Female choice in the sedge warbler<i>Acrocephalus schoenobaenus</i>multiple cues from song and territory quality

Buchanan, Katherine L.; Catchpole, Clive K.

doi:10.1098/rspb.1997.0074

Cited by 163 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This measure is called repertoire size and is used as a standard measure of song complexity in this, and earlier published, studies. In the eld, females select males with larger repertoires (Catchpole 1980;Buchanan & Catchpole 1997); and under controlled conditions in the laboratory, females display more when repertoire size is arti cially increased (Catchpole et al 1984). This and other evidence from Acrocephalus species (reviewed in Catchpole 2000) now form a considerable body of published evidence that implicates sexual selection by female choice as the major driving force behind the evolution of complex songs in this group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Recorded songs were analysed later on a PC using Avisoft-Saslab PRO software. Sonographic analysis of song used standard procedures on a sample of 20 consecutive songs developed in earlier studies on sedge warbler song quality in relation to female choice (Catchpole 1980;Buchanan & Catchpole 1997). Syllables were identi ed, classi ed by type and stored as a library, on disc, for each individual male.…”

Section: (B) Song Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Song and the song control pathway in the brain can develop independently of exposure to song in the sedge warbler

Leitner

Nicholson

Leisler

et al. 2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Previous studies have shown that female sedge warblers choose to mate with males that have more complex songs, and sexual selection has driven the evolution of both song complexity and the size of the major song control area (HVc) in the brain. In songbirds, learning from conspeci cs plays a major role in song development and this study investigates the effects of isolation and exposure to song on song structure and the underlying song control system. Sibling pairs of hand-reared nestling sedge warblers were reared to sexual maturity under two conditions. Siblings in one group were reared individually in acoustic isolation in separate soundproof chambers. In the other group, siblings were reared together in an aviary with playback of recorded songs. The following spring, analysis of songs revealed that siblings reared in acoustic isolation produced normal song structures, including larger syllable repertoires than those exposed to song. We found no signi cant differences in the volumes of HVc, nucleus robustus archistnatalis, the lateral portion of the magnocellular nucleus and the density of dendritic spines between the two groups. Males exceeded females in all these measures, and also had a larger telencephalon. Our experiments show that complex song, sexual dimorphism in brain structure, and the size of song nuclei can all develop independently of exposure to song. These ndings have important implications for how sexual selection can operate upon a complex male trait such as song and how it may also shape the more general evolution of brain structure in songbirds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: (B) Song Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Song and the song control pathway in the brain can develop independently of exposure to song in the sedge warbler

Leitner

Nicholson

Leisler

et al. 2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…Bensch et al 1998). In great reed warblers and some other songbirds, it is crucial for males to have highly variable songs to attract several females to their territories, and thus to achieve a high LRS (Catchpole 1986;Catchpole and Slater 1995;Buchanan and Catchpole 1997;Hasselquist 1998). Moreover, male great reed warblers with large song repertoires are more successful in obtaining extrapair fertilizations (Hasselquist et al 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifetime Fitness of Short-and Long-Distance Dispersing Great Reed Warblers

2004

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Abstract. Dispersal is of prime importance for many evolutionary processes and has been studied for decades. The reproductive consequences of dispersal have proven difficult to study, simply because it is difficult to keep track of dispersing individuals. In most previous studies evaluating the fitness effects of dispersal, immigrants at a study locality have been lumped into one category and compared to philopatric individuals. This is unfortunate, because there are reasons to believe that immigrants with long and short dispersal distances may differ substantially in reproductive success. In the present study, we used a combination of capture-recapturing and multilocus microsatellite genotyping to categorize great reed warblers at our Swedish study site as philopatric individuals or short-or long-distance dispersing immigrants. We then performed novel comparisons of lifetime reproductive success (LRS) and survival rates of these three dispersal categories. The birds belonged to cohorts [1987][1988][1989][1990][1991][1992][1993][1994][1995][1996], and data for their LRS were gathered between 1988 and 2003. The analyses showed that philopatric males attracted more females, produced more fledglings and recruits throughout their lives, and survived better than immigrants. Among the immigrant males, those categorized as long-distance dispersers had lowest LRS and survival probability. Models that included covariates of potential importance showed that the difference in LRS between dispersal categories was partly caused by corresponding variation in number of breeding years at our study site. These results indicate that short-and, in particular, longdistance dispersers were of poor phenotypic quality, but it may also be proposed that immigrants attracted few females because they were poorly adapted to the local social environment. In females, the number of local recruits corrected for the number of breeding years (as well as for number of fledglings) differed between dispersal categories in a pattern that suggests an intermediate optimal dispersal distance. Short-distance dispersers recruited more offspring per year (and per fledgling) than both philopatric individuals and long-distance dispersers. Data suggest that the low LRS of philopatric females was related to costs of inbreeding. The low LRS of long-distance dispersing females may have resulted from their offspring being especially prone to disperse outside the study area, but also other potential explanations exist, such as local maladaptation. Our study highlights the importance of separating immigrant birds on the basis of their genetic similarity to the local study population when analyzing variation in LRS and inferring realized gene flow.

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“…In various species larger repertoires are more attractive and stimulating to females (e.g. sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus: Catchpole et al 1984;Buchanan & Catchpole 1997). Evidence as to why it benefits females to respond in this way is also coming forward.…”

Section: The Functions Of Songmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifty years of bird song research: a case study in animal behaviour

Slater

2003

Animal Behaviour

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Female choice in the sedge warblerAcrocephalus schoenobaenusmultiple cues from song and territory quality

Cited by 163 publications

References 28 publications

Song and the song control pathway in the brain can develop independently of exposure to song in the sedge warbler

Song and the song control pathway in the brain can develop independently of exposure to song in the sedge warbler

Lifetime Fitness of Short-and Long-Distance Dispersing Great Reed Warblers

Fifty years of bird song research: a case study in animal behaviour

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