The role of maternal and paternal effects in the evolution of parental quality by sexual selection

Wolf, Jason B.; Brodie,; Moore, Nicholas J.

doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.1999.00138.x

Cited by 41 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In addition, by generating covariance between parental provisioning behaviour and offspring begging intensity, maternal effects enable offspring to show a rapid evolutionary response to changes in provisioning behaviour, counteracting any evolutionary advantage that parents collectively might temporarily have gained (Moore et al 1997;Wolf et al 1999;Stamps 2003;West-Eberhard 2003;Kölliker et al 2005;Moore & Pizzari 2005). The covariance of parental and offspring phenotypes thus promotes social (co)evolution fuelled by parent-offspring conflict (Moore et al 1997;Wolf et al 1999;Kölliker et al 2005). However, whether the maternal effects we have identified here currently serve the evolutionary interests of parents, offspring or both parties remains to be determined.…”

Section: Results (A) Phenotypic Correlation Between Nestling Begging mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal environmental effects match offspring begging to parental provisioning

2009

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The solicitation behaviours performed by dependent young are under selection from the environment created by their parents, as well as wider ecological conditions. Here we show how mechanisms acting before hatching enable canary offspring to adapt their begging behaviour to a variable post-hatching world. Cross-fostering experiments revealed that canary nestling begging intensity is positively correlated with the provisioning level of their own parents (to foster chicks). When we experimentally increased food quality before and during egg laying, mothers showed higher faecal androgen levels and so did their nestlings, even when they were cross-fostered before hatching to be reared by foster mothers that had been exposed to a standard regime of food quality. Higher parental androgen levels were correlated with greater levels of post-hatching parental provisioning and (we have previously shown) increased faecal androgens in chicks were associated with greater begging intensity. We conclude that androgens mediate environmentally induced plasticity in the expression of both parental and offspring traits, which remain correlated as a result of prenatal effects, probably acting within the egg. Offspring can thus adapt their begging intensity to variable family and ecological environments.

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Section: Results (A) Phenotypic Correlation Between Nestling Begging mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal environmental effects match offspring begging to parental provisioning

2009

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“…Brighter plumage should allow yearling eastern bluebirds advantages in acquiring nest sites (Siefferman and Hill 2005b) and translate into higher reproductive success Hill 2003, 2005a). Because male and female bluebirds honestly advertise parental quality via structural plumage coloration (Liu et al 2007;Hill 2003, 2005a) and because offspring color is influenced by parent quality, selection may drive the elaboration of this trait (Wolf et al 1999;Qvarnström and Price 2001). Typical reflectance spectra of the blue wing feathers of male (black line) and female (gray line) nestling eastern bluebirds Box plots of brightness of plumage coloration of nestling male (diagonal lines) and female (white) eastern bluebirds from reduced and enlarged broods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of rearing environment on blue structural coloration of eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis)

Siefferman

Hill

2007

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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We used a brood-size manipulation to test the effect of rearing environment on structural coloration of feathers grown by eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) nestlings. Ultraviolet (UV)-blue structural coloration has been shown to be sexually selected in this species. Our experimental design took advantage of the growth of UV-blue wing feathers in nestlings that are retained as part of the first nuptial plumage. We cross-fostered nestlings to create enlarged and reduced broods with the purpose of manipulating parental feeding rates and measured the effect on nestling growth and plumage coloration. Brood size influenced feeding rates to offspring, but the effect varied with season. In general, male nestlings reared in reduced broods were fed more often, weighed more, and displayed brighter structural plumage compared to nestlings reared in enlarged broods. Female nestlings appeared to experience less adverse affects of brood enlargement, and we did not detect an effect of brood-size manipulation on the plumage coloration of female nestlings. Measures of plumage coloration in both males and females, however, were correlated to hatching date and nestling mass during feather development. These data provide empirical evidence that environmental quality can influence the development of the blue structural coloration of feathers and that males may be more sensitive to environmental fluctuations than females.

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“…A related theoretical framework for understanding the evolution of correlated male traits as well as for considering how female traits may become enhanced or reduced as a result of interactions with males, is the covariance approach to social interactions (52)(53)(54)(55). This methodology separates the effects of natural selection acting on traits possessed by focal individuals, from the effects of social selection on these same traits, caused by interactions focal individuals may have with potential rivals or with potential mates themselves.…”

Section: Quantitative Analyses Of Mating Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual selection and mating systems

Shuster

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

138

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Sexual selection is among the most powerful of all evolutionary forces. It occurs when individuals within one sex secure mates and produce offspring at the expense of other individuals within the same sex. Darwin was first to recognize the power of sexual selection to change male and female phenotypes, and, in noting that sexual selection is nonubiquitous, Darwin was also first to recognize the importance of mating system-the ''special circumstances'' in which reproduction occurs within species. Analyses of mating systems since Darwin have emphasized either the genetic relationships between male and female mating elements, usually among plants, or the numbers of mates males and females may obtain, usually among animals. Combining these schemes yields a quantitative methodology that emphasizes measurement of the sex difference in the variance in relative fitness, as well as phenotypic and genetic correlations underlying reproductive traits that may arise among breeding pairs. Such information predicts the degree and direction of sexual dimorphism within species, it allows the classification of mating systems using existing genetic and life history data, and with information on the spatial and temporal distributions of fertilizations, it may also predict floral morphology in plants. Because this empirical framework identifies selective forces and genetic architectures responsible for observed male-female differences, it compliments discoveries of nucleotide sequence variation and the expression of quantitative traits. Moreover, because this methodology emphasizes the process of evolutionary change, it is easier to test and interpret than frameworks emphasizing parental investment in offspring and its presumed evolutionary outcomes.animal breeding ͉ opportunity for selection ͉ plant breeding

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The role of maternal and paternal effects in the evolution of parental quality by sexual selection

Cited by 41 publications

References 34 publications

Prenatal environmental effects match offspring begging to parental provisioning

Prenatal environmental effects match offspring begging to parental provisioning

The effect of rearing environment on blue structural coloration of eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis)

Sexual selection and mating systems

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