The Determination of Clutch Size in Precocial Birds

Winkler, David W.; Walters, Jeffrey R.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-6781-3_2

Cited by 162 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…In birds, the female's provisioning of relatively large gametes is clearly different from many nonavian species in which egg provisioning is slight, and clutches are, in some cases, huge. This does not mean that optimal clutch sizes in birds are set by physiological constraints on egg production (see Winkler and Walters, 1983;Murphy and Haukioja, 1986), only that there are limits to the number of large eggs a female can produce over a short period of time.…”

Section: Male and Female Parental Investmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mortality Patterns, Sex Ratios, and Parental Investment in Monogamous Birds

Breitwisch

1989

Current Ornithology

148

123

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Section: Male and Female Parental Investmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mortality Patterns, Sex Ratios, and Parental Investment in Monogamous Birds

Breitwisch

1989

Current Ornithology

148

123

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“…Species for which no size-number tradeoff has been found typically show considerable variation in reproductive effort (Fox and Czesak, 2000). Many studies have reported conservatism in egg size, with greater variation in clutch size under varying environmental conditions (birds: Lack, 1954Lack, , 1968fish: Scott, 1962;Hester, 1964;Fleming and Gross, 1990;mammals: Jordan et al, 1967;Stevenson-Hamilton, 2012; readers are referred to other focused reviews for more detailed discussions of the literature; vertebrates : Brockelman, 1975;Winkler and Walters, 1983;invertebrates: Wilson and Lessells, 1994;Fox and Czesak, 2000). These results suggest that in animals, selection primarily optimizes offspring size, again in accordance with optimality models, rather than fecundity.…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant and Animal Reproductive Strategies: Lessons from Offspring Size and Number Tradeoffs

Dani

Kodandaramaiah

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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The tradeoff between offspring size and number is ubiquitous and manifestly similar in plants and animals despite fundamental differences between the evolutionary histories of these two major life forms. Fecundity (offspring number) primarily affects parental fitness, while offspring size underpins the fitness of parents and offspring. We provide an overview of theoretical models dealing with offspring size and fitness relationships. We follow that with a detailed examination of life-history constraints and environmental effects on offspring size and number, separately in plants and animals. The emphasis is on seed plants, but we endeavor to also summarize information from distinct animal groups-insects, fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Furthermore, we analyse genetic controls on offspring size and number in two model organisms-Arabidopsis and Drosophila. Despite the deep evolutionary divergence between plants and animals, we find four trends in reproductive strategy that are common to both lineages: (i) offspring size is generally less variable than offspring number, (ii) offspring size increases with increasing parent body size, (iii) maternal genes restrict offspring size and increase offspring numbers, while zygotic genes act to increase offspring size; such parent-offspring conflicts are enhanced when there is sibling rivalry, and (iv) variation in offspring size increases under sub-optimal (harsh) environmental conditions. The most salient difference between plants and animals is that the latter tend to produce larger (fewer) offspring under sub-optimal conditions while seed plants invest in smaller (many) seeds, suggesting that maternal genetic control over offspring size increases in plants but decreases in animals with parental care. The time is ripe for greater experimental exploration of genetic controls on reproductive allocation and parent-offspring conflicts in plants and animals under sub-optimal (harsh) environments.

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“…In altricial birds the costs of rearing young have been considered to be important for clutch-size regulation (Perrins & Moss 1975;Lessells 1986;Pettifor et al 1988;Tinbergen & Daan 1990;Tinbergen & Both 1999). In precocial species where costs of brood care often do not increase with brood size (Lazarus & Inglis 1978, 1986) it has been assumed that energy limitations during egg laying limit clutch size (Lack 1968;Winkler & Walters 1983;Ankney & Afton 1988). However, incubation costs such as increased energy expenditure or mass loss (Biebach 1981(Biebach , 1984Haftorn & Reinertsen 1985;Coleman & Whittall 1988;Erikstad & Tveraa 1995), prolonged incubation (Moreno & Carlson 1989), higher predation risk (Inglis 1977) or reduced hatch success (Coleman & Whittall 1988;Briskie & Sealy 1989;Moreno et al 1991;Siikamaki 1995) may increase in larger clutches and this may also limit clutch size (Arnold et al 1987;Heaney & Monaghan 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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 Determination of Clutch Size in Precocial Birds

Cited by 162 publications

References 108 publications

Mortality Patterns, Sex Ratios, and Parental Investment in Monogamous Birds

Mortality Patterns, Sex Ratios, and Parental Investment in Monogamous Birds

Plant and Animal Reproductive Strategies: Lessons from Offspring Size and Number Tradeoffs

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

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