Predicting polygynous settlement while incorporating varying female competitive strength

Grønstøl, Gaute

doi:10.1093/beheco/14.2.257

Cited by 30 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(113 reference statements)

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“…Smith and Sandell 2005;Ferretti and Winkler 2009;Grønstøl et al 2003), such females do not lose much in terms of their fitness within the studied population. Double-brooded females have a clear advantage in terms of local recruitment over all other females, but secondary females do not differ from other females (Table 4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

The influence of phenology on double-brooding and polygyny incidence in the Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

et al. 2015

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There is growing evidence that the fitness of birds in temperate zones depends strongly on the match between the timing of breeding and local phenology. We have analysed data collected from a 15-year study on a Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) population in its natural habitat. The highly skewed distribution of arrival dates of males indicated that they competed intensely to be the earliest arrivals. The distribution of mating dates, unlike arrival dates, was not skewed, rather it formed a bell-shaped distribution. Because females arrived much later, they could not base their mating choices on the arrival dates of males. Females, however, could use male song repertoire, a trait we found to be correlated with male arrival date. Double-brooded females mated early in the season, exactly within the peak of mating date distribution. Polygynous females, on the other hand, mated later in the season, choosing high-quality older males which had arrived significantly earlier. Male territory quality did not differ between double-brooded and polygynous females, nor did the quality of the territories occupied by an individual female change during her lifetime. Although longer lifespan and double-brooding influenced a female's fitness over the course of her lifetime, polygyny had no significant effect. We conclude that Sedge Warbler females do not compete for territorial resources, but they do prefer to mate with high-quality early-arriving males. Polygyny is an effective strategy used by females to compensate for their late arrival and breeding onset, since they pair with highquality males.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

The influence of phenology on double-brooding and polygyny incidence in the Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

et al. 2015

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“…A lower reproductive success of secondary females might be either the result of poorer quality females in secondary broods (see Grønstøl et al 2003) or the consequence of costs of sharing a male (e.g. Slagsvold & Lifjeld 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polygyny and its fitness consequences for primary and secondary female pied flycatchers

Huk

Winkel

2006

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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In polygynous species with biparental care, the amount of paternal support often varies considerably. In the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), females mated with monogamous males receive more male assistance during the nestling phase than females mated with bigynous males, as the latter have to share their mates with another female. Bigynous males, however, give more support to their primary broods than to their secondary broods. Using a long-term dataset (31 years), the present study revealed that direct reproductive success, i.e. number of fledglings, was lower in females that mated with bigynous males, especially in secondary broods without male assistance, than in females that mated with monogamous males. Secondary broods with male assistance were more affected than primary broods. Female survival was independent of mating status. In primary broods, a delayed compensation for inferior direct reproductive success was found in terms of the number of grandoffspring, a phenomenon that did not occur in secondary broods. Delayed compensation in primary broods refers to indirect effects, i.e. good genes. According to the sexy son hypothesis, genetically superior (i.e. sexy) males may have sons with a higher number of broods belonging to a polygynous breeding status than do sons from broods with a monogamous father. This was indeed the case for sons descending from primary broods, but not for sons descending from secondary broods.

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“…The most important limitation may be that we assume all individuals in a specific social role to be identical. For example, variation in the competitive ability of females may alter predictions of the polygyny threshold model, because there will be a correlation between the quality of already mated females and the settlement date of secondary females (Grønstøl et al, 2003). For example, early breeding females may be of higher quality and therefore better able at defending their mating status.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Starling Mating System as an Outcome of the Sexual Conflict

Smith

Sandell

2005

Evol Ecol

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Many bird species demonstrate a variable mating system, with some males being monogamously mated and other males able to attract more than one mate. This variation in avian mating systems is often explained in terms of potential costs of sharing breeding partners and compensation for such costs. However, whenever there is a difference in the optimal mating system for males and females, a sexual conflict over the number of partners is expected. This paper contains a verbal model of how a conflict between male and female European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), resulting from the fitness consequences of different mating systems for males and females differing over time, determines the mating system. We demonstrate that males and females have contrasting fitness interests regarding mating system, such that males gain from attracting additional mates whereas already mated females pay a cost in terms of reduced reproductive success if males are successful in attracting more mates. We demonstrate how this can be traced to the rules by which males allocate non-sharable care between different broods. Furthermore, we demonstrate that there exist male and female conflict behaviours with the potential to affect the mating system. For example, aggression from already mated females towards prospecting females can limit male mating success and males can circumvent this by spacing the nest-sites they defend. The realised mating system will emerge as a consequence of both the fitness value of the different mating systems for males and females, and the costs for males and females of intersexual competition. We discuss how this model can be developed and critically evaluated in the future.

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Predicting polygynous settlement while incorporating varying female competitive strength

Cited by 30 publications

References 71 publications

The influence of phenology on double-brooding and polygyny incidence in the Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

The influence of phenology on double-brooding and polygyny incidence in the Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Polygyny and its fitness consequences for primary and secondary female pied flycatchers

The Starling Mating System as an Outcome of the Sexual Conflict

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