Hitting the buffers: conspecific aggression undermines benefits of colonial breeding under adverse conditions

Ashbrook, Kate; Wanless, Sarah; Harris, Mike; Hamer, Keith C.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0417

Cited by 42 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Similarly, an environmental stressor such as an increased threat of predation promotes cooperation (cooperative mobbing or brood care) in several bird species living in small groups (e.g., Pied Flycatcher: Krams et al., 2010; Common Eider, Somateria mollissima : Jaatinen, Ost, & Lehikoinen, 2011). This is in contrast to the noncooperative social species, such as colonially breeding sea birds, where environmental stressors that increase GCs mainly increase aggression and reduce social behavior (Common Guillemot, Uria aalge , Ashbrook, Wanless, Harris, & Hamer, 2008). …”

Section: Evidence That Variation In Stress Physiology Is Associated Wmentioning

confidence: 90%

Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior

Raulo

Dantzer

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The causes and consequences of individual differences in animal behavior and stress physiology are increasingly studied in wild animals, yet the possibility that stress physiology underlies individual variation in social behavior has received less attention. In this review, we bring together these study areas and focus on understanding how the activity of the vertebrate neuroendocrine stress axis (HPA‐axis) may underlie individual differences in social behavior in wild animals. We first describe a continuum of vertebrate social behaviors spanning from initial social tendencies (proactive behavior) to social behavior occurring in reproductive contexts (parental care, sexual pair‐bonding) and lastly to social behavior occurring in nonreproductive contexts (nonsexual bonding, group‐level cooperation). We then perform a qualitative review of existing literature to address the correlative and causal association between measures of HPA‐axis activity (glucocorticoid levels or GCs) and each of these types of social behavior. As expected, elevated HPA‐axis activity can inhibit social behavior associated with initial social tendencies (approaching conspecifics) and reproduction. However, elevated HPA‐axis activity may also enhance more elaborate social behavior outside of reproductive contexts, such as alloparental care behavior. In addition, the effect of GCs on social behavior can depend upon the sociality of the stressor (cause of increase in GCs) and the severity of stress (extent of increase in GCs). Our review shows that the while the associations between stress responses and sociality are diverse, the role of HPA‐axis activity behind social behavior may shift toward more facilitating and less inhibiting in more social species, providing insight into how stress physiology and social systems may co‐evolve.

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Section: Evidence That Variation In Stress Physiology Is Associated Wmentioning

confidence: 90%

Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior

Raulo

Dantzer

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…At the HDP (approx. 32 sites per square metre; 99 chicks in 2007; 98 chicks in 2008), most breeding birds were in physical contact with two or more neighbours (Ashbrook et al 2008). By contrast, at the LDP (less than five sites per square metre; 31 chicks in 2007; 29 chicks in 2008), birds bred singly, or in small groups.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ferrer & Penteriani 2008;Kramer et al 2009), but can also occur within larger populations when higher local density leads to an increase in individual fitness, notably through collective defence against predators (Clode 1993;Cô té 2000). Where such positive density dependence occurs, it is likely that individuals in dense aggregations are still competing with each other for resources (Lewis et al 2001;Elliott et al 2009) or otherwise interacting negatively (Ashbrook et al 2008). Hence, the net balance between such positive and negative effects of increasing density is likely to vary depending on environmental conditions (Kitaysky et al 2000;Lewis et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, populations of guillemots bordering the North Sea have experienced low breeding success (Mavor et al 2006) owing to declines in the abundance and quality of their main prey (Wanless et al 2005), allowing us to reassess the relationship between breeding density and breeding success under unfavourable conditions. Chicks are typically guarded by at least one adult at the breeding site, but poor foraging conditions are increasingly forcing parents to forage simultaneously, leaving their chick unattended (Wanless et al 2005;Ashbrook et al 2008). Such parental non-attendance has also been recorded under adverse conditions at other colonies (Boekelheide et al 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of poor food availability on positive density dependence in a highly colonial seabird

et al. 2010

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For species with positive density dependence, costs and benefits of increasing density may depend on environmental conditions, but this has seldom been tested. By examining a colonial seabird (common guillemot) over a period of unprecedented poor food availability, we test two contrasting hypotheses suggesting that birds breeding at high density have: (i) greater leeway to increase foraging effort owing to more effective defence of unattended chicks against predators; and (ii) less leeway, owing to more attacks on unattended chicks by neighbouring adults. Supporting hypothesis 1, birds at high density increased provisioning rates and hence survival of chicks by foraging simultaneously with their partners, whereas at low density, unattended chicks were liable to be killed by predatory gulls and, unexpectedly, razorbills. Simultaneously, supporting hypothesis 2, heightened aggression towards unattended chicks at high density frequently resulted in infanticide, undermining benefits from collective defence against predators. Consequently, over 25 years, the magnitude of positive density dependence was independent of mean breeding success. These data indicate previously unsuspected trade-offs between costs and benefits of increasing density under changing environments. Previous generalizations about the importance of high density for reproductive success have so far remained robust, but such trade-offs could have unpredictable consequences for future population dynamics.

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“…A breeding failure of North Sea murres was also partly explained by diet shifts and low quality of prey (Wanless et al 2005). However, at the same time, food availability decreased, and the combined impact resulted in unprecedented low breeding success during several consecutive breeding seasons (Ashbrook et al 2008(Ashbrook et al , 2010. Top predators may thus be influenced simultaneously by changes in both food quantity and quality, and this may affect different components of reproduction and survival.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of food quality and quantity on a marine top predator

Kadin¹,

Österblom²,

Hentati‐Sundberg³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Overfishing of predatory fish has contributed to an increase in forage-fish stocks. At the same time, a rising demand for forage fish to supply fishmeal markets, in combination with climate change, has put strong pressure on these stocks, and this, in turn, has had an impact on marine top predators. We examined how inter-annual variation in food quality (sprat Sprattus sprattus weight-at-age) and quantity (sprat abundance) influenced Baltic Sea common murres Uria aalge during chick-rearing. Fledging success, i.e. survival from hatching to fledging, showed a positive relationship with food quality, but we found no effect of food quantity. We found no relationship between food quality and parental behaviour or chick feeding parameters, but a negative relationship between food quantity and trip duration. Our data indicate that there was room for parental birds to increase their effort to compensate for reduced food quality, but we found no signs of such compensation. We analysed different types of fish and seabird life-history data to separate effects of food quantity and quality on a top predator. Understanding such effects can contribute to clarifying causes and consequences for observed changes in life-history parameters and population dynamics of top predators.

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Hitting the buffers: conspecific aggression undermines benefits of colonial breeding under adverse conditions

Cited by 42 publications

References 15 publications

Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior

Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior

Impacts of poor food availability on positive density dependence in a highly colonial seabird

Contrasting effects of food quality and quantity on a marine top predator

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