Secondary Females Research Articles

A Case of Facultative Polygyny in an Enigmatic Monogamous Species, the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus).

In many socially monogamous bird species with biparental care, occasional social polygyny has been detected. We provide information about a case of facultative polygyny in the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). The male nightjar (I96) formed a pair with two females (I95: the presumed primary female with whom he already bred since 2018; M042: the presumed secondary female, an inexperienced yearling). GPS and accelerometer data demonstrate how the male only sang in proximity of the primary nest, while assisting both females during incubation, as well as during the nestling period. When the male came to the nest, the primary and/or secondary female went foraging, but the secondary female received less assistance during incubation than the primary female, and her eggs were often left unattended. However, once the chicks of the secondary female hatched, male assistance suddenly increased, presumably at a cost to the primary female. Being only the second record of social polygyny in the European Nightjar, we do not have a direct explication for the occurrence of this polygynous event. We note that male density at the study site was lower than that observed in previous seasons. The male may have taken over the female that was initially paired to a neighbouring territory holder that then died. Alternatively, the inexperienced female might have mated with an already paired male, either because she was not aware of the mating status of the male, or because she could not find an unpaired male, or because mating with this paired male was better than mating with another unpaired male. In any case, the breeding ecology and mating behaviour of this crepuscular bird species remains little understood.

Poor reproductive success of polygynously mated female birds with obligatory bi-parental care: a result of deceptive behaviour of males?

Social polygyny usually benefits males by increasing the number of offspring, whereas it is detrimental for females as they must share the resources provided by their mate. An intersexual conflict may exist in animals with obligatory bi-parental care, such as birds of prey, in which females incubate and brood, whereas males provision food for their families. Long-term ringing data from Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) breeding in nest-boxes and data on density indices of main prey animals (voles) were collected during 1985–2013 in western Finland to study polygynous behaviour. Of 1294 males, 54 (4.2%) were encountered at two (53) or three (1) nests during the same breeding season. Polygyny occurred more frequently during years of high vole abundance. The distances between nests of corresponding primary and secondary females were greater (median 1010 m) than the distances from nests of primary females to the nearest vacant nest-box (median 455 m). Twenty-eight (53%) of 53 secondary females had nearest available monogamous male within 2 km from their nest-boxes, indicating that mating options were available. Secondary females produced 30% less fledged offspring than simultaneously laying monogamously paired females. The abundance of prey animals is apparently alleviating the effort of males mating with multiple females. Spacing out the nests of primary and secondary females implies deceptive behaviour in the nest-site selection of polygynous males. Contradicting the polygyny threshold model, reproductive success of secondary females was significantly reduced in comparison to monogamous females laying simultaneously. These results show that secondary kestrel females apparently made a maladaptive choice, likely because they were deceived to accept polygynous mating status during the courtship feeding period.Significance statementAs dedicated parental effort of both the male and the female is vital to ensure the offspring survival amongst animals with obligatory bi-parental care, polygyny should be inherently a maladaptive mating strategy for females. However, regular social polygyny has been documented in at least 10% of bird species from ten orders. Previous studies on breeding success of polygynous birds of prey indicate reduced offspring production of secondary female partners with no apparent cause for females to choose polygynous males over other mating options. We showed that polygyny in Eurasian kestrels is frequent when food is abundant facilitating males to provision their two or more females during courtship feeding. Polygynous males space out their two nests thus attempting to hide their mating status from their secondary partners which suffer from their mate choice in form of poor reproductive success. Therefore, amongst the “cost of polygyny to females” hypotheses, the deceptive behaviour of males during courtship feeding appeared to be an apparent explanation for maladaptive mate choice of secondary females.

Extreme reproductive skew at the dawn of sociality is consistent with inclusive fitness theory but problematic for routes to eusociality.

To understand the earliest stages of social evolution, we need to identify species that are undergoing the initial steps into sociality. Amphylaeus morosus is the only unambiguously known social species in the bee family Colletidae and represents an independent origin of sociality within the Apoidea. This allows us to investigate the selective factors promoting the transition from solitary to social nesting. Using genome-wide SNP genotyping, we infer robust pedigree relationships to identify maternity of brood and intracolony relatedness for colonies at the end of the reproductive season. We show that A. morosus forms both matrifilial and full-sibling colonies, both involving complete or almost complete monopolization over reproduction. In social colonies, the reproductive primary was also the primary forager with the secondary female remaining in the nest, presumably as a guard. Social nesting provided significant protection against parasitism and increased brood survivorship in general. We show that secondary females gain large indirect fitness benefits from defensive outcomes, enough to satisfy the conditions of inclusive fitness theory, despite an over-production of males in social colonies. These results suggest an avenue to sociality that involves high relatedness and, very surprisingly, extreme reproductive skew in its earliest stages and raises important questions about the evolutionary steps in pathways to eusociality.

Barriers to Physical Activity in Spanish Children and Adolescents: Sex and Educational Stage Differences.

According to worrisome childhood obesity and inadequate physical activity (PA) levels worldwide, especially exacerbated in adolescents girls, this work aimed to identify sex and educational stage differences in barriers to meet PA requirements and international guidelines in Spanish children and adolescents considering the entire educational pathway (primary, secondary, and college). The Short Form of the International PA Questionnaire and the Scale of Perceived Barriers were administered to primary, secondary, and college education students (13,491 boys and 13,238 girls, 9–19 yrs). Two-way ANOVA was performed to analyze barriers to PA according to sex and educational stage with physical status as covariate. Higher disliking and time barriers were reported by females (1.5 ± 1.2 and 3.2 ± 1.5 points) in comparison to males (1.2 ± 1.0 and 2.8 ± 1.4), while primary students showed lower disliking and time (1.2 ± 1.0 and 2.8 ± 1.5) and higher safety (3.1 ± 1.8) constraints in comparison to secondary (1.4 ± 1.1, 3.1 ± 1.4, and 2.8 ± 1.7) and college (1.5 ± 1.2, 3.2 ± 1.5, and 2.8 ± 1.6; p < 0.05 for all comparisons). College females showed higher disliking (1.7 ± 1.2) and time (3.5 ± 1.4) barriers than secondary females (1.5 ± 1.2 and 3.3 ± 1.4; p < 0.05). Sex and educational stage were determinant for time and dislike of PA barriers, which were rated higher by female students in comparison to their male counterparts and from primary education onwards. Altogether this, suggests promotion strategies should carefully consider girls and the step into secondary school.

Diagnostic accuracy of sonographic transvaginal ovarian biophysical profile as a predictor of infertility taking transvaginal ultrasound as a gold standard

Ovarian biophysical profile refers to assessment of ovaries to produce a successful conception and implantation environment. The ovarian scoring system for reproduction comprises the following parameters, taken in mid-cycle: ovarian volume, follicular size, and ovarian artery Doppler flow Resistive index and pulsatility index. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of sonographic transvaginal ovarian biophysical profile as a predictor of infertility taking transvaginal ultrasound as gold standard. Material and methods: The study comprised women visiting the department with diagnosed infertility for treatment during the period of two years. A total of 550 cycles were inducted primarily referred for ovarian assessment by ultrasound with patent tubes and normal utero-ovarian morphology. All those women having no conception with normal semen analysis of their husbands. Male factor infertility was also excluded. Baseline transvaginal sonography (TVS) was performed at proliferative phase, of the cycle. Mature follicles were studied by TVS. On an individual basis, the following parameters, that is, follicle size, ovarian volume and ovarian artery Doppler Pulsatility index, Resistive index were studied. Follicle size and ovarian artery Doppler flow were highly significant for a pregnancy. Results: The Ovarian biophysical profile was determined by applying the ovarian scoring system for reproduction (OSSR). In this research we compare infertile females with fertile. Out of 550 patients 243 (44.18%) patients were infertile and 307 (55.82%) were normal were discussed, as for as the primary infertile females were 99 (18.00%) and secondary infertile females were 144 (26.18%) and normal were 307 (55.82%). Out of five hundred and fifty cycles 331 woman had a perfect ovarian biophysical profile score of 10. The mean score of fertile was 9.39 ±1.56 and in infertile female was 7.05±2.55. The p- values &lt;0.001. The sensitivity and specificity of ovarian biophysical profile at cut off value 1is 100% and 0.04%. The sensitivity and specificity of ovarian biophysical profile at cut off value 8 it can be consider to rule out in future with 85.3% and 63.8% respectively. Conclusions: Ovarian scoring system for reproduction (OSSR) can prove to be a simple, diagnostic and authentic score to predict the ovarian environment and thereby helping in the prediction of the outcome in infertility. Six out of the nine parameters were found to be high score to predict a pregnancy all by themselves, but these parameters needed expertise and better instrumentation for evaluation. Of the remaining three parameters, two was same or equal on an individual basis and one was found to be not significant.

Students’ perceptions of fitness testing in physical education across primary, secondary, and pre-university school levels: a motivational profiles perspective

ABSTRACT Background: Fitness testing is frequently conducted in school-based physical education. However, researchers dispute if fitness testing should be discontinued or, when appropriately implemented, has value. In Singapore, the National Physical Fitness Award test develops students’ knowledge and skills to assess, maintain, and improve their fitness levels. Nonethless, physical activity levels have not improved, and the obesity rate has increased in schools. Improvements cannot be made judiciously due to limited research on fitness testing meaningfulness and young people’s views. Purpose: This study examined Singapore students’ fitness testing perceptions across three school stages, between gender groups, and their identified motivational profiles. Method: A survey package was administered to 549 Singapore students (328 females, 221 males) recruited from primary, secondary, and pre-university (age range 11–19 years) to comprehend their fitness testing perceptions (motivations, attitudes, and the popularity of fitness test items). Confirmatory factor analysis assessed the factorial validity of Singapore students’ responses to the adapted questionnaires on fitness testing motivations and attitudes. Between-subjects MANOVAs then examined the differences in students’ fitness testing motivations, attitudes, and test items’ popularity separately. A two-step cluster analysis categorised the students using their identified motivational profiles. Subsequently, another set of between-subjects MANOVAs verified if the fitness testing perceptions were significantly different among the clusters. Results: Findings revealed that students’ fitness testing perceptions were more positive at primary than secondary and pre-university levels; female students’ fitness testing perceptions were more negative than male students, distinctly at secondary. Middle-distance running was the least popular test item, notably with secondary females. Conversely, PE teachers had positively influenced pre-university females’ fitness testing perceptions compared to secondary females. Conclusions: Singapore students’ fitness testing perceptions were generally positive. Students’ experience of enjoyment in fitness testing was found to be a key factor for their positive perceptions of fitness testing. More pragmatic support from PE teachers would be required for the secondary female students to promote positive fitness testing perceptions.

Phenology-mediated effects of phenotype on the probability of social polygyny and its fitness consequences in a migratory passerine

Why females engage in social polygyny remains an unresolved question in species where the resources provided by males maximize female fitness. In these systems, the ability of males to access several females, as well as the willingness of females to mate with an already mated male, and the benefits of this choice, may be constrained by the socio-ecological factors experienced at the local scale. Here, we used a 19-year dataset from an individual-monitored population of pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) to establish local networks of breeding pairs. Then, we examined whether the probability of becoming socially polygynous and of mating with an already mated male (thus becoming a secondary female) is influenced by morphological and sexual traits as proxies of individual quality relative to the neighbours. We also evaluated whether social polygyny is adaptive for females by examining the effect of females’ mating status (polygamously-mated vs monogamously-mated) on direct (number of recruits in a given season) and indirect (lifetime number of fledglings produced by these recruits) fitness benefits. The phenotypic quality of individuals, by influencing their breeding asynchrony relative to their neighbours, mediated the probability of being involved in a polygynous event. Individuals in middle-age (2–3 years), with large wings and, in the case of males, with conspicuous sexual traits, started to breed earlier than their neighbours. By breeding locally early, males increased their chances of becoming polygynous, while females reduced their chances of mating with an already mated male. Our results suggest that secondary females may compensate the fitness costs, if any, of sharing a mate, since their number of descendants did not differ from monogamous females. We emphasize the need of accounting for local breeding settings (ecological, social, spatial, and temporal) and the phenotypic composition of neighbours to understand individual mating decisions.

Origin and Outcome of Social Polygyny in the Blue Tit

Classic explanations for polygyny consider habitat, genetic makeup and paternal care, but little attention has been paid to social inertia. We studied facultative social polygyny in a population of Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus with a low rate of polygyny (3% of males across 12 years). Occurrence of polygyny was best predicted by social turnover after the disappearance of one or more individuals; habitat quality and individual phenotypic traits were unimportant. Females settled as secondary females with a male and in an area they had previously associated with, indicating a role of familiarity in the formation of polygyny. Females mated to polygynous males received less help feeding nestlings. Reduced paternal care is potentially costly, because these females survived less well than females mated to monogamous males. Reduction in care occurred at both primary and secondary nests although polygynous males rarely divided their care between nests. On any given day during the nestling period, polygynous males were more likely than monogamous males to not feed nestlings at all and – as a consequence – polygynous males provided less care in total than monogamous males. Polygynous males rarely intermingled visits at both nests, suggesting a cost of switching between feeding locations. Both primary and secondary nests had reduced fledging success, even after controlling for variation in habitat quality and paternal care, due to a higher rate of nest failure. Paternity loss was higher at secondary nests, presumably because the secondary female copulated with a previous mate that disappeared. Due to increased paternity loss and reduced fledging success polygynous males did not sire more fledglings than monogamous males in a given season. Thus, the benefit of social polygyny for males seems limited. Social polygyny in our population probably arises as a by-product of widowed females settling as secondary mates with a familiar male or in a familiar area, thereby making the best of a bad situation.

Reproductive and brood-rearing strategies in Alchisme grossa (Hemiptera: Membracidae): genetic analyses of kinship relationships

Alchisme grossa is a treehopper species showing maternal care until at least the third nymphal instar. A secondary female treehopper has frequently been observed near a family (primary female guarding its egg clutch). Intraspecific brood parasitism, communal breeding or alloparental care may be suggested as possible mechanisms to explain secondary female presence. To distinguish between these phenomena, we performed relatedness analyses of genetic samples of groups including one A. grossa primary female, a secondary female and the associated offspring using polymorphic microsatellites. Furthermore, we characterized the behavioral interaction between both females during maternal care and the reproductive strategy (monandry or polyandry) of A. grossa females by estimating the number of male parents. We observed the presence of secondary females in 35.9% of monitored families. The behaviors characterized suggest the occurrence of brood parasitism in the interaction between both females. Nevertheless, all offspring within a family were descendants only of the primary female and a single male, thus showing that A. grossa females are monandrous. The results, taken together with data on the reproductive biology reported for other treehoppers, are consistent with the occurrence of brood parasitism in A. grossa.

Socio-ecological factors shape the opportunity for polygyny in a migratory songbird

Abstract Why females pair with already mated males and the mechanisms behind variation in such polygynous events within and across populations and years remain open questions. Here, we used a 19-year data set from a pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) population to investigate, through local networks of breeding pairs, the socio-ecological factors related to the probability of being involved in a polygynous event in both sexes. Then, we examined how the breeding contexts experienced by individuals shaped the spatial and temporal separation between broods of polygamous males. The probability of polygyny decreased with the distance between nests. Indeed, secondary females were often close neighbors of primary females, although the distance between both nests increased slightly with increasing synchrony between them. The probability of polygyny was also related to the breeding time of individuals because early breeding males were more likely to become polygynous with late-breeding females. Throughout the season, there was substantial variation in the temporal separation between primary and secondary broods, and this separation was, in turn, related to the breeding asynchrony of the polygamous males (in the primary nest) relative to the neighbors. Polygynous males that bred late relative to their neighbors had a short time window to attract a second female and, thus, the breeding interval between their primary and secondary broods was reduced. Overall, the spatial proximity between polygynous males’ broods and, if the opportunity existed, their temporal staggering are compatible with a male strategy to maximize paternity and reduce the costs of caring for two broods, though the effect of female’s interest, either primary or secondary, cannot be fully ruled out. We highlight that a comprehensive assessment of the breeding contexts faced by individuals is essential to understand mating decisions and reconcile the discrepancies raised by previous work on social polygyny.

Descriptive and experimental evidence for timing‐mediated polygyny risk in a pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca population

In polygynous species with biparental care, mates are often acquired in succession. Most research has focussed on the cost of polygyny in secondary females, but primary females may also suffer from reduced paternal care. The likelihood of sharing a male may be higher for early laying females, which could counteract the fitness benefits of breeding early. In this study, we use 12 years of data on pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca, to show that the likelihood of becoming a primary female of a polygynous male declines over the season. Moreover, we provide experimental evidence that early breeding elevates polygyny risk, through an experimental manipulation that introduced early breeding females to a population with later breeding phenology. We found that, independently of breeding date, primary females slightly more often experienced complete brood failures than monogamous females, but did not differ in number of fledged offspring among successful broods or number of locally returning recruits. However, apparent survival in subsequent years was substantially lower in primary females, indicating that they may compensate for reduced male care at the expense of future reproduction. Our study reveals that polygyny risk indeed increases with early breeding and entails a local survival cost for primary females. However, this cost is likely largely outweighed by fitness benefits of early breeding in most years. Hence it is unlikely that the increased polygyny risk of early breeding counteracts the fitness benefits, but it may reduce selection for breeding extremely early.

Polygyny in the Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus): Behavior, Morphology, Age, Heterozygosity, and Relatedness

We documented two cases of polygyny in Eurasian Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) and studied the behavior, morphology, age, relatedness, and heterozygosity of bigamous and monogamous individuals. Bigamous males tended to have shorter wing chords compared with monogamous males. The provisioning rate of bigamous males was almost twice that of monogamous males, and at the secondary nests was lower than that at the primary nests. Secondary females were smaller (in wing chord) and younger (<2 yr old) than primary and average monogamous females. The neutral heterozygosity of bigamous adults did not differ from that of monogamous adults. We observed minimal aggression between bigamous females, perhaps due to their relatedness. It is unclear why secondary females engaged in polygyny with less investment from the male; however, accepting the bigamous male allowed immature females the opportunity to mate.

Multiple Evolutionary Routes to Monogamy: Modeling the Coevolution of Mating Decisions and Parental Investment.

The relationships between mating decisions and parental investment are central to evolution, but to date few theoretical treatments of their coevolution have been developed. Here we adopt a demographically explicit, adaptive dynamics approach to analyze the coevolution of female mating decisions and parental investment of both sexes in a self-consistent way. Our models predict that where females cannot interfere with one another's mating decisions and where they do not differ in their survival and fecundity prospects, monogamy should be rare, favored only under harsh environmental conditions, in sparse populations. However, allowing for interference or asymmetries among females leads to selection for monogamy over a much broader range of environments and demographies. Interference by paired, resident females may prevent unmated rivals from joining existing monogamous pairs, thus barring the formation of polygynous groups. Asymmetries between established, primary females and subsequently joining secondary females may increase the relative costs of early polygynous reproduction, compared to delayed monogamy for the latter. The models thus highlight different routes by which monogamy may evolve. We further track how parental investment by the sexes coevolves with female mating decisions, highlighting how sexual conflict over parental investment is both cause and effect of mating behavior.

Linear dominance hierarchies and conditional reproductive strategies in a facultatively social carpenter bee

In social groups, dominance rank may have important fitness consequences, as higher ranking individuals tend to have higher overall fitness. In social nests of the eastern carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica, females in social nests demonstrate a complete division of labour where one female is the dominant egg layer and forager while other females in the nest are non-reproductive. We investigated the nature of reproductive queues in this species by performing removal experiments across 3 years to observe how females respond to new reproductive opportunities in the nest. When a primary female was removed, a secondary female always assumed her position as replacement primary and reproductive queues formed in a linear fashion. A third type of female in the nest, the tertiary female, did not become reproductive, even if she was the only female remaining. In delaying reproduction, tertiary females were able to overwinter a second time and were often successful at becoming reproductive in their second summer. Tertiary females were smaller than primary or secondary females, had higher fat stores and lower ovarian development. When all other females in the nest were removed, tertiary females were observed ejecting the offspring of previous dominant females in the nest. Tertiary females appear to represent a novel reproductive strategy among the Hymenoptera who can drastically alter their physiology and behaviour, essentially doubling their life span to maximize reproductive potential.

The Effect of Preventive Guideline Program about Genital Tract Infection on Adolescent Female's Knowledge and Practice at Assuit City

Good health behavior safeguards the health of adolescent females by reducing their vulnerability to reproductive tract infections. Objective: Assess the adolescent female students’ knowledge and practice regarding prevention of genital tract infection, and assess the effectiveness of the program on students’ knowledge and practice regarding prevention of genital tract infection. Setting: This study conducted in randomly three secondary schools that represent the different districts of Assiut city in Egypt. Subjects: A total of 124 secondary female's students were selected. Tools: A structured interview schedule was designed to assess socio-demographic data and students' health knowledge and practices at pre- and post-intervention. Results: The mean age of participants’ students was 16.7±1.2 years. The study revealed an improvement of knowledge regarding personal health practice toward genital tract hygiene among adolescents. Also the students reported significant improvements in the perineal hygiene practices. There was a positive correlation between students' knowledge and their practices. Conclusion: The post-intervention assessment revealed an obvious improvement of knowledge and practice among the studied students. Recommendations: Appropriate educational strategies as simple illustration, brochures and booklets should be available for students to increase their awareness about the healthy practices regarding genital tract and use reproductive health service.

Female house wrens value the nest cavity more than exclusive access to males during conflicts with female intruders

AbstractIndividuals should fight hardest when they stand to lose the most. Whereas males frequently compete for fertile females, females more often compete for high quality males, male care, or resources required to breed. We asked whether established, territorial female house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) challenged by simulated female intruders fight as if they place more value on retaining (1) their nesting cavity or (2) exclusive access to other benefits offered by males. We randomly assigned house wren pairs to receive one or three nest boxes and then assayed female aggression. The relative costs to losing differed between box treatments. For one-box females, the risk of losing the cavity and territory was higher. For three-box females, the risk of losing the cavity may be lower because intruders may be able to settle as secondary females in the supplemental boxes. In this situation, females would lose exclusive access to males and their territories but would still retain the male’s assistance rearing offspring since male house wrens favour their oldest brood. We found that one-box females were significantly more aggressive. This response may be adaptive, as females that switched territories between broods were significantly more likely to lose their entire nest prior to hatching than females that retained the same territory. We interpret our results to mean that female house wrens value the nest cavity more than other benefits from exclusive access to males and their territories. This work contributes to a body of evidence that females often compete for resources required to breed.

The role of the mating system and intraspecific brood parasitism in the costs of reproduction in a passerine bird.

Limited resources trigger trade-offs in resource allocation. Reproduction is one of the most demanding activities in terms of energy, and costs related to reproduction can be apparent either as reduced future reproduction or as survival. However, costs are not always detected, because individual heterogeneity in quality and resource acquisition may explain variation in costs among individuals. We conducted a comprehensive study in spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor) nesting in Central Spain to determine whether costs of reproduction could be detectable in the short and/or long term and whether prenatal or postnatal investment were driving these costs. We took into account the lifehistory of the species, where egg volume is highly repeatable, males are facultatively polygynous, and intraspecific brood parasitism occurs. Females with a high reproductive effort in a breeding event also had a high reproductive effort in the second event of the season. The mating system and maternal age were reliable predictors of breeding success within a breeding event: monogamous and primary females, as well as older mothers, raised more nestlings than secondary females and 1-year-old females, respectively. However, when high-investing females suffered intra-brood parasitism in 1 year, we found a negative correlation between current and futurereproduction. These results suggest that, under some circumstances, females are able to skip the short-term costs of reproduction, but when extra effort is added, trade-offs arise. While most studies have focused on different aspects of individual quality on costs, the ecological context seems to represent an important component that should be taken into account.

Divorce in an Island Bird Population: Causes, Consequences, and Lack of Inheritance.

Divorce (mate switching) is widely considered an adaptive strategy that female birds use to improve their reproductive success. However, in few species are the causes and consequences of divorce well understood, and the genetic basis and inheritance of divorce have never been explored. In Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) breeding on Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada, 47.0% of pairs in which both partners survived to the following breeding season ended in divorce. Secondary females, which received less parental assistance than primary females, tended to divorce when breeding success was low or when paired with small males. Unlike young females or widows, older females improved their fledging success after divorce. Young males (but not older males) suffered lower reproductive success following a divorce. However, neither the lifetime number of divorces nor whether an individual had ever divorced affected the fitness of females or males, which suggests little or no selection for the trait. We found moderate repeatability for divorce in females (although not in males) but no additive genetic variance or evidence of maternal or paternal effects. Divorce in Savannah sparrows appears to be a nonheritable flexible behavior whose expression and consequences depend on an individual's sex, mating status, size, and age.

Geographic, genetic and life-history variability in a sex-changing fish

Event Abstract Back to Event Geographic, genetic and life-history variability in a sex-changing fish Chiara Benvenuto1* and Stefano Mariani1 1 University of Salford, School of Environment & Life Sciences, United Kingdom Sequential hermaphroditism, commonly referred to as sex change or sex reversal, is a striking phenomenon in mating-system evolution and the most remarkable example of sexual plasticity. Among vertebrates, it is specific to teleosts. Some fish species reproduce initially as females and then change into males (protogynous hermaphrodites) or vice versa (protandrous hermaphrodites). The white sea bream, Diplodus sargus, exhibits a high degree of sexual plasticity: populations have been reported to be gonochoristic, protandrous or digynic (with primary females, derived from intersexual juveniles, and secondary females, derived from males). We analysed populations collected from eight different locations across the species distribution range (between the Mediterranean and the North-Eastern Atlantic). These populations are characterized by different degrees of connectivity, spatial demographics and life histories. Using individual-based analyses, we linked the genetic structure of each specimen with environmental heterogeneity, life-history traits and reproductive modes. Our aim is to gather a better understanding of the variation in reproductive life-history strategies in this sexually plastic species. Diplodus sargus is a valuable candidate organism to investigate sequential hermaphroditism and it also has a commercial value. The application of population genetics tools against the background of life-history theory can bring valuable insights for the management of marine resources. The geographical patterns of sex change (and of age- and size-at-sex change) linked with population genetics can be pivotal for both theoretical investigations and conservation and management plans in marine areas. Acknowledgements Funded by IRCSET (Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology) EMPOWER Fellowship. The authors are grateful to Dr Mercedes González-Wangüemert and Dr Fernando Cánovas García (CCMAR); Dr Paulo Jorge de Sousa Maranhão and Nuno Vasco Rodriguez (IPL); Dr Yann Coupeau (IFREMER); Dr Eva Giacomello, Dr Mirko De Girolamo and Dr Sergio Stefanni (DOP); Dr Ljiljana Iveša (CIM); Dr Alessandro Voliani (ARPAT); Dr Julien Chopelet (UCD) and everyone who made the sample collection possible Keywords: Protandry, Diplodus sargus, Sequential hermaphroditism, population structure, Reproductive strategies Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Life Cycles, Migration and Connectivity Citation: Benvenuto C and Mariani S (2015). Geographic, genetic and life-history variability in a sex-changing fish. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00120 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 24 Nov 2015; Published Online: 24 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Chiara Benvenuto, University of Salford, School of Environment & Life Sciences, Salford, M54WT, United Kingdom, c.benvenuto@salford.ac.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani Google Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani Google Scholar Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani PubMed Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

The costs and benefits of sociality in a facultatively social bee

The evolution of social behaviour from solitary antecedents has traditionally been attributed to inclusive fitness benefits. Direct fitness components account for individuals' lifetime reproductive success through the production of offspring. In contrast, indirect fitness components account for the transmission of genes via aiding relatives and may explain apparent altruism among some members of social groups. Hamilton's rule gives the conditions under which altruism may evolve, but measuring the parameters in Hamilton's rule has proved to be very difficult for most social species. Here we quantify direct and indirect fitness in a facultatively social bee, Ceratina australensis, capable of both solitary and social nesting. Social colonies of this species contain one reproductive (the primary) and one nonreproductive female (the secondary), and it is therefore straightforward to measure the lifetime fitness of each individual. In the absence of the primary, the secondary female is fully capable of reproduction and produces equivalent numbers of offspring as solitary females. Per capita brood production was lower in social colonies than solitary nests. We found that inclusive fitness arguments do not explain social nesting in this bee. Moreover, social nesting cannot be attributed to subfertility or manipulation. The frequency of natal nest reuse is highly correlated with the frequency of social nesting in this and other Ceratina species. In other words, social nesting might be influenced by dispersal patterns and latent genetic differences in any tendency for natal philopatry. We argue that for C. australensis and perhaps many species with simple forms of sociality, life history traits such as nest reuse and natal philopatry are key selective factors for the origin of group living. Future work on this and other Ceratina species will reveal genetic, life history and ecological correlates with transitions in social evolution and their potential causes.