Previous success and current body condition determine breeding propensity in Lesser Scaup: evidence for the individual heterogeneity hypothesis

Warren, Jeffrey M.; Cutting, Kyle A.; Takekawa, John Y.; Cruz, Susan E. W. De La; Williams, Tony; Koons, David N.

doi:10.1642/auk-13-236.1

Cited by 27 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Trade-offs among demographic rates associated with fitness may be exacerbated by "carryover effects", which suggests that previous conditions can affect the states of individuals into the future (Harrison, Blount, Inger, Norris, & Bearhop, 2011;Norris, 2005;Norris & Marra, 2007;O'Connor, Norris, Crossin, & Cooke, 2014;Sedinger, Schamber, Ward, Nicolai, & Conant, 2011). Such carryover effects have been observed to impact individual reproductive effort and success in a suite of species with a range of life history strategies (Lachish, McCallum, & Jones, 2009;Reid, 1987;Warren et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Senescence and carryover effects of reproductive performance influence migration, condition, and breeding propensity in a small shorebird

Weithman

Gibson

Hunt

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Breeding propensity, the probability that an animal will attempt to breed each year, is perhaps the least understood demographic process influencing annual fecundity. Breeding propensity is ecologically complex, as associations among a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors may interact to affect an animal's breeding decisions. Individuals that opt not to breed can be more difficult to detect than breeders, which can (1) lead to difficulty in estimation of breeding propensity, and (2) bias other demographic parameters. We studied the effects of sex, age, and population reproductive success on the survival and breeding propensity of a migratory shorebird, the piping plover (Charadrius melodus), nesting on the Missouri River. We used a robust design Barker model to estimate true survival and breeding propensity and found survival decreased as birds aged and did so more quickly for males than females. Monthly survival during the breeding season was lower than during migration or the nonbreeding season. Males were less likely to skip breeding (range: 1–17%) than females (range: 3–26%; βsex = −0.21, 95% CI: −0.38 to −0.21), and both sexes were less likely to return to the breeding grounds following a year of high reproductive success. Birds that returned in a year following relatively high population‐wide reproductive output were in poorer condition than following a year with lower reproductive output. Younger adult birds and females were more likely to migrate from the breeding area earlier than older birds and males; however, all birds stayed on the breeding grounds longer when nest survival was low, presumably because of renesting attempts. Piping plovers used a variety of environmental and demographic cues to inform their reproduction, employing strategies that could maximize fitness on average. Our results support the “disposable soma” theory of aging and follow with predictions from life history theory, exhibiting the intimate connections among the core ecological concepts of senescence, carryover effects, and life history.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Senescence and carryover effects of reproductive performance influence migration, condition, and breeding propensity in a small shorebird

Weithman

Gibson

Hunt

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…For example, breeding propensity was positively related to female body condition and negatively affected by drought episodes in lesser scaup Aythia afinis (Warren et al 2014). As in the condition dependent individual optimization model, a threshold body condition mediating breeding propensity has been well established in organisms which rely extensively on internal reserves to successfully reproduce (capital breeder; Jönsson 1997).…”

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confidence: 99%

Unpredictable perturbation reduces breeding propensity regardless of pre‐laying reproductive readiness in a partial capital breeder

Legagneux

Hennin

Gilchrist

et al. 2016

Journal of Avian Biology

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Theoretically, individuals of migratory species should optimize reproductive investment based on a combination of timing of and body condition at arrival on the breeding grounds. A minimum threshold body mass is required to initiate reproduction, and the timing of reaching this threshold is critical because of the trade-off between delaying breeding to gain in condition against the declining value of offspring with later reproductive timing. Long-lived species have the flexibility within their life history to skip reproduction in a given year if they are unable to achieve this theoretical mass threshold. Although the decision to breed or not is an important parameter influencing population dynamics, the mechanisms underlying this decision are poorly understood. Here, we mimicked an unpredictable environmental perturbation that induced a reduction in body mass of Arctic pre-breeding (before the laying period) female common eiders Somateria mollissima; a long-lived migratory seaduck, while controlling for individual variation in the pre-laying physiological reproductive readiness via vitellogenin (VTG) -a yolk-targeted lipoprotein. Our aim was to causally determine the interaction between body condition and pre-laying reproductive readiness (VTG) on breeding propensity by experimentally reducing body mass in treatment females. We first demonstrated that arrival body condition was a key driver of breeding propensity. Secondly, we found that treatment and VTG levels interacted to influence breeding propensity, indicating that our experimental manipulation, mimicking an unpredictable food shortage, reduced breeding propensity, regardless of the degree of pre-laying physiological reproductive readiness (i.e. timing of ovarian follicles recruitment). Our experiment demonstrates that momentary environmental perturbations during the prebreeding period can strongly affect the decision to breed, a key parameter driving population dynamics.

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“…In addition, the ‘individual heterogeneity hypothesis’ also predicts that individuals with superior body condition exhibit increased reproductive success and survival, whereas individuals with poor body condition exhibit decreased probabilities of reproduction and survival (Warren et al . ). For example, female mallards that arrived on nesting grounds with higher nutrient reserves had increased nesting propensity and clutch sizes, establishing a biological link between conditions on spring migration stopover sites and population‐level parameters (Devries et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…According to the 'individual heterogeneity hypothesis' (Vaupel & Yashin 1985), individuals with poor body condition in a given year may skip breeding and allocate their limited energetic resources to survival to increase the probability of breeding in a subsequent year with better conditions (Caudill et al 2014). In addition, the 'individual heterogeneity hypothesis' also predicts that individuals with superior body condition exhibit increased reproductive success and survival, whereas individuals with poor body condition exhibit decreased probabilities of reproduction and survival (Warren et al 2014). For example, female mallards that arrived on nesting grounds with higher nutrient reserves had increased nesting propensity and clutch sizes, establishing a biological link between conditions on spring migration stopover sites and population-level parameters (Devries et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How will predicted land‐use change affect waterfowl spring stopover ecology? Inferences from an individual‐based model

Beatty

Kesler

Webb

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, overexploitation and climate change pose familiar and new challenges to conserving natural populations throughout the world. One approach conservation planners may use to evaluate the effects of these challenges on wildlife populations is scenario planning. We developed an individual‐based model to evaluate the effects of future land use and land cover changes on spring‐migrating dabbling ducks in North America. We assessed the effects of three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios (A1B, A2 and B1) on dabbling duck stopover duration, movement distances and mortality. We specifically focused on migration stopover duration because previous research has demonstrated that individuals arriving earlier on the nesting grounds exhibit increased reproductive fitness. Compared to present conditions, all three scenarios increased stopover duration and movement distances of agent ducks. Although all three scenarios presented migrating ducks with increased amounts of wetland habitat, scenarios also contained substantially less cropland, which decreased overall carrying capacity of the study area. Synthesis and applications. Land‐use change may increase waterfowl spring migration stopover duration in the midcontinent region of North America due to reduced landscape energetic carrying capacity. Climate change will alter spatial patterns of crop distributions with corn and rice production areas shifting to different regions. Thus, conservation planners will have to address population‐level energetic implications of shifting agricultural food resources and increased uncertainty in yearly precipitation patterns within the next 50 years.

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Previous success and current body condition determine breeding propensity in Lesser Scaup: evidence for the individual heterogeneity hypothesis

Cited by 27 publications

References 39 publications

Senescence and carryover effects of reproductive performance influence migration, condition, and breeding propensity in a small shorebird

Senescence and carryover effects of reproductive performance influence migration, condition, and breeding propensity in a small shorebird

Unpredictable perturbation reduces breeding propensity regardless of pre‐laying reproductive readiness in a partial capital breeder

How will predicted land‐use change affect waterfowl spring stopover ecology? Inferences from an individual‐based model

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