Determinants of male mating success in the red bishop ( Euplectes orix )

Friedl, Twp; Klump, Georg M.

doi:10.1007/s002650050634

Cited by 48 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Female mate choice based on territory quality, measured by nest-site quality, has also been shown in certain other species (e.g., pied flycatcher: Slagsvold 1986; house sparrow : Møller 1988). Thus, territories containing few resources other than nests should not simply be assumed to be unimportant, which has been the case in some studies (e.g., Møller 1994;Catry et al 1999;Friedl and Klump 1999). Rather, since the measure of nest site, such as the quality of old nests, can be easily quantified both by observers and birds and was often used for nest site choice (e.g., Erckmann et al 1990;Antonov and Atanasova 2003;Mazgajski 2007;Gergely et al 2009), species with territory which include few resources other than nests should be used as model species to study female mate choice based on territory quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Female mate choice based on territory quality in barn swallows

Hasegawa

Arai

Watanabe

et al. 2011

J Ethol

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Female mate choice based on territory quality is difficult to study because territories often contain many resources, which are difficult to quantify. Here, using the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica gutturalis) breeding at an outdoor breeding site in Japan, where each male defends only a small territory containing old nests, we studied whether females choose social mates based on territory quality. Since the territories of this species contain few other resources, territory quality can easily be assessed by quantifying old nests in the territory. We made the following four observations: (1) male swallows displayed old nests in their territories to females; (2) the old nests used for the first clutch were less broken than the other old nests within the same territory; (3) territory quality, defined by the number of old nests weighted by the intactness of each old nest, predicted the productivity of the territory; and (4) males with better territories paired with females earlier, and hence bred earlier, than those with inferior territories. The relationships remained significant even after controlling for male morphological traits. Based on these results, we can infer that female swallows choose their mates based, in part, on territory quality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Female mate choice based on territory quality in barn swallows

Hasegawa

Arai

Watanabe

et al. 2011

J Ethol

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“…Concentration estimates for our samples ranged from about 0.05 to 0.8 lg DNA/ll, resulting in yields of extracted DNA of about 30-600 lg DNA per sample (depending on the total amount of each sample), with most samples having concentrations of more than 0.5 lg DNA/ll. For details regarding DNA extraction procedures and purity of extracted DNA see Friedl and Klump (1999). Overall, we collected 170 blood samples from 90 individual adult males.…”

Section: Blood Sample Collection and Dna Extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A real-time PCR protocol for simple and fast quantification of blood parasite infections in evolutionary and ecological studies and some data on intensities of blood parasite infections in a subtropical weaverbird

Friedl

Groscurth

2011

J Ornithol

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In several fields of research, such as immunoecology, evolutionary ecology, sexual selection, parasitology or host-parasite coevolution, a reliable quantitative assessment of blood parasite infections is necessary for testing specific predictions regarding relationships between the degree of infections and various parameters of interest. Here, we present a relatively simple, fast and reliable protocol based on quantitative real-time PCR to determine the intensity of infections with blood parasites of the genus Plasmodium and/or Haemoproteus in blood samples of birds, using male Red Bishops (Euplectes orix; Ploceidae, Passeriformes) as example. The intensity of infections is assessed by amplification of a specific 85-bp fragment within the plastid-like large subunit ribosomal-RNA (LSUrRNA) gene, which is conservative across a range of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus species. By measuring the accumulation of the product during the PCR (in real-time) using a fluorescent labelled oligonucleotide probe, a threshold can be determined at which the fluorescence of the product raises above background level. The starting quantity of blood parasites in the investigated blood samples is then calculated by comparison with thresholds determined for standards of known quantity (clones of a 594-bp fragment within the LSU-rRNA gene from Plasmodium falciparum including the target sequence) in the same PCR reaction. With this method, blood parasites were detected in 123 out of 127 samples from male Red Bishops, with a median of 0.059 blood parasites per 100 blood cells (range 0-19.2 blood parasites per 100 blood cells). The method described here produces consistent and reproducible data, can easily be modified and extended to detect and quantify blood parasites at different systematic levels, and thus has broad application to many researchers in the field of evolutionary and behavioral ecology. Ein Real-Time PCR Protokoll zur einfachen und schnellen Quantifizierung von Blutparasitenbefall in evolutionsbiologischen und ökologischen Studien, und einige Daten zu Intensitäten von Blutparasitenbefall bei subtropischen Webervögeln In vielen Forschungsfeldern wie Immunoökologie, Evolutionsökologie, sexuelle Selektion, Parasitologie und ParasitWirts-Koevolution ist eine verlässliche Quantifizierung von Blutparasitenbefall notwendig, um spezifische Vorhersagen zum Zusammenhang zwischen der Intensität von Blutparasitenbefall und verschiedenen Parametern von Interesse zu testen. Hier stellen wir am Beispiel von Männchen des Oryxwebers (Euplectes orix; Ploceidae, Passeriformes) ein relativ einfaches, schnelles und verlässliches, auf quantitativer Real-Time PCR beruhendes Protokoll vor, mit dem die Intensität des Befalls mit Blutparasiten der Gattungen Plasmodium und/oder Haemoproteus bestimmt werden Communicated by M. Wink. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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“…Most males are polygynous and females are solely responsible for incubation and nestling provisioning. Male reproductive success is positively related to the number of nests built within the territory, which is also a good indicator of male quality (Friedl and Klump 1999;Lawes et al 2002;Metz et al 2009). More details on Red Bishop breeding behaviour are given in Friedl (2004).…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Age-related variation in carotenoid-based plumage ornaments of male Red Bishops Euplectes orix

Edler

Friedl

2011

J Ornithol

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Males in many bird species develop elaborate carotenoid-based plumage ornaments which often play an important role as signals of individual quality in intra-or intersexual selection. However, knowledge of the pattern of age-related variation in plumage traits is crucial to interpret results on associations between plumage signals and reproductive performance. We investigated how age is related to brightness and carotenoid saturation of the orange-red breeding plumage in males of known age in the Red Bishop (Euplectes orix), a polygynous and sexually dimorphic weaverbird species. We found that the relationships of both plumage brightness and carotenoid saturation with age were best explained by a quadratic function, with males in their prime (i.e. 3-5 years old) having a brighter and more carotenoid-saturated plumage than both very young and very old males. The implications of our results for studies in the context of animal signalling are discussed.

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Determinants of male mating success in the red bishop ( Euplectes orix )

Cited by 48 publications

References 41 publications

Female mate choice based on territory quality in barn swallows

Female mate choice based on territory quality in barn swallows

A real-time PCR protocol for simple and fast quantification of blood parasite infections in evolutionary and ecological studies and some data on intensities of blood parasite infections in a subtropical weaverbird

Age-related variation in carotenoid-based plumage ornaments of male Red Bishops Euplectes orix

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