The adaptive significance of crèching behaviour in the white-winged scoter (<i>Melanitta fusca deglandi</i>)

Kehoe, F. Patrick

doi:10.1139/z89-060

Cited by 41 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…At the last capture, females were marked with individually colour-coded tape tags at the back of their head. This made it possible to determine if the females cared for, or abandoned, their ducklings after hatching (Kehoe 1989;Bustnes & Erikstad 1991).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cost of reproduction in a long-lived bird: incubation effort reduces immune function and future reproduction

et al. 2005

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Life-history theory predicts that increased current reproductive effort should lead to a fitness cost. This cost of reproduction may be observed as reduced survival or future reproduction, and may be caused by temporal suppression of immune function in stressed or hard-working individuals. In birds, consideration of the costs of incubating eggs has largely been neglected in favour of the costs of brood rearing. We manipulated incubation demand in two breeding seasons (2000 and 2001) in female common eiders (Somateria mollissima) by creating clutches of three and six eggs (natural range 3-6 eggs). The common eider is a long-lived sea-duck where females do not eat during the incubation period. Mass loss increased and immune function (lymphocyte levels and specific antibody response to the non-pathogenic antigens diphtheria and tetanus toxoid) was reduced in females incubating large clutches. The increased incubation effort among females assigned to large incubation demand did not lead to adverse effects on current reproduction or return rate in the next breeding season. However, large incubation demand resulted in long-term fitness costs through reduced fecundity the year after manipulation. Our data show that in eiders, a long-lived species, the cost of high incubation demand is paid in the currency of reduced future fecundity, possibly mediated by reduced immune function.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cost of reproduction in a long-lived bird: incubation effort reduces immune function and future reproduction

et al. 2005

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“…About half of the eider females abandon their own ducklings to the care of other females. We classified the females as to whether they were "tenders" or "abandoners" (Kehoe 1989;Bustnes and Erikstad 1991). Abandonment usually occurs within the first 2 days after hatching (Bustnes and Erikstad 1995).…”

Section: Brood Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced immunocompetence and cost of reproduction in common eiders

2003

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Immunocompetence may be especially important in long-lived species where infectious organisms may have detrimental effects upon future reproductive value of hosts. The resource demand for immunocompetence may reduce resource availability for reproduction and a trade-off between these traits has therefore been proposed. Capital breeders, such as the common eider (Somateria mollissima), rely upon accumulated body reserves during reproduction. Eiders lose more than 40% of pre-breeding body mass during egglaying and incubation and many females abandon their ducklings to other females after hatching. Results from our observational study show that levels of leukocytes (i.e., lymphocytes, heterophils and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio) are not related to body mass early in the incubation period. However, eider females with low initial body mass showed signs of immunosuppression (i.e., decreased late levels of lymphocytes) and increased response towards stressors (i.e., increased heterophil/lymphocyte ratio) later in the incubation period. Moreover, females with low lymphocyte levels more frequently abandoned their brood, and females abandoning young had an increased return rate to the next breeding season. However, among brood abandoning females return rate was lower for the females with low lymphocyte levels. These results suggest that immunosuppression, as indicated by low lymphocyte levels, is a reproductive cost that may be partly compensated for by abandoning young.

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“…Tending females may also join other tending females, forming so-called 'crèches' (Munro & Bedard 1977;Bustnes & Erikstad 1991). We classified the females as to whether they were 'tenders' or 'abandoners' (Kehoe 1989;Bustnes & Erikstad 1991). Abandonment usually occurs within the first 2 days after hatching (Bustnes & Erikstad 1995).…”

Section: (C) General Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential investment and costs during avian incubation determined by individual quality: an experimental study of the common eider (Somateria mollissima)

Hanssen

Erikstad

Johnsen

et al. 2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Individuals of different quality may have different investment strategies, shaping responses to experimental manipulations, thereby rendering the detection of such patterns difficult. However, previous clutch-size manipulation studies have infrequently incorporated individual differences in quality. To examine costs of incubation and reproductive investment in relation to changes in clutch size, we enlarged and reduced natural clutch sizes of four and five eggs by one egg early in the incubation period in female common eiders (Somateria mollissima), a sea duck with an anorectic incubation period. Females that had produced four eggs (lower quality) responded to clutch reductions by deserting the nest more frequently but did not increase incubation effort in response to clutch enlargement, at the cost of reduced hatch success of eggs. Among birds with an original clutch size of five (higher quality), reducing and enlarging clutch size reduced and increased relative body mass loss respectively without affecting hatch success. In common eiders many females abandon their own ducklings to the care of other females. Enlarging five-egg clutches led to increased brood care rate despite the higher effort spent incubating these clutches, indicating that the higher fitness value of a large brood is increasing adult brood investment. This study shows that the ability to respond to clutch-size manipulations depends on original clutch size, reflecting differences in female quality. Females of low quality were reluctant to increase investment at the cost of lower hatch success, whereas females of higher quality apparently have a larger capacity both to increase incubation effort and brood care investment.

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The adaptive significance of crèching behaviour in the white-winged scoter (Melanitta fusca deglandi)

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Cost of reproduction in a long-lived bird: incubation effort reduces immune function and future reproduction

Cost of reproduction in a long-lived bird: incubation effort reduces immune function and future reproduction

Reduced immunocompetence and cost of reproduction in common eiders

Differential investment and costs during avian incubation determined by individual quality: an experimental study of the common eider (Somateria mollissima)

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