Dissertation Research: Parental Effects of Offspring Fitness

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Abstract IBN 96-23840 Brodie & Maple Parental Effects on Offspring Fitness The proposed research will demonstrate and describe the influence that Dendrobates pumilio parents on their offspring s fitness through parental behavior. Parents may influence their offpring s fitness directly by influencing offspring survival, or indirectly by influencing offspring phenotypes. A combination of field manipulations and natural controls will be used simultaneously to obtain estimates of natural variation in parental behavior, the direct and indirect effects of parental behavior on offspring fitness, and the strength of selection acting on parental behavior through offspring fitness. D. pumilio display a discreet form of bi-parental care in which males care for the eggs until they hatch and females care for the tadpoles from hatching through metamorphosis. This research will investigate the effects of distinct male and female parental behaviors (manipulated and natural) on offspring growth, development, and survival. In Project 1, the frequency of feeding events and number of nutritional eggs provided per feeding event will be manipulated to determine the effects of variation in these natural behaviors on offspring. In Project 2, experimental manipulations in field enclosures will be used to investigate the effects of parental behaviors including hydration, protection from fungal infection, and defense against predators and parasitoids on egg development and survival.