Intrafamilial conflict and parental investment: a synthesis

Parker, Geoff A.; Royle, Nick J.; Hartley, Ian R.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0950

Cited by 303 publications

(307 citation statements)

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“…For each parent, increased investment reduces the parent's future reproductive success and survival prospects (e.g. Williams, 1966;Roff, 1992;Parker et al, 2002), and therefore it would be favourable for one parent to shift labour to the other (Parker et al, 2002;Houston et al, 2005). The parents' decision about how much to invest in the offspring depends on offspring need and/or brood value, as well as the feeding behaviour of the other parent (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yolk androgens do not appear to mediate sexual conflict over parental investment in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Ruuskanen

Tschirren

Pitala

et al. 2009

Hormones and Behavior

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Yolk androgens do not appear to mediate sexual conflict over parental investment in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis Ruuskanen, Suvi; Doligez, Blandine; Tschirren, Barbara; Pitala, Natalia; Gustafsson, Lars; Groothuis, Ton G. G.; Laaksonen, Toni Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Males and females are in conflict over parental care, as it would be favourable for one parent to shift labour to the other. Yolk hormones may offer a mechanism through which female birds could influence offspring traits in ways that increase the relative investment by the male. We studied the role of yolk androgens in mediating sexual conflict over parental care in the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis). In a cross-fostering experiment, the male's proportion of total feeding visits increased with increasing androgen levels in the foster eggs. This could suggest that sexual conflict over parental care may be influenced by the female's differential allocation of yolk androgens or a maternal effect associated with yolk androgens. However, when we experimentally elevated yolk androgen levels, male feeding rates did not differ between control and androgen-manipulated nests. This suggests that other egg components correlated with yolk androgen levels, rather than yolk androgen levels per se, may influence male parental effort. In conclusion, yolk androgens per se do not appear to mediate sexual conflict over parental investment in the collared flycatcher.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yolk androgens do not appear to mediate sexual conflict over parental investment in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Ruuskanen

Tschirren

Pitala

et al. 2009

Hormones and Behavior

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“…It has been termed the 'EDS mechanism' (effect of demand on supply; Parker et al 2002). The second is expressed in the offspring, describes how parental provisioning affects offspring begging and has been termed the 'ESD mechanism' (effect of supply on demand; Parker et al 2002). Hussell (1988) showed in a graphical model that any combination of two specific functions describing the two mechanisms yields a short-term equilibrium at which offspring begging and parental provisioning should stabilize.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The model does not include the effects of parent-offspring conflict on evolved offspring and parental behavioural strategies (Godfray 1995;Mock & Parker 1997). Thus, it is not clear how it relates to an evolutionary theory of offspring begging and parental provisioning (Godfray 1995;Mock & Parker 1997;Parker et al 2002). Hussell (1988) himself seemed to assume that begging has to reflect offspring hunger honestly (Godfray 1991) for his models to hold (see Hussell 1988, p. 177).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating mechanisms and equilibria for offspring begging and parental provisioning

Kölliker

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…Thus, a conflict of interest emerges [4,5], with each parent preferring the other to do the hard work. Here, we focus on sexual conflict over care, although the parents might also disagree about family size, timing of breeding or the sex ratio of their offspring [6].…”

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confidence: 99%

Conflict between parents over care

Houston

Székely

McNamara

2005

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

346

316

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Conflict between parents over care of young arises when the young benefit from the effort of both parents, but each parent suffers a reduction in future reproductive success as a consequence of its own effort. Here, we review existing models and argue that they fail to capture many important components of parental conflict. For example, we lack adequate models of how a parent should compensate for a reduction in the effort of its mate. These models should incorporate the process by which decisions are reached. Recent theory suggests that a parent benefits by handicapping itself, and more experimental and theoretical work on this topic could be fruitful. We also need more theoretical work on attractiveness that incorporates consistent interactions between males and females.There are many forms of parental care and many ways in which care can be costly to a parent, in that it reduces their reproductive success in other breeding attempts [1,2]. Parental care involves a high level of energy expenditure, which might reduce the condition of the parent at the end of the breeding season. This can reduce the future survival of the care-provider and, hence, its probability of breeding the following year. A parent that deserts its mate and young has greater opportunities to pair with a new partner within the current breeding season than does a parent that cares. Even if a male remains with his mate and young, it might be possible to increase his chances of copulating with females other than his mate by decreasing his level of care and devoting more time to courting other females [3]. Such matings are known as extra-pair copulations (EPCs).Although the details vary across species, the success of the young generally depends on the care from both parents, whereas the cost to a parent depends on its own effort. Thus, a conflict of interest emerges [4,5], with each parent preferring the other to do the hard work. Here, we focus on sexual conflict over care, although the parents might also disagree about family size, timing of breeding or the sex ratio of their offspring [6]. For a broader account of sexual conflict, see [7].The benefit that results from a particular level of care by a parent depends on the behaviour of its partner, whereas the cost of care in terms of lost mating opportunities depends on the behaviour of other members of the population. For example, if a male deserts, his chances of obtaining a new mate will depend on the number of females that have also deserted their mate and are hence available. If a male seeks EPCs, then his chances of obtaining them depend on the receptiveness of females in the population and the extent to which males allocate their time to guarding their mates from other males as opposed to caring for their young or seeking EPCs [8]. These complex interactions make it difficult to use verbal arguments to predict the level of care that will evolve. Theory attempts to predict the outcome of evolution by constructing mathematical models that expose the logic of parental conflict. Here, we co...

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Intrafamilial conflict and parental investment: a synthesis

Cited by 303 publications

References 57 publications

Yolk androgens do not appear to mediate sexual conflict over parental investment in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Yolk androgens do not appear to mediate sexual conflict over parental investment in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Estimating mechanisms and equilibria for offspring begging and parental provisioning

Conflict between parents over care

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