Environment quality predicts parental provisioning decisions

Davis, Jennifer Nerissa; Todd, Peter M.; Bullock, Seth

doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0848

Cited by 74 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…At the other extreme, if parents only have enough resources to rear one offspring, then offspring can be selected to competitively signal their quality or scramble for food, so the offspring in the best condition is fed (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Empirical data support these predictions: offspring appear more likely to signal need when resources are relatively plentiful and quality when resources are scarce (15).…”

supporting

confidence: 67%

“…Our predictions were derived from signal-of-need models, where parents are assumed to have enough food to feed all their offspring and are selected to feed the offspring with the greatest need (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). In contrast, when parents do not have enough food to feed all their offspring, they are expected to pay attention to signals of quality and to feed the highest quality offspring (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Consequently, we predict the opposite patterns with signals of quality as those we observed with signals of need.…”

Section: Full Siblings Expectedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sibling conflict and dishonest signaling in birds

Shana

West

Griffin

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Offspring survival can often depend on successful communication with parents about their state of need. Theory suggests that offspring will be less likely to honestly signal their need when they experience greater competition from either a greater number of nestmates or less-related nestmates. We found support for this hypothesis with a comparative analysis, examining data from across 60 species of birds. We found that offspring are less honest about their level of need when (i) they face competition from current siblings; (ii) their parents are likely to breed again, and so they are in competition with future siblings; and (iii) parental divorce or death means that they are likely to be less related to future siblings. More generally, these patterns highlight the sensitivity of communication systems to conflict between signaler and receiver while also suggesting that when there is little conflict, natural selection favors the honest.

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supporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Full Siblings Expectedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sibling conflict and dishonest signaling in birds

Shana

West

Griffin

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Central-place foragers, such as parent seabirds raising nidicolous young, should increase foraging effort and hence energy expenditure when such increases are rewarded by a similar or greater increase in net energy gained (Norberg 1977, Davis et al 1999. For example, Bautista et al (1998) demonstrated that European starlings Sturnus vulgaris foraging under conditions of experimentally improved food availability elevated both their rates of energy expenditure and energy intake, although the duration of daily foraging was actually reduced.…”

Section: Energy Expenditure In Parent Seabirdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased energy expenditure by a seabird in response to higher food abundance

Jodice¹,

Roby²,

Suryan³

et al. 2006

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Variability in forage fish abundance strongly affects seabird behavior and reproductive success, although details of this relationship are unclear. During 1997 and 1998, we measured (1) daily energy expenditure (DEE) of 80 parent black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla at 2 colonies in Prince William Sound, Alaska (North Icy Bay and Shoup Bay), (2) abundance of surface-schooling forage fishes within the foraging range of each colony, and (3) diet composition, energy delivery rates to nestlings, and reproductive success of kittiwakes at these same colonies. Female DEE was highest at North Icy Bay in 1998, while male DEE did not differ by colony year. Abundances of Pacific herring Clupea pallasi and sand lance Ammodytes hexapterus were highest near North Icy Bay in 1998 and nearly equal in density, although Age 1+ herring comprised the majority of the diet there. Energy delivery rates to nestlings, nestling growth rates, and productivity were also highest at North Icy Bay in 1998. We suggest that female kittiwakes responded to the increased abundance of Age 1+ herring near North Icy Bay in 1998 by increasing their DEE, which in turn positively affected reproductive success. Given that adult kittiwakes have been shown to suffer decreased survival as a response to increased energy expenditure during brood rearing, the positive correlation we observed between increased abundance of a high quality food source, parental effort, and productivity is consistent with maximizing lifetime reproductive success. The lack of a response in male DEE suggests that broodrearing roles in kittiwakes differ between genders.

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“…But the theoretical definition of need can also be interpreted as the amount of food required to reach independency, hence reflecting long-term physiological state (Price et al 1996). Offspring in better physiological condition (quality) represent higher reproductive value for parents because the expected investment required to successfully raise offspring to independence is lower (Haig 1990;Davis et al 1999;Jeon 2008). Experimental studies trying to disentangle short-term and long-term needs and their effects on begging signals have often manipulated offspring hunger and the composition of broods in terms of offspring age (for e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A chemical signal of offspring quality affects maternal care in a social insect

2009

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Begging signals of offspring are condition-dependent cues that are usually predicted to display information about the short-term need (i.e. hunger) to which parents respond by allocating more food. However, recent models and experiments have revealed that parents, depending on the species and context, may respond to signals of quality (i.e. offspring reproductive value) rather than need. Despite the critical importance of this distinction for life history and conflict resolution theory, there is still limited knowledge of alternative functions of offspring signals. In this study, we investigated the communication between offspring and caring females of the common earwig, Forficula auricularia, hypothesizing that offspring chemical cues display information about nutritional condition to which females respond in terms of maternal food provisioning. Consistent with the prediction for a signal of quality we found that mothers exposed to chemical cues from well-fed nymphs foraged significantly more and allocated food to more nymphs compared with females exposed to solvent (control) or chemical cues from poorly fed nymphs. Chemical analysis revealed significant differences in the relative quantities of specific cuticular hydrocarbon compounds between treatments. To our knowledge, this study demonstrates for the first time that an offspring chemical signal reflects nutritional quality and influences maternal care.

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Environment quality predicts parental provisioning decisions

Cited by 74 publications

References 29 publications

Sibling conflict and dishonest signaling in birds

Sibling conflict and dishonest signaling in birds

Increased energy expenditure by a seabird in response to higher food abundance

A chemical signal of offspring quality affects maternal care in a social insect

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