Climate fluctuations influence variation in group size in a cooperative bird

Riehl, Christina; Smart, Zachariah Fox

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.057

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Prior studies of the relationship between environmental conditions and social behaviour have tended to take one of two alternative approaches. The long-term population study approach has used temporal variation in environmental conditions and examines how such conditions intersect with life history and social dynamics to generate variation in group productivity, size and membership [26,[68][69][70][71][72]. Meanwhile, phylogeographical studies identifying evolutionary patterns between species [8,18] have been used to address why species with different degrees of 'helping' by helpers are more prevalent in different environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecogeography of group size suggests differences in drivers of sociality among cooperatively breeding fairywrens

et al. 2023

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Cooperatively breeding species exhibit a range of social behaviours associated with different costs and benefits to group living, often in association with different environmental conditions. For example, recent phylogenetic studies have collectively shown that the evolution and distribution of cooperative breeding behaviour is related to the environment. However, little is known about how environmental variation may drive differences in social systems across populations within species, and how the relationship between environmental conditions and sociality may differ across species. Here, we examine variation in social group size along a steep environmental gradient for two congeneric cooperatively breeding species of fairywrens (Maluridae) and show that they exhibit opposing ecogeographic patterns. Purple-backed fairywrens, a species in which helpers increase group productivity, have larger groups in hot, dry environments and smaller groups in cool, wet environments. By contrast, superb fairywrens, a species with helpers that do not increase group productivity despite the presence of alloparental care, exhibit the opposite trend. We suggest differences in the costs and benefits of sociality contribute to these opposing ecogeographical patterns and demonstrate that comparisons of intraspecific patterns of social variation across species can provide insight into how ecology shapes social systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecogeography of group size suggests differences in drivers of sociality among cooperatively breeding fairywrens

et al. 2023

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“…using the percentage of breeding events with alloparents in the population as the response variable). For example, instead of a binary classification of the black catbird as a non-cooperative species, and the long-tailed tit ( Aegithalos caudatus ) and greater ani ( Crotophaga major ) as cooperative species, the “degree” of cooperative breeding in these species can be described by the percentage of breeding events with alloparents in a population [0% of broods attended by alloparents in a black catbird population in Mexico (Lapergola, 2012), 54% of broods attended by alloparents in a long-tailed tit population in the UK (Hatchwell & Russell, 1996) and 100% of broods attended by alloparents in a greater ani population in Panama (Riehl & Smart, 2022)]. Studying cooperative breeding as a continuous trait accounts for the ample variation in the occurrence of alloparental care across and within cooperative breeding species (Figure 1) and provides considerably more explanatory power over binary classification (Clutton-Brock, 2021; Olivier et al ., 2024).…”

Section: Co-breed: Cooperative-breeding Databasementioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing cooperative breeding research with a peer-reviewed and “live” Cooperative-Breeding Database (Co-BreeD)

Mocha,

Woith,

Drobniak

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Research on cooperative breeding (a system with the core characteristic of individuals providing care for the offspring of others) is important for understanding sociality and cooperation. However, large-scale comparative analyses on the drivers and consequences of cooperation frequently use considerably inaccurate datasets (e.g. due to inconsistent definitions and outdated information). To advance comparative research on cooperative breeding, we introduce the Cooperative-Breeding Database (Co-BreeD), a growing database of key socio-biological parameters of birds and mammals. First, we describe Co-BreeD's structure as a (i) sample-based (i.e. multiple samples per species linked to an exact sampling location and period), (ii) peer-reviewed and (iii) updatable resource. Respectively, these curating principles allow for (i) investigating intra- and inter-species variation and linking between fine-scale social and environmental parameters, (ii) accuracy and (iii) continuous correction and expansion with the publication of new data. Second, we present the first Co-BreeD dataset, which estimates the prevalence of breeding events with potential alloparents in 265 samples from 233 populations of 150 species, including 2 human societies (N = 26,366 breeding events). We conclude by demonstrating (i) how Co-BreeD facilitates more accurate comparative research (e.g. increased explanatory power by enabling the study of cooperative breeding as a continuous trait, and statistically accounting for the sampling error probabilities), and (ii) that cooperative breeding in birds and mammals is more prevalent than currently estimated.

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“…Almost all research has sought to determine food intake rates, typical foraging group size, or extent of information transfer on a scale of minutes, hours, or days (reviewed in Giraldeau & Caraco, 2000), and foraging studies spanning multiple years are rare (Miles, 1990; Scheuerell et al, 2005; Szigeti et al, 2018). Yet with environmental change that may disrupt trophic structure (Wagner, 2020), and the fact that other benefits and costs of group‐living can fluctuate among seasons (Brown et al, 2016; Riehl & Smart, 2022), long‐term studies are critical for evaluating whether the advantages of foraging in groups potentially change over time and how those changes may alter the adaptive significance of group‐living.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social foraging and the associated benefits of group‐living in Cliff Swallows decrease over 40 years

Brown,

Hannebaum

et al. 2024

Ecological Monographs

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Animals that feed socially can sometimes better locate prey, often by transferring information about food that is patchy, dense, and temporally and spatially unpredictable. Information transfer is a potential benefit of living in breeding colonies where unsuccessful foragers can more readily locate successful ones and thereby improve feeding efficiency. Most studies on social foraging have been short term, and how long‐term environmental change affects both foraging strategies and the associated benefits of coloniality is generally unknown. In the colonial Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), we examined how social foraging, information transfer, and feeding ecology changed over a 40‐year period in western Nebraska. Relative to the 1980s, Cliff Swallows in 2016–2022 were more likely to forage solitarily or in smaller groups, spent less time foraging, were more successful as solitaries, fed in more variable locations, and engaged less in information transfer at the colony site. The total mass of insects brought back to nestlings per parental visit declined over the study. The diversity of insect families captured increased over time, and some insect taxa dropped out of the diet, although the three most common insect families remained the same over the decades. Nestling Cliff Swallow body mass at 10 days of age and the number of nestlings surviving per nest declined more sharply with colony size in 2015–2022 than in 1984–1991 at sites where the confounding effects of ectoparasites were removed. Adult body mass during the provisioning of nestlings was lower in more recent years, but the change did not vary with colony size. The reason(s) for the reduction in social foraging and information transfer over time is unclear, but the consequence is that colonial nesting may no longer offer the same fitness advantages for Cliff Swallows as in the 1980s. The results illustrate the flexibility of foraging behavior and dynamic shifts in the potential selective pressures for group living.

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Climate fluctuations influence variation in group size in a cooperative bird

Cited by 12 publications

References 63 publications

Ecogeography of group size suggests differences in drivers of sociality among cooperatively breeding fairywrens

Ecogeography of group size suggests differences in drivers of sociality among cooperatively breeding fairywrens

Advancing cooperative breeding research with a peer-reviewed and “live” Cooperative-Breeding Database (Co-BreeD)

Social foraging and the associated benefits of group‐living in Cliff Swallows decrease over 40 years

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