Costs of dispersal

Abstract

Dispersal costs can be classified into energetic, time, risk and opportunity costs and may be levied directly or deferred during departure, transfer and settlement. They may equally be incurred during life stages before the actual dispersal event through investments in special morphologies. Because costs will eventually determine the performance of dispersing individuals and the evolution of dispersal, we here provide an extensive review on the different cost types that occur during dispersal in a wide array of organisms, ranging from micro-organisms to plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. In general, costs of transfer have been more widely documented in actively dispersing organisms, in contrast to a greater focus on costs during departure and settlement in plants and animals with a passive transfer phase. Costs related to the development of specific dispersal attributes appear to be much more prominent than previously accepted. Because costs induce trade-offs, they give rise to covariation between dispersal and other life-history traits at different scales of organismal organisation. The consequences of (i) the presence and magnitude of different costs during different phases of the dispersal process, and (ii) their internal organisation through covariation with other life-history traits, are synthesised with respect to potential consequences for species conservation and the need for development of a new generation of spatial simulation models.

Sex‐biased breeding dispersal is predicted by social environment in birds

“…Alternatively, biased ASR may be a consequence of sex‐biased breeding dispersal if the latter induces sex‐specific mortality, for example through energetic or predation costs of dispersal (Bonte et al., 2012; Clutton‐Brock, 2016). However, this hypothesis is not supported by our results.…”

“…(2012). These models investigated sex allocation (i.e., the relative production of male or female offspring) and could only explain the association between the magnitude of the dispersal bias and ASR if sex allocation is associated with ASR.…”

Effects of rearing conditions on natal dispersal processes in a long‐lived predator bird

“…If two chicks survive, parental care (e.g., brooding and food provisioning) will be substantially more intensive. Later, environmental conditions may change during the breeding season and the clutch size may not be optimal given the novel conditions (Bonte et al., 2012). Furthermore, given that Bonelli’s eagle is a long‐lived species, the parents’ priority is to keep their own survival possibilities high and their required reproductive effort low (Hernández‐Matías, Real, Pradel, Ravayrol, et al., 2011).…”

“…An individual’s internal state can provide information on the fitness potential of its environment, thereby affecting its decision to stay or leave its natal area (Clobert et al., 2012). In other words, the costs and benefits of natal dispersal are influenced by the internal state of individuals and by environmental conditions experienced both in the natal area and in future breeding sites (Acker et al., 2018; Bonte et al., 2012; Bowler & Benton, 2005; Clobert et al., 2009; del Mar Delgado, Penteriani, Revilla, & Nams, 2010; Rémy, Le Galliard, Gundersen, Steen, & Andreassen, 2011). Thus, both modeling and empirical studies indicate that natal dispersal behavior often represents a plastic‐, phenotype‐, and condition‐dependent strategy (Bonte et al., 2012; Clobert et al., 2012; Rémy et al., 2011).…”

“…Individuals raised under good conditions are more likely to stay in their natal environment due to a combination of low dispersal propensity and high competitive ability (Bowler & Benton, 2005; Clobert et al., 2012; Muriel, Morandini, Ferrer, Balbontín, & Morlanes, 2016). On the other hand, high‐quality individuals may also be better competitors and/or be better able to bear the costs of dispersal, in which case the quality of the rearing environment might in fact have a positive rather than negative effect on dispersal (Bonte et al., 2012; Bowler & Benton, 2005; Clobert et al., 2012; Debeffe et al., 2012). So, as long‐distance dispersal is energetically expensive and may involve a high mortality risk, the acquisition of a good body condition prior to dispersal plays a critical role in determining the extent to which animals disperse (Barbraud, Johnson, & Bertault, 2003).…”