (Raj Pant et al. 2020). In particular, at the age of 1 year, most males are unable to successfully breed and those who attempt to do so in their territory are most likely to be cuckolded (Raj Pant et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of extra‐pair paternity to the variation in lifetime and age‐specific male reproductive success in a socially monogamous species

et al. 2022

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In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity (EPP) is predicted to increase variance in male reproductive success (RS) beyond that resulting from genetic monogamy, thus, increasing the "opportunity for selection" (maximum strength of selection that can act on traits). This prediction is challenging to investigate in wild populations because lifetime reproduction data are often incomplete. Moreover, age-specific variances in reproduction have been rarely quantified. We analyzed 21 years of near-complete social and genetic reproduction data from an insular population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). We quantified EPP's contribution to lifetime and age-specific opportunities for selection in males. We compared the variance in male genetic RS vs social ("apparent") RS (RS ap ) to assess if EPP increased the opportunity for selection over that resulting from genetic monogamy. Despite not causinga statistically significant excess (19%) of the former over the latter, EPP contributed substantially (27%) to the variance in lifetime RS, similarly to within-pair paternity (WPP, 39%) and to the positive WPP-EPP covariance (34%). Partitioning the opportunity for selection into age-specific (co)variance components, showed that EPP also provided a substantial contribution at most ages, varying with age. Therefore, despite possibly not playing the main role in shaping sexual selection in Seychelles warblers, EPP provided a substantial contribution to the lifetime and age-specific opportunity for selection, which can influence evolutionary processes in age-structured populations.

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“…The rate of EGP in the Seychelles warbler is circa

( Richardson et al 2001 ) and might have evolved due to different selection pressure in breeding density, inbreeding, and social system ( Petrie and Kempenaers 1998 ; Westneat and Stewart 2003 ). Indeed, in the Seychelles warblers, there is no evidence for a trade-off between within-group and extra-group reproduction ( Raj Pant et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural equation modeling reveals determinants of fitness in a cooperatively breeding bird

et al. 2021

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Even in well-studied organisms, it is often challenging to uncover the social and environmental determinants of fitness. Typically, fitness is determined by a variety of factors that act in concert, thus forming complex networks of causal relationships. Moreover, even strong correlations between social and environmental conditions and fitness components may not be indicative of direct causal links, as the measured variables may be driven by unmeasured (or unmeasurable) causal factors. Standard statistical approaches, like multiple regression analyses, are not suited for disentangling such complex causal relationships. Here, we apply structural equation modeling (SEM), a technique that is specifically designed to reveal causal relationships between variables, and which also allows to include hypothetical causal factors. Therefore, SEM seems ideally suited for comparing alternative hypotheses on how fitness differences arise from differences in social and environmental factors. We apply SEM to a rich data set collected in a long-term study on the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis), a bird species with facultatively cooperative breeding and a high rate of extra-group paternity. Our analysis reveals that the presence of helpers has a positive effect on the reproductive output of both female and male breeders. In contrast, per capita food availability does not affect reproductive output. Our analysis does not confirm earlier suggestions on other species that the presence of helpers has a negative effect on the reproductive output of male breeders. As such, both female and male breeders should tolerate helpers in their territories, irrespective of food availability.

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Age‐dependent changes in infidelity in Seychelles warblers

Abstract: Across socially monogamous species, levels of extra-pair paternity (EPP) show that infidelity (i.e., extra-pair mating) occurs frequently, yet the evolution of this behaviour remains enigmatic (Griffith,

Cited by 17 publications

References 112 publications

Individual variation explains ageing patterns in a cooperatively breeding bird, the long‐tailed titAegithalos caudatus

Individual variation explains ageing patterns in a cooperatively breeding bird, the long‐tailed titAegithalos caudatus

The contribution of extra‐pair paternity to the variation in lifetime and age‐specific male reproductive success in a socially monogamous species

Structural equation modeling reveals determinants of fitness in a cooperatively breeding bird

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