An experimental increase in female mass during the fertile phaseleads to higher levels of extra-pair paternity in pied flycatchersFicedula hypoleuca
Female mass in most altricial birds reaches its maximum during breeding at egg laying, which coincides temporally with thefertile phase when extra-pair paternity (EPP) is determined. Higher mass at laying may have two different effects on EPPintensity. On the one hand, it would lead to increased win...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2019 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/223775 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/223775 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Extra-pair paternity Wing loading Flight ability Nest building costs Female traits |
| Resumo: | Female mass in most altricial birds reaches its maximum during breeding at egg laying, which coincides temporally with thefertile phase when extra-pair paternity (EPP) is determined. Higher mass at laying may have two different effects on EPPintensity. On the one hand, it would lead to increased wing loading (body mass/wing area), which may impair flight efficiencyand thereby reduce female’s capacity to resist unwanted extra-pair male approaches (sexual conflict hypothesis). On the otherhand, it would enhance female condition, favouring her capacity to evade mate guarding and to search for extra-pair mates(female choice hypothesis). In both cases, higher female mass at laying may lead to enhanced EPP. To test this prediction, wereduced nest building effort by adding a completely constructed nest in an experimental group of female pied flycatchers(Ficedula hypoleuca). Our treatment caused an increase in mass and thereby wing loading and this was translated into asignificantly higher EPP in the manipulated group compared with the control group as expected. There was also a significantnegative relationship between EPP and laying date and the extent of the white wing patch, an index of female dominance. Morebody reserves at laying mean not only a higher potential fecundity but a higher level of EPP as well. This interaction had notpreviously received due attention but should be considered in future studies of avian breeding strategies. |
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