Plasticity of parental care under the risk of predation: how much should parents reduce care?

Ghalambor, Cameron K.; Peluc, Susana Inés; Martin, Thomas E.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0154

Cited by 127 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This agrees with previous studies on the topic (e.g. Eggers et al 2005Eggers et al , 2008Massaro et al 2008;Peluc et al 2008;Zanette et al 2011;Ghalambor et al 2013;Hua et al 2014) and also with the reduction in nest visits observed for female Blackbirds during the incubation stage (Ibáñez-Á lamo and Soler 2012). However, adult Blackbirds did not show an increase in latency time due to a high perceived predation risk (prediction 1b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…While several studies have demonstrated a reduction in offspring provisioning rates (e.g. Eggers et al 2005Eggers et al , 2008Massaro et al 2008;Peluc et al 2008;Zanette et al 2011;Ghalambor et al 2013;Hua et al 2014;LaManna and Martin 2016), it remains unknown whether the reduction in nest visitation rates differs between sexes. Martin and Badyaev (1996) suggested that nest predation could place greater constraints on female than on male plumage brightness, implying that each sex responds differentially to nest predation risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Male and female Blackbirds (Turdus merula) respond similarly to the risk of nest predation

Ibáñez‐Álamo

Soler

2016

J Ornithol

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Several studies have found that adult birds of altricial species adjust their parental care behaviour (i.e. nest visits) in response to the current risk of predation for their offspring. However, no experimental study has so far investigated whether there are sex differences in these passive anti-predator responses during the nestling period. Differences between males and females could arise because of several factors, including (1) probability of detection, (2) confidence in parenthood, and (3) different parental care behaviour associated with each sex. To test whether these anti-predator passive responses involve sex differences, we experimentally manipulated the perceived risk of nest predation of adult Common Blackbirds (Turdus merula), a sexually dimorphic species with a relatively high extra-pair paternity level. Our results showed that nest predation significantly reduced adult visits to the nest, but not differentially between males and females, which does not support our predictions. Our findings suggest (1) that sex differences in predator-induced behaviour could depend on the type of response (active vs. passive antipredator strategies); (2) the potential existence of a minimum threshold in detectability between males and females for these behavioural changes to occur; and (3) the contrasting and opposite effects of several factors that might impede the selection of sex differences in these types of parental care behaviour.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male and female Blackbirds (Turdus merula) respond similarly to the risk of nest predation

Ibáñez‐Álamo

Soler

2016

J Ornithol

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“…There is substantial evidence, including in threespined stickleback [22], that when predation risk is high, males decrease conspicuous courtship displays that could attract predators with benefits for both signallers and receivers [6,7,24]. There is also substantial evidence that parents decrease offspring care when predation risk is high [25]. For example, threespined stickleback fathers reduce their paternal care when presented with a predator model [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A female's past experience with predators affects male courtship and the care her offspring will receive from their father

et al. 2015

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Differential allocation occurs when individuals adjust their reproductive investment based on their partner's traits. However, it remains unknown whether animals differentially allocate based on their partner's past experiences with predation risk. If animals can detect a potential mate's experience with predators, this might inform them about the stress level of their potential mate, the likelihood of parental effects in offspring and/or the dangers present in the environment. Using threespined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we examined whether a female's previous experience with being chased by a model predator while yolking eggs affects male mating effort and offspring care. Males displayed fewer conspicuous courtship behaviours towards females that had experienced predation risk in the past compared with unexposed females. This differential allocation extended to how males cared for the resulting offspring of these matings: fathers provided less parental care to offspring of females that had experienced predation risk in the past. Our results show for the first time, to our knowledge, that variation among females in their predator encounters can contribute to behavioural variation among males in courtship and parental care, even when males themselves do not encounter a predator. These results, together with previous findings, suggest that maternal predator exposure can influence offspring development both directly and indirectly, through how it affects father care.

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“…To reduce the consequences of predation risk, birds have evolved behavioral (Lima 1998;Conway and Martin 2000a;Ghalambor and Martin 2002;Kovarik and Pavel 2011) and physiological responses (Peluc et al 2008;Hawlena and Schmitz 2010;Travers et al 2010). Parental responses to predation pressure, such as choice of a concealed nesting site (Nilsson 1984), active and passive defence of the nest (Montgomerie and Weatherhead 1988;Eggers et al 2005), altered incubation behavior (Deeming 2002;Zanette et al 2011) and posthatching parental care (Ghalambor et al 2013) can have a strong impact on offspring fitness (Lima 2009;Nord and Nilsson 2011). However, increased energy and time investment as a result of parental responses to predation may affect life-history trade-offs and reduce the parents' future reproductive value (Angelier and Chastel 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of nest predation risk on female incubation behavior and offspring growth in great tits

Basso

Richner

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Predation risk is a key driver for the evolution of reproductive strategies and life history traits. In birds, incubation behavior represents one form of parental care where trade-offs between time spent in incubation activities and self-maintenance activities are likely to change in response to predator pressure. This can have strong effects on embryonic development, but is still poorly understood. We investigated the effects of the presence of a nest predator on great tit (Parus major) incubation behavior and the subsequent effects of incubation on nestling morphological traits. We manipulated perceived predation risk using models of short-tailed weasels (Mustela erminea) in combination with great tit alarm calls specific to this predator. Directly after hatching, we swapped whole broods from treated nests with broods from untreated nests to disentangle treatment effects acting during the incubation period from potential carry-over effects on parental care acting on nestlings after hatching. In increased predation risk environments, the number of incubation sessions and recesses, but not their duration, was increased compared to the control group, and the nocturnal incubation session was longer when females were exposed to a predator. Eggs incubated by females under increased predation risk lost more mass over the incubation period compared to the control group. Also, male nestlings hatched from nests exposed to predators were lighter at hatching but were equivalent in weight to their control counterparts at fledging. This suggests that nest predation risk can influence some aspects of incubation rhythm and embryonic development, but has no longterm effects on nestling final body size.

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Plasticity of parental care under the risk of predation: how much should parents reduce care?

Cited by 127 publications

References 17 publications

Male and female Blackbirds (Turdus merula) respond similarly to the risk of nest predation

Male and female Blackbirds (Turdus merula) respond similarly to the risk of nest predation

A female's past experience with predators affects male courtship and the care her offspring will receive from their father

Effects of nest predation risk on female incubation behavior and offspring growth in great tits

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