The relative influence of density and kinship on dispersal in the common lizard

Abstract

We experimentally investigated the relative role of kinship and density on juvenile dispersal in the common lizard. A few days after birth, juveniles were introduced into seminatural enclosures, where they experienced different social environments: in the first experiment we varied the density of unrelated adults (males or females) within the enclosure (0, 1, or 2 adults), and in the second experiment, we varied the level of kinship and familiarity between juveniles and adults. Each enclosure was connected to a second enclosure by small holes which allowed only juveniles to move between enclosures. Juvenile movements were monitored during 14 days after birth, as juvenile dispersal is mainly completed within 10 days after birth under natural conditions. Most juveniles did not return to the first enclosure. Sex had no effect on juvenile dispersal. Adult density and kinship with adults both affected dispersal. Adult female density increased juvenile dispersal whatever the level of kinship and familiarity with the females. Dispersers had better body condition than nondispersers at high female density, and this difference was significantly greater when the mother and the familiar female were present in the enclosure. Furthermore, body condition of mothers and familiar females was positively correlated with juvenile dispersal, whereas there was no such correlation in the case of unfamiliar and unrelated females. These results strongly suggest that adult female density is a major factor promoting dispersal in this species and that both intraspecific and kin competition motivate dispersal.

Geographical variation in wolf spider dispersal behaviour is related to landscape structure

“…Condition-dependent dispersal is generally believed to occur in competitively inferior individuals (i.e. poor-condition ones; Lawrence 1987;Léna et al 1998). An alternative possibility for condition-dependent dispersal, however, is that spiderlings originating from large populations (i.e.…”

Mother–offspring competition promotes colonization success

“…Dispersal, as the first step leading to successful colonization, is promoted by many different biotic and abiotic factors (10). Among these factors, kin interactions, a factor driving social evolution (13,14), are involved in the evolution of dispersal (8,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Indeed, the evidence for kin-competition-based dispersal is starting to accumulate.…”

Genetic and Maternal Determinants of Effective Dispersal: The Effect of Sire Genotype and Size at Birth in Side‐Blotched Lizards

“…Blue male fitness was high in the presence of genetically similar blue males, orange male fitness was low in the presence of genetically similar males, regardless of throat color, and yellow male fitness was unaffected by genetic similarity of neighbors. If the results of Léna et al (1998) and Meylan et al (2004) are general, we should also observe a significant relationship between offspring dispersal and condition as measured by egg mass and an interaction between dispersal and male throat-color morph. Indeed, sires with more blue alleles tended to produce more philopatric offspring, while sires with more orange alleles produced more dispersers.…”

“…In birds, kin helping is linked to philopatry versus dispersal (Komdeur et al 1997). In lizards, mother-offspring competition appears to govern dispersal (Léna et al 1998;Ronce et al 1998;Le Galliard et al 2003). In fact, kin interaction is possibly the easiest piece of information for parents to predict.…”

“…In fact, kin interaction is possibly the easiest piece of information for parents to predict. Parents can manipulate offspring dispersal in many ways and also confer an advantage to philopatric or dispersing offspring (Léna et al 1998;Murren et al 2001). However, studying parental effects is particularly difficult because parental strategy and progeny fate should both be measured.…”