Female house wrens (<i>Troglodytes aedon</i>) increase the size, but not immunocompetence, of their offspring through extra‐pair mating

Forsman, Anna; Vogel, Laura A.; Sakaluk, Scott K.; Johnson, Bonnie G. P.; Masters, Brian S.; Johnson, L. Scott; Thompson, Charles F.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03860.x

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…Previous work in house wrens shows that EP offspring are not healthier than their WP half-siblings [84], so it is perhaps unsurprising that health measures were not related to EP or WP success. Moreover, body condition generally does not differ between EP and WP males across many species of birds [81], suggesting that the typical measures of body condition are not meaningful in birds, or that body condition is not relevant to EP mating decisions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physically Challenging Song Traits, Male Quality, and Reproductive Success in House Wrens

Cramer

2013

PLoS ONE

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Physically challenging signals are likely to honestly indicate signaler quality. In trilled bird song two physically challenging parameters are vocal deviation (the speed of sound frequency modulation) and trill consistency (how precisely syllables are repeated). As predicted, in several species, they correlate with male quality, are preferred by females, and/or function in male-male signaling. Species may experience different selective pressures on their songs, however; for instance, there may be opposing selection between song complexity and song performance difficulty, such that in species where song complexity is strongly selected, there may not be strong selection on performance-based traits. I tested whether vocal deviation and trill consistency are signals of male quality in house wrens (Troglodytes aedon), a species with complex song structure. Males’ singing ability did not correlate with male quality, except that older males sang with higher trill consistency, and males with more consistent trills responded more aggressively to playback (although a previous study found no effect of stimulus trill consistency on males’ responses to playback). Males singing more challenging songs did not gain in polygyny, extra-pair paternity, or annual reproductive success. Moreover, none of the standard male quality measures I investigated correlated with mating or reproductive success. I conclude that vocal deviation and trill consistency do not signal male quality in this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physically Challenging Song Traits, Male Quality, and Reproductive Success in House Wrens

Cramer

2013

PLoS ONE

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“…Eleven days after hatching began within nests, we weighed all nestlings (±0.1 g) and measured their tarsus length (±0.1 mm). We also drew a blood sample to determine sex and paternity, as well as hematocrit (see Forsman et al 2008, 2010; Bowers et al 2011 for details). We administered a phytohaemagglutinin test in the left wing web (prepatagium) 11 days post-hatching to measure cutaneous immune response.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neonatal body condition, immune responsiveness, and hematocrit predict longevity in a wild bird population

Bowers

Hodges

Forsman

et al. 2014

Ecology

131

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Measures of body condition, immune function, and hematological health are widely used in ecological studies of vertebrate populations, predicated on the assumption that these traits are linked to fitness. However, compelling evidence that these traits actually predict long-term survival and reproductive success among individuals in the wild is lacking. Here, we show that body condition (i.e., size-adjusted body mass) and cutaneous immune responsiveness to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) injection among neonates positively predict recruitment and subsequent longevity in a wild, migratory population of house wrens (Troglodytes aedon). However, neonates with intermediate hematocrit had the highest recruitment and longevity. Neonates with the highest PHA responsiveness and intermediate hematocrit prior to independence eventually produced the most offspring during their lifetime breeding on the study site. Importantly, the effects of PHA responsiveness and hematocrit were revealed while controlling for variation in body condition, sex, and environmental variation. Thus, our data demonstrate that body condition, cutaneous immune responsiveness, and hematocrit as a neonate are associated with individual fitness. Although hematocrit's effect is more complex than traditionally thought, our results suggest a previously underappreciated role for this trait in influencing survival in the wild.

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“…However, no studies have yet measured and compared overall fitness, as opposed to fitness components or traits that are hypothesized to be correlated with fitness (e.g. [11,13,19]). Furthermore, strictly, d EW is the regression of the genetic component of fitness that offspring inherit from males on a female's propensity for extra-pair reproduction [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritability of female extra-pair paternity rate in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia)

et al. 2010

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The forces driving the evolution of extra-pair reproduction in socially monogamous animals remain widely debated and unresolved. One key hypothesis is that female extra-pair reproduction evolves through indirect genetic benefits, reflecting increased additive genetic value of extra-pair offspring. Such evolution requires that a female's propensity to produce offspring that are sired by an extra-pair male is heritable. However, additive genetic variance and heritability in female extra-pair paternity (EPP) rate have not been quantified, precluding accurate estimation of the force of indirect selection. Sixteen years of comprehensive paternity and pedigree data from socially monogamous but genetically polygynandrous song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) showed significant additive genetic variance and heritability in the proportion of a female's offspring that was sired by an extra-pair male, constituting major components of the genetic architecture required for extra-pair reproduction to evolve through indirect additive genetic benefits. However, estimated heritabilities were moderately small (0.12 and 0.18 on the observed and underlying latent scales, respectively). The force of selection on extra-pair reproduction through indirect additive genetic benefits may consequently be relatively weak. However, the additive genetic variance and non-zero heritability observed in female EPP rate allow for multiple further genetic mechanisms to drive and constrain mating system evolution.

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Female house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) increase the size, but not immunocompetence, of their offspring through extra‐pair mating

Cited by 32 publications

References 104 publications

Physically Challenging Song Traits, Male Quality, and Reproductive Success in House Wrens

Physically Challenging Song Traits, Male Quality, and Reproductive Success in House Wrens

Neonatal body condition, immune responsiveness, and hematocrit predict longevity in a wild bird population

Heritability of female extra-pair paternity rate in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia)

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