Age and reproduction in birds — hypotheses and tests

Forslund, Pär; Pärt, Tomas

doi:10.1016/s0169-5347(00)89141-7

Cited by 723 publications

(859 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Accounting for age effects may also be recommended while investigating direct reproductive costs. Indeed, reproductive performances may be age-specific, with for example lower reproductive output at old ages compared to younger ages due to senescence [73,74], or at the opposite lower reproductive output at young ages due to inexperience [75], possibly preventing the detection of reproductive costs. Carefully disentangling the age effects from the costs of previous reproduction appears crucial.…”

Section: Tests Of Direct Costs Of Reproduction In Malesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive costs in terrestrial male vertebrates: insights from bird studies

2016

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Reproduction requires resources that cannot be allocated to other functions resulting in direct reproductive costs (i.e. trade-offs between current reproduction and subsequent survival/reproduction). In wild vertebrates, direct reproductive costs have been widely described in females, but their occurrence in males remains to be explored. To fill this gap, we gathered 53 studies on 48 species testing direct reproductive costs in male vertebrates. We found a trade-off between current reproduction and subsequent performances in 29% of the species and in every clade. As 73% of the studied species are birds, we focused on that clade to investigate whether such trade-offs are associated with (i) levels of paternal care, (ii) polygyny or (iii) pace of life. More precisely for this third question, it is expected that fast species (i.e. short lifespan, early maturity, high fecundity) pay a cost in terms of survival, whereas slow species (with opposite characteristics) do so in terms of fecundity. Our findings tend to support this hypothesis. Finally, we pointed out the potential confounding effects that should be accounted for when investigating reproductive costs in males and strongly encourage the investigation of such costs in more clades to understand to what extent our results are relevant for other vertebrates.

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Section: Tests Of Direct Costs Of Reproduction In Malesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive costs in terrestrial male vertebrates: insights from bird studies

2016

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“…Saether (1990) examined a large number of studies of birds where juvenile and later age classes were compared; he found that in 91% of 35 species adults laid earlier in the season than juveniles, and in 92% of 48 species adults laid larger clutches than juveniles. This early improvement in mean reproductive success can be explained by a number of different mechanisms (Lack 1966;Forslund & Pärt 1995). First, there may be progressive disappearance of poor-quality breeders (selection hypothesis, Curio 1983) or progressive appearance of good quality breeders (delayed breeding hypothesis; Forslund & Pärt 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This early improvement in mean reproductive success can be explained by a number of different mechanisms (Lack 1966;Forslund & Pärt 1995). First, there may be progressive disappearance of poor-quality breeders (selection hypothesis, Curio 1983) or progressive appearance of good quality breeders (delayed breeding hypothesis; Forslund & Pärt 1995). In these cases of individual heterogeneity, age-specific population trends in breeding performance may differ markedly from individual changes in breeding performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-specific reproduction in a long-lived species: the combined effects of senescence and individual quality

et al. 2008

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Apparent changes in breeding performance with age measured at the population level can be due to changes in individual capacity at different ages, or to the differential survival of individuals with different capabilities. Estimating the relative importance of the two is important for understanding ageing patterns in natural populations, but there are few studies of such populations in which these effects have been disentangled. We analysed laying date and clutch size as measures of individual performance in a population of mute swans (Cygnus olor) studied over 25 years at Abbotsbury, UK. On both measures of breeding performance, individuals tended to improve up to the age of 6 or 7, and to decline after about the age of 12. Individuals with longer lifespans performed better at all ages (earlier laying, larger clutches) than animals that ceased breeding earlier. We conclude that the apparent mean increase in performance with age in mute swans is due to both individual improvement and differential survival of individuals who perform well, while the decline in older age groups is due to individual loss of function. Our results underline the need to take individual differences into account when testing hypotheses about life histories in wild populations.

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“…In a number of vertebrates, but particularly birds, older individuals breed earlier in the season than younger individuals (Perdeck and Cave 1992;Forslund and Part 1995). Earlier breeding often increases reproductive success (Sydeman et al 1991;Verhulst and Tinbergen 1991), because earlier-born offspring can profit from greater resource availability (van Noordwijk et al 1995) and longer growing seasons (Cote and Festa-Bianchet 2001;Feder et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reproductive timing can also affect adults directly, because late breeders can experience greater time or energetic constraints after breeding (Nilsson and Svensson 1996). Age-dependent patterns of reproductive timing are generally attributed to increasing breeding competence with age as individuals become larger and more experienced (e.g., Forslund and Part 1995). Young breeders may also be limited energetically because of their smaller size; breeding later in the season allows time for them to acquire sufficient energy reserves (Schultz et al 1991;Cargnelli and Neff 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraseasonal Variation in Reproductive Effort: Young Males Finish Last

Mason

Stephens

Willis

et al. 2012

The American Naturalist

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Age-dependent reproductive timing has been observed in females of a number of species; older females often breed earlier in the season and experience higher reproductive success as a result. However, to date, evidence for within-season variation in reproductive effort (RE) for males has been relatively weak. Males are expected to time RE in light of intraseasonal variations in the availability of receptive females and competition with other males. Young males, which are typically smaller and less experienced, might benefit from breeding later in the season, when male-male competition is less intense. Using a long-term data set of Alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra, we sought to evaluate the hypothesis that younger males allocate highest RE late in the breeding season, at a time when older male RE has decreased substantially. Our results support this hypothesis, which suggests that intraseasonal variation in RE may be an adaptive life-history trait for males as well as females.

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Age and reproduction in birds — hypotheses and tests

Cited by 723 publications

References 36 publications

Reproductive costs in terrestrial male vertebrates: insights from bird studies

Reproductive costs in terrestrial male vertebrates: insights from bird studies

Age-specific reproduction in a long-lived species: the combined effects of senescence and individual quality

Intraseasonal Variation in Reproductive Effort: Young Males Finish Last

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