Abstract
Communal breeding, wherein multiple conspecifics live and reproduce together, may generate short-term benefits in terms of defence and reproduction. However, its carry-over effects remain unclear. We experimentally tested the effects of communal breeding on parental care and reproduction in burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides), which use carcasses as breeding resources and provide parental care to offspring. We subjected individuals to communal or non-communal breeding (i.e. pair breeding) during their first breeding event and to non-communal breeding during their second breeding event. We measured the parental care of individuals and of groups and the reproductive success of groups during both breeding events. In communal groups, large individuals became dominant and largely monopolized the carcass, whereas small individuals (i.e. subordinates) had restricted access to the carcass. At the first breeding event, large males in communal groups spent more time providing care than large males in non-communal groups, whereas such an effect was not observed for large females and small individuals. Reproductive successes were similar in communal and non-communal groups, indicating no short-term benefits of communal breeding in terms of reproduction. Compared with males from non-communal groups, males originating from communal groups produced a larger size of brood during their second breeding event, whereas such an effect was not observed for females. Our results demonstrate the sex-specific effects of communal breeding experience on parenting performance and fitness.
Highlights
Communal breeding, wherein multiple conspecifics live and reproduce together, may generate short-term benefits in terms of defence and reproduction
To examine the carry-over effects of communal breeding, we experimentally investigated the impact of previous breeding experience, i.e. communal versus non-communal breeding, on future parental care and reproductive success for each pair in a subsequent pair breeding event
Our findings on the short-term effects of communal breeding are consistent with previous studies on burying beetles, which indicates that individuals reproducing in communal groups do not have a higher reproductive success than individuals breeding in pairs [59,63,64,66,90,91]
Summary
Wherein multiple conspecifics live and reproduce together, may generate short-term benefits in terms of defence and reproduction. Carry-over effects refer to a potential consequence wherein an individual’s previous conditions (e.g. physical state and previous experience) could exert an impact on its subsequent performance, such as parenting behaviour and reproductive success Such effects can be due to differences in access to resources or variation in the resource allocation at one stage in life to another stage, e.g. within and across breeding seasons or between reproductive events [30–33]. In the context of group breeding, females and males may be able to differentially respond to the uncertainty of parentage, as well as resource availability, by adjusting their investment to current reproductive attempts This can lead to a sex difference in the allocation of parental resources for future reproduction and fitness [16,49,56,57]. The carry-over effects of group breeding on parenting behaviour and future fitness on reproduction of group members has been little studied [3,27,48,58]
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