Reduced Egg Investment Can Conceal Helper Effects in Cooperatively Breeding Birds

Russell, Andy; Langmore, Naomi E.; Cockburn, Andrew; Astheimer, Lee B.; Kilner, Rebecca M.

doi:10.1126/science.1146037

Cited by 196 publications

(264 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Intraspecific comparisons show that increases in the number of resident helpers are commonly associated with reductions in inter-birth interval, larger litters and higher annual rates of survival [46][47][48]. In addition, comparative studies of several mammalian groups have suggested that cooperative breeding is associated with increases in the reproductive rate of females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life histories and the evolution of cooperative breeding in mammals

Lukas

Clutton‐Brock

2012

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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While the evolution of cooperative breeding systems (where non-breeding helpers participate in rearing young produced by dominant females) has been restricted to lineages with socially monogamous mating systems where coefficients of relatedness between group members are usually high, not all monogamous lineages have produced species with cooperative breeding systems, suggesting that other factors constrain the evolution of cooperative breeding. Previous studies have suggested that life-history parameters, including longevity, may constrain the evolution of cooperative breeding. Here, we show that transitions to cooperative breeding across the mammalian phylogeny have been restricted to lineages where females produce multiple offspring per birth. We find no support for effects of longevity or of other life-history parameters. We suggest that the evolution of cooperative breeding has been restricted to monogamous lineages where helpers have the potential to increase the reproductive output of breeders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life histories and the evolution of cooperative breeding in mammals

Lukas

Clutton‐Brock

2012

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Laying more, lighter eggs significantly contributed to fed mothers fledging more young (Zanette et al 2006a,b), and hence presumably producing more recruits (accepting that fed and unfed fledglings were equally likely to recruit; see Material and Methods). Russell et al (2007) reported that fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) mothers reduce the size of the eggs they lay when conditions are favourable, to lessen the burden on themselves. Sinervo et al (2000) similarly showed that, as song sparrows evidently do, female side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) always produce the same clutch mass, but when conditions are favourable (in low-density 'boom' years) they produce more, smaller propagules (eggs).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fisher et al (2006), for example, showed that cognitive development was permanently impaired in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) that experienced food restriction in the first 20 days post-hatch and were thereafter fed ad libitum. If food-supplemented mothers lay more, lighter eggs (Sinervo et al 2000;Russell et al 2007), this initial deficit could thus have negative consequences even if food-supplemented parents feed their young ad libitum (Wagner & Williams 2007). In this case, the sons of food-supplemented parents could, counterintuitively, end up having smaller song repertoires in adulthood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Population models incorporating intergenerational effects typically assume there is a positive relationship between the parental environment and offspring quality (Ginsburg & Taneyhill 1994). However, several studies have shown that, in order to produce more offspring or lessen the burden on themselves, parents may produce poorer quality offspring when conditions are favourable because it is precisely when conditions are favourable that offspring quality is least likely to affect recruitment (Bernardo 1996;Sinervo et al 2000;Plaistow et al 2006;Russell et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food-supplementing parents reduces their sons' song repertoire size

2009

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Food-supplemented parents typically produce more offspring, as numerous experiments on vertebrate populations have shown. 'Propagule' (egg or neonate) size and parental care may also be affected, with implications concerning the adult quality of offspring, although few experiments have addressed whether food-supplementing one generation affects adult quality in the next. We conducted a food supplementation experiment on song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) and tested whether song repertoire size, a demonstrated indicator of male quality, differed between the adult sons of fed (food-supplemented) and unfed (non-food-supplemented) parents. Counterintuitively, fed parents produced sons with smaller adult song repertoires, who may thus be expected to contribute fewer offspring, and fewer grand-offspring, to the population. Fed and unfed parents invested equally in the total biomass of their clutches and broods, and average nestling condition was comparable, but because fed parents produced more offspring, average egg and nestling sizes were reduced. Fed and unfed parents apportioned care differently within their broods, and we suggest compensatory growth of offspring emerging from light eggs, or egg size itself, may have affected adult repertoire size. Conceivably, the conservation benefits of food-supplementing populations could attenuate over time if fed parents produce offspring of poorer quality than themselves.

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“…Conversely, pair‐breeding females lay larger eggs, but their offspring gain no advantage because they are tended only by the female and her male, and so receive less provisioning after hatching (Russell et al. 2007, 2008). More recently, Monteith et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A limit on the extent to which increased egg size can compensate for a poor postnatal environment revealed experimentally in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides

Schrader

Crosby

Hesketh

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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It is often assumed that there is a positive relationship between egg size and offspring fitness. However, recent studies have suggested that egg size has a greater effect on offspring fitness in low‐quality environments than in high‐quality environments. Such observations suggest that mothers may compensate for poor posthatching environments by increasing egg size. In this paper we test whether there is a limit on the extent to which increased egg size can compensate for the removal of posthatching parental care in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides. Previous experiments with N. vespilloides suggest that an increased egg size can compensate for a relatively poor environment after hatching. Here, we phenotypically engineered female N. vespilloides to produce large or small eggs by varying the amount of time they were allowed to feed on the carcass as larvae. We then tested whether differences between these groups in egg size translated into differences in larval performance in a harsh postnatal environment that excluded parental care. We found that females engineered to produce large eggs did not have higher breeding success, and nor did they produce larger larvae than females engineered to produce small eggs. These results suggest that there is a limit on the extent to which increased maternal investment in egg size can compensate for a poor posthatching environment. We discuss the implication of our results for a recent study showing that experimental N. vespilloides populations can adapt rapidly to the absence of posthatching parental care.

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Reduced Egg Investment Can Conceal Helper Effects in Cooperatively Breeding Birds

Cited by 196 publications

References 24 publications

Life histories and the evolution of cooperative breeding in mammals

Life histories and the evolution of cooperative breeding in mammals

Food-supplementing parents reduces their sons' song repertoire size

A limit on the extent to which increased egg size can compensate for a poor postnatal environment revealed experimentally in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides

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