Variation in Egg Size of Black-Tailed Godwits

Verhoeven, Mo A.; Loonstra, A. H. Jelle; McBride, Alice D.; Tinbergen, Joost M.; Kentie, Rosemarie; Hooijmeijer, Jos C.E.W.; Both, Christiaan; Senner, Nathan R.; Piersma, Theunis

doi:10.5253/arde.v107i3.a7

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…1). In 111 of 151 cases, we observed an egg-laying phase denoted by 20 or more min of shading for 1-3 days, immediately followed by an incubation phase denoted by long shaded periods lasting 1-10 h. This pattern is consistent with known godwit nesting behaviour, as most godwits lay 3-4 eggs (Haverschmidt 1963, Verhoeven et al 2019a, both females and males spend short periods sitting on the nest during the egg-laying phase, and incubation begins after the penultimate or ultimate egg is laid (Haverschmidt 1963). In the remaining 40 cases, we did not observe an egg-laying phase but did observe a clear incubation phase.…”

Section: Inferring Incubation Duration and Hatching Success From Geolsupporting

confidence: 79%

Geolocators lead to better measures of timing and renesting in black‐tailed godwits and reveal the bias of traditional observational methods

Verhoeven

Loonstra

McBride

et al. 2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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Long‐term population studies can identify changes in population dynamics over time. However, to realize meaningful conclusions, these studies rely on accurate measurements of individual traits and population characteristics. Here, we evaluate the accuracy of the observational methods used to measure reproductive traits in individually marked black‐tailed godwits (Limosa limosa limosa). By comparing estimates from traditional methods with data obtained from light‐level geolocators, we provide an accurate estimate of the likelihood of renesting in godwits and the repeatability of the lay dates of first clutches. From 2012 to 2018, we used periods of shading recorded on the light‐level geolocators carried by 68 individual godwits to document their nesting behaviour. We then compared these estimates to those simultaneously obtained by our long‐term observational study. We found that among recaptured geolocator‐carrying godwits, all birds renested after a failed first clutch, regardless of the date of nest loss or the number of days already spent incubating. We also found that 43% of these godwits laid a second replacement clutch after a failed first replacement, and that 21% of these godwits renested after a hatched first clutch. However, the observational study correctly identified only 3% of the replacement clutches produced by geolocator‐carrying individuals and designated as first clutches a number of nests that were actually replacement clutches. Additionally, on the basis of the observational study, the repeatability of lay date was 0.24 (95% CI 0.17–0.31), whereas it was 0.54 (95% CI 0.28–0.75) using geolocator‐carrying individuals. We use examples from our own and other godwit studies to illustrate how the biases in our observational study discovered here may have affected the outcome of demographic estimates, individual‐level comparisons, and the design, implementation and evaluation of conservation practices. These examples emphasize the importance of improving and validating field methodologies and show how the addition of new tools can be transformational.

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Section: Inferring Incubation Duration and Hatching Success From Geolsupporting

confidence: 79%

Geolocators lead to better measures of timing and renesting in black‐tailed godwits and reveal the bias of traditional observational methods

Verhoeven

Loonstra

McBride

et al. 2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…However, these phenological studies are inter-specific comparisons focusing either on population means or 'first individual' observations, rather than examining individual-level variation using repeated measures. Similar to our study, Verhoeven et al (2019) found no influence of winter region on intra-individual variation in migration timing. High intra-individual variation has also been reported for some long-distance migrants (e.g.…”

Section: Influence Of Migration Distance On Individual Variationsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Inter-individual variation for most behaviours examined was high. High inter-individual variation might suggest that selective pressure on these behaviours is low for this species (Verhoeven et al, 2019).…”

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 97%

Long‐distance migrants vary migratory behaviour as much as short‐distance migrants: An individual‐level comparison from a seabird species with diverse migration strategies

Brown

Loon

Bouten

et al. 2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Several studies of oviparous organisms have observed age-dependent variation in egg size, with some studies finding a positive relationship (Cooch et al, 1992;Flint & Sedinger, 1992;Robertson et al, 1994;Warner et al, 2016;Verhoeven et al, 2020) and others observing a negative relationship (Reid, 1988;Potti, 1993;Ito, 1997). However, several of these studies failed to account for selective disappearance (e.g., Cooch et al, 1992;Flint & Sedinger, 1992;Potti, 1993) and thus complicate the interpretation of individual-vs. population-level effects.…”

Section: Discussion (1375 Words)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We followed common statistical approaches to investigate senescence in birds (e.g., Bouwhuis et al, 2009Bouwhuis et al, , 2010Schroeder et al, 2012;Herborn et al, 2016;Graham et al, 2019;Dingemanse et al, 2020) (Dittmann & Hötker, 2001;Skrade & Dinsmore, 2013;Kwon et al, 2018;Kubelka et al, 2020;Verhoeven et al, 2020). We standardized lay date according to year so that breeding season phenology was comparable across years.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egg size variation in the context of polyandry: a case study using long-term field data from snowy plovers

Eberhart‐Hertel¹,

Rodrigues²,

Krietsch³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Identifying age-dependent trade-offs between reproductive effort and survival in wild organisms is central for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms of senescence. According to the disposable soma theory, early-life energy investments in reproduction compromise late-life investments in somatic maintenance – leading to senescence. Once thought to only be detectable in captive populations, senescence has recently been documented by several longitudinal studies of wild organisms. However, some reproductive traits that are used to quantify senescence may also be shaped by other age-dependent processes such as mating tactics. For instance, polygamy, which is often positively associated with age, may lead to reduced gamete size due to trade-offs between gamete quantity and quality. Here we investigate how mating behaviour and senescence are associated with reproductive trade-offs of female snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus). Snowy plovers are long-lived shorebirds (longevity record: 19 years) that produce several nests each year, with females either being polyandrous and sequentially changing partners between breeding attempts or remaining monogamous between attempts. We examined how age, seasonality, and mating tactics affect within-female variation in egg volume using repeated measures collected over a 14-year period. Our results provide clear evidence for senescence in snowy plover females starting at three years of age. Furthermore, females laid smaller eggs in years when they were polyandrous compared to years when they were monogamous, with early- and late-season clutches having the smallest eggs. We suggest that individual female reproductive performance is regulated by flexible mating tactics and age- and season-dependent effects. Our findings highlight the existence of multiple trade-offs for female reproductive investments that likely shape individual variation in lifetime reproductive success. We encourage future research investigating reproductive senescence of wild populations to incorporate age-dependent reproductive investments in light of mating system dynamics.Impact SummaryWhy do organisms senesce at older ages? Life-history theory predicts that early life investments in reproduction compromise future investment opportunities for somatic repair, which leads to senescence. Earlier works assumed that senescence was only observable in captive populations due to the high degree of extrinsic mortality experienced by wild organisms. However, with the expansion of longitudinal studies collecting repeated measures from wild individuals, recent works have identified key insights into the selective processes driving patterns of senescence in nature. Here, we use a 14-year longitudinal mark-recapture dataset of snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus) breeding in a wild subtropical population in western Mexico to investigate age-dependent trade-offs between female reproductive effort and performance. The snowy plover is a long-lived shorebird characterized by a flexible polyandrous mating system. This rare breeding behaviour represents a unique background for investigating senescence in light of between and within-individual variation in reproductive investment. Our study focused on age-dependent dynamics of egg volume – a convenient measure of a female’s intrinsic reproductive investment, particularly in birds with precocial chicks. We explored age-related correlates of within-female egg volume dynamics while controlling for among-female variation and the confounding effect of trait-dependent (dis)appearance of young (or old) females in the population. Our results show that egg volume expresses an early-life increase followed by a late-life decrease, indicative of reproductive senescence. Furthermore, females tended to lay smaller eggs in years during which they were polyandrous than in years when they were monogamous. Notably, polyandry was not associated with age. As expected, egg volume was highly repeatable within females and clutches. We conclude that age-dependent reproductive effort is an important component driving between- and within-individual variation in reproductive performance of facultatively polygamous species. We encourage future works studying reproductive senescence of wild populations to incorporate age-dependent reproductive investment and mating tactics.

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Variation in Egg Size of Black-Tailed Godwits

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 17 publications

References 40 publications

Geolocators lead to better measures of timing and renesting in black‐tailed godwits and reveal the bias of traditional observational methods

Geolocators lead to better measures of timing and renesting in black‐tailed godwits and reveal the bias of traditional observational methods

Long‐distance migrants vary migratory behaviour as much as short‐distance migrants: An individual‐level comparison from a seabird species with diverse migration strategies

Egg size variation in the context of polyandry: a case study using long-term field data from snowy plovers

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