Relationships between egg size, chick size at hatching, and chick survival in the Whimbrel <i>Numenius phaeopus</i>

Grant, Murray C.

doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1991.tb04823.x

Cited by 64 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Because lead did not affect egg total mass, including yolk and albumen mass, it may not alter maternal investment in eggs, but may be maternally transferred into the eggs and affect embryonic development (Burger, ). Juveniles exposed to lead only ( lead group) tended to have a lower fledging success, possibly a consequence of a poorer condition at hatching (Grant, ). Among fledglings, lead exposure also induced a shorter growth period of body mass and tarsus and a smaller scaled mass index at 3 months of age, which could impair their future survival or reproduction (‘catch‐up' hypothesis, see Criscuolo et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do trace metals select for darker birds in urban areas? An experimental exposure to lead and zinc

Chatelain

Gasparini

Frantz

2016

Global Change Biology

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Trace metals from anthropogenic activities are involved in numerous health impairments and may therefore select for detoxification mechanisms or a higher tolerance. Melanin, responsible for the black and red colourations of teguments, plays a role in metal ion chelation and its synthesis is positively linked to immunity, antioxidant capacity and stress resistance due to pleiotropic effects. Therefore, we expected darker birds to (1) store higher amounts of metals in their feathers, (2) maintain lower metal concentrations in blood and (3) suffer less from metal exposure. We exposed feral pigeons (Columba livia) exhibiting various plumage darkness levels to low, but chronic, concentrations of zinc and/or lead, two of the most abundant metals in urban areas. First, we found negative and positive effects of lead and zinc, respectively, on birds' condition and reproductive parameters. Then, we observed positive relationships between plumage darkness and both zinc and lead concentrations in feathers. Interestingly, though darker adults did not maintain lower metal concentrations in blood and did not have higher fitness parameters, darker juveniles exhibited a higher survival rate than paler ones when exposed to lead. Our results show that melanin-based plumage colouration does modulate lead effects on birds' fitness parameters but that the relationship between metals, melanin, and fitness is more complex than expected and thus stress the need for more studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do trace metals select for darker birds in urban areas? An experimental exposure to lead and zinc

Chatelain

Gasparini

Frantz

2016

Global Change Biology

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“…Also, in a study of two widely separated willow ptarmigan populations, nest survival, re-nesting potential and clutch size were all higher in one population, indicating little relationship between nest predation and renesting propensity for a congener in similar habitats Martin et al 2011). It is also possible that environments with high predation pressure, such as Colorado, select for larger eggs and thus larger chicks at hatch (Grant 1991;Blomqvist et al 1997). Additional studies across other populations that focused on the effects of predators as well as the influence of hypoxia, severe weather and nutrient limitation would be useful to examine this clutch size-egg size tradeoff further.…”

Section: Life-history Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life‐history and demographic variation in an alpine specialist at the latitudinal extremes of the range

Wilson

Martin

2011

Population Ecology

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Alpine environments are unique systems to examine variation in life-history strategies because temperature and seasonality are similar across broad latitudinal gradients. We studied the life-history strategies, demography and population growth of white-tailed ptarmigan Lagopus leucura, an alpine specialist, at the latitudinal extremes of the range in the Yukon (YK, studied from 2004 to 2008) and Colorado (CO, 1987(CO, -1996. The two populations were separated by 2,400 km of latitude, and the Yukon site was approximately 2,000 m lower in elevation than the Colorado site. Yukon females bred on average 9 days earlier than those in Colorado, but the latter study was conducted 15 years earlier and breeding dates may have advanced over this period. The length of the breeding season was similar between the two populations, and females had comparable probabilities of re-nesting after failure. The two populations differed in how they allocated effort to the first clutch as Yukon females laid larger clutches (7.1 vs. 5.9 eggs) but smaller eggs (18.8 vs. 20.5 g) than those in Colorado. Demographic rates also differed; nest survival was higher in the Yukon (0.40) than in Colorado (0.24), and the resultant annual fecundity was nearly twice as high in the Yukon (3.92 vs. 1.77 chicks/ female). In contrast, annual adult survival was higher in Colorado although the confidence intervals overlapped (females: YK = 0.35, CO = 0.44; males: YK = 0.48, CO = 0.59). Estimates of annual population growth (k) indicated both populations were declining, especially in Colorado (k YK = 0.83, k CO = 0.66), and thus, dispersal movements are likely key to long-term persistence in both cases. Our findings suggest that breeding-season temperature and seasonality affect measures related to timing of reproduction, but not the costs and benefits of clutch and egg size.

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“…Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus (No1 et al 1984) and several other wader species (Vaisanen et al 1972, Miller 1979, Redmond 1986, Grant 1991, No1 et al 1997). Heritability of egg size, based on motherdaughter correlations, has not yet been determined in any wader species.…”

Section: Determinants Of Egg Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies have also yielded conflir-ting results, even Lvithin such \Yell studied species as the Great Tit and Pied Flycatcher Ficeduln hvpoleura. In general, a positive effect of female size on egg size is either-absent (De Steven 1978, Ojanen et al 1979, Hirkhead & Nettleship 1981, Janrinen & Vaisanen 1983Grant 1991, Smith et al 1993 or small (\:aisanen et a/. 1972, Miller 1979, Ojanen et al 1979, Otto 1979, Jarvinen 8r Pry1 1989 Koerma 1990, Klomqvist & Johansson 1 W 5 ) .…”

Section: Determinants Of Egg Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Egg size, egg composition and reproductive success in the Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus

Jager

Hulscher

Kersten

2000

Ibis

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We investigated the relationship between egg size and composition and their subsequent effects on hatching and fledging success in Eurasian Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus on the island of Schiermonnikoog (53d̀30'N, 06d̀10'E) in the Dutch Wadden Sea between 1986 and 1990. Egg size variation was considerable. The ratio in egg volume of the largest over the smallest egg was more than 1.5 in each of five years. Differences between females accounted for, on average, 61% of the total variance of egg volume. Individual females produced similarly sized eggs from one year to another. Nevertheless, average egg volume per clutch declined by 0.2 cm3 per year as females aged, but this explains little of the observed variation. Female size and food supplementation had no significant effect on egg volume. In absolute terms, large eggs contain more lean dry matter and lipid than small eggs, but the proportion of both constituents decreases with egg size. Consequently, the combustible energy content of eggs increases less than proportionally with egg size. Hatchability averaged 87% and was not correlated with egg volume. Hatchling weight increased with egg size, averaging 65% of fresh egg weight. Chick survival until fledging did not increase with egg volume. Consequently, within the size range observed, large and small eggs are of comparable quality. Since both the costs and benefits of large eggs compared with small eggs seem small at best, we propose that, within the size range encountered in this population, egg size can be considered an evolutionarily neutral trait.

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Relationships between egg size, chick size at hatching, and chick survival in the Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

Cited by 64 publications

References 22 publications

Do trace metals select for darker birds in urban areas? An experimental exposure to lead and zinc

Do trace metals select for darker birds in urban areas? An experimental exposure to lead and zinc

Life‐history and demographic variation in an alpine specialist at the latitudinal extremes of the range

Egg size, egg composition and reproductive success in the Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus

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