Observed heterospecific clutch size can affect offspring investment decisions
Observed heterospecific clutch size can affect offspring investment decisions
复制标题
DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2011.0970
复制
发表时间：
2012-06-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Nykanen, Inka L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Forsman, Jukka T.;Seppanen, Janne-Tuomas;Nykanen, Inka L.
对后代的最佳投资对于最大限度地提高一生的生殖成功是很重要的。然而，动物如何收集和整合有关环境因素的信息以微调投资的知之甚少。观察其他个体的决定和成功，特别是当这些个体较早开始繁殖时，可以为动物提供一种快速达到更好的繁殖投资决策的方法。在这里，我们表明，使用人工巢出现类似于居民山雀巢完成离合器的现场实验，候鸟可以使用观察到的高和低的离合器大小的居民竞争鸟类增加和减少离合器大小和蛋质量，相应地。我们的研究结果表明，鸣禽可以区分高和低数量的异源卵，社会信息可以有长期的生理后果影响生殖策略。这种行为可能有助于动物更好地适应不断变化的环境，并导致与竞争对手的趋同特征。
Optimal investment in offspring is important in maximizing lifetime reproductive success. Yet, very little is known how animals gather and integrate information about environmental factors to fine tune investment. Observing the decisions and success of other individuals, particularly when those individuals initiate breeding earlier, may provide a way for animals to quickly arrive at better breeding investment decisions. Here we show, with a field experiment using artificial nests appearing similar to resident tit nests with completed clutches, that a migratory bird can use the observed high and low clutch size of a resident competing bird species to increase and decrease clutch size and egg mass, accordingly. Our results demonstrate that songbirds can discriminate between high and low quantity of heterospecific eggs, and that social information can have long-term physiological consequences affecting reproductive strategies. Such behaviour may help animals to better adapt to changing environments and lead to convergent traits with competitors.