The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird
Abstract Background The allocation of resources between offspring size and number is a central question of life-history theory. Although several studies have tested the existence of this trade-off, few studies have investigated how environmental variation influences the allocation of resources to of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Avian Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40657-020-00225-6 |
| _version_ | 1797972907008196608 |
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| author | Zitan Song Xin Lin Pinjia Que Naerhulan Halimubieke Qin Huang Zhengwang Zhang Tamás Székely Yang Liu |
| author_facet | Zitan Song Xin Lin Pinjia Que Naerhulan Halimubieke Qin Huang Zhengwang Zhang Tamás Székely Yang Liu |
| author_sort | Zitan Song |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The allocation of resources between offspring size and number is a central question of life-history theory. Although several studies have tested the existence of this trade-off, few studies have investigated how environmental variation influences the allocation of resources to offspring size and offspring number. Additionally, the relationship between population dynamics and the offspring size and number allocation is far less understood. Methods We investigate whether resource allocation between egg size and clutch size is influenced by the ambient temperature and whether it may be related to apparent nest survival rate. We measured 1548 eggs from 541 nests of two closely related shorebird species, the Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) and the White-faced Plover (C. dealbatus) in China, in four populations that exhibit contrasting ambient environments. We weighed females, monitored nest survival, and calculated the variance of ambient temperature. Results Although we found that egg size and clutch size were all different between the four breeding populations, the reproductive investment (i.e. total clutch volume) was similar between populations. We also found that populations with a high survival rate had relatively larger eggs and a smaller clutch than populations with a low nest survival rate. The latter result is in line with a conservative/diversified bet-hedging strategy. Conclusions Our findings suggest that plovers may increasing fitness by investing fewer, larger or many, small according local nest survival rate to make a similar investment in reproduction, and thereby may have an impact on population demography. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:55:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-01e3123289f44be79a14053edc57652f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-7166 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:55:52Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Avian Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-01e3123289f44be79a14053edc57652f2023-01-02T00:29:21ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Avian Research2053-71662020-10-0111111010.1186/s40657-020-00225-6The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebirdZitan Song0Xin Lin1Pinjia Que2Naerhulan Halimubieke3Qin Huang4Zhengwang Zhang5Tamás Székely6Yang Liu7State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal UniversityMilner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of BathState Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal UniversityState Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityAbstract Background The allocation of resources between offspring size and number is a central question of life-history theory. Although several studies have tested the existence of this trade-off, few studies have investigated how environmental variation influences the allocation of resources to offspring size and offspring number. Additionally, the relationship between population dynamics and the offspring size and number allocation is far less understood. Methods We investigate whether resource allocation between egg size and clutch size is influenced by the ambient temperature and whether it may be related to apparent nest survival rate. We measured 1548 eggs from 541 nests of two closely related shorebird species, the Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) and the White-faced Plover (C. dealbatus) in China, in four populations that exhibit contrasting ambient environments. We weighed females, monitored nest survival, and calculated the variance of ambient temperature. Results Although we found that egg size and clutch size were all different between the four breeding populations, the reproductive investment (i.e. total clutch volume) was similar between populations. We also found that populations with a high survival rate had relatively larger eggs and a smaller clutch than populations with a low nest survival rate. The latter result is in line with a conservative/diversified bet-hedging strategy. Conclusions Our findings suggest that plovers may increasing fitness by investing fewer, larger or many, small according local nest survival rate to make a similar investment in reproduction, and thereby may have an impact on population demography.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40657-020-00225-6Ambient temperatureBet-hedging strategyNest survival rateResource allocationShorebirds |
| spellingShingle | Zitan Song Xin Lin Pinjia Que Naerhulan Halimubieke Qin Huang Zhengwang Zhang Tamás Székely Yang Liu The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird Avian Research Ambient temperature Bet-hedging strategy Nest survival rate Resource allocation Shorebirds |
| title | The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird |
| title_full | The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird |
| title_fullStr | The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird |
| title_full_unstemmed | The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird |
| title_short | The allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet-hedging in a shorebird |
| title_sort | allocation between egg size and clutch size depends on local nest survival rate in a mean of bet hedging in a shorebird |
| topic | Ambient temperature Bet-hedging strategy Nest survival rate Resource allocation Shorebirds |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40657-020-00225-6 |
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