Linking the fine‐scale social environment to mating decisions: a future direction for the study of extra‐pair paternity

Abstract

Variation in extra-pair paternity (EPP) among individuals of the same population could result from stochastic demography or from individual differences in mating strategies. Although the adaptive value of EPP has been widely studied, much less is known about the characteristics of the social environment that drive the observed patterns of EPP. Here, we demonstrate how concepts and well-developed tools for the study of social behaviour (such as social network analysis) can enhance the study of extra-pair mating decisions (focussing in particular on avian mating systems). We present several hypotheses that describe how characteristics of the social environment in which individuals are embedded might influence the levels of EPP in a socially monogamous population. We use a multi-level social approach (Hinde, 1976) to achieve a detailed description of the social structure and social dynamics of individuals in a group. We propose that the pair-bond, the direct (local) social environment and the indirect (extended) social environment, can contribute in different ways to the variation observed in the patterns of EPP, at both the individual and the population level. A strength of this approach is that it integrates into the analysis (indirect) interactions with all potential mates in a population, thus extending the current framework to study extra-pair mating behaviour. We also encourage the application of social network methods such as temporal dynamic analysis to depict temporal changes in the patterns of interactions among individuals in a group, and to study how this affects mating behaviour. We argue that this new framework will contribute to a better understanding of the proximate mechanisms that drive variation in EPP within populations in socially monogamous species, and might ultimately provide insights into the evolution and maintenance of mating systems.

The role of genetic constraints and social environment in explaining female extra‐pair mating

“…The relative importance of these factors could be addressed by targeted experiments or by social network analyses (Maldonado‐Chaparro et al. ).…”

“…The dependence on the social context might reflect the quality of the social pair bond or the availability of specific extra-pair males or both. The relative importance of these factors could be addressed by targeted experiments or by social network analyses (Maldonado-Chaparro et al 2018).…”

“…; Maldonado‐Chaparro et al. ). Mating outside the pair bond is obviously adaptive for males (i.e., benefits from this behavior will typically outweigh costs), because it leads to additional offspring that are raised by another pair, and hence directly increases male fitness (Albrecht et al.…”

“…Why females in socially monogamous species actively engage in matings outside the pair bond is a long-standing, intriguing question (Petrie and Kempenaers 1998;Griffith et al 2002;Westneat and Stewart 2003;Forstmeier et al 2014;Maldonado-Chaparro et al 2018). Mating outside the pair bond is obviously adaptive for males (i.e., benefits from this behavior will typically outweigh costs), because it leads to additional offspring that are raised by another pair, and hence directly increases male fitness (Albrecht et al 2007;Webster et al 2007).…”

Timing of arrival in the breeding area is repeatable and affects reproductive success in a non‐migratory population of blue tits

“…Firth & Sheldon, ). However, whether interactions during the non‐breeding season explain patterns of extra‐pair paternity remains to be shown (Maldonado‐Chaparro, Montiglio, Forstmeier, Kempenaers, & Farine, ).…”