Abstract
Extra‐pair paternity is a common reproductive strategy in many bird species. However, it remains unclear why extra‐pair paternity occurs and why it varies among species and populations. Plovers (Charadrius spp.) exhibit considerable variation in reproductive behaviour and ecology, making them excellent models to investigate the evolution of social and genetic mating systems. We investigated inter‐ and intra‐specific patterns of extra‐pair parentage and evaluated three major hypotheses explaining extra‐pair paternity using a comparative approach based on the microsatellite genotypes of 2049 individuals from 510 plover families sampled from twelve populations that constituted eight species. Extra‐pair paternity rates were very low (0 to 4.1% of chicks per population). No evidence was found in support of the sexual conflict or genetic compatibility hypotheses, and there was no seasonal pattern of extra‐pair paternity (EPP). The low prevalence of EPP is consistent with a number of alternative hypotheses, including the parental investment hypothesis, which suggests that high contribution to care by males restricts female plovers from engaging in extra‐pair copulations. Further studies are needed to critically test the importance of this hypothesis for mate choice in plovers.
Highlights
Social and genetic mating systems are often discordant, in birds (Griffith et al 2002, Matysioková and Remeš 2013)
Monogamous and polygamous populations did not differ in their occurrence of EPFs or extrapair paternity (EPP) (Fisher exact test: p 1)
Across all 12 populations we found low rates of EPF in both the strict and relaxed datasets. This is consistent with previous work on other Charadrius species where low rates of EPP were reported: ringed plover C. hiaticula (0% EPP, Wallander et al 2001), semipalmated plover C. semipalmatus (4.2% EPP, Zharikov and Nol 2000) and Eurasian dotterel C. morinellus (9.1% EPP, Owens et al 1995), suggesting this is a widespread trend among plover species
Summary
Social and genetic mating systems are often discordant, in birds (Griffith et al 2002, Matysioková and Remeš 2013). The genetic compatibility hypothesis suggests that extra-pair paternity occurs to reduce the deleterious effects of inbreeding (Kempenaers et al 1999, Tregenza and Wedell 2000, Blomqvist et al 2002a, Thuman and Griffith 2005). This hypothesis assumes that EPCseeking females are constrained in their choice of social mates and sometimes pair with a genetically suboptimal mate. Sexual conflict theory predicts that extra-pair young (EPY) will be more frequent in socially polygamous species, in part due to rapid mate-changes, compared to those that are socially monogamous and experience lower levels of conflict
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