The role of despotism and heritability in determining settlement patterns in the colonial lesser kestrel.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Avian colony size variation is an evolutionary puzzle in terms of unequal fitness payoffs. We used a long-term marked lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) population, where individual fitness increases with colony size, to test whether subordinates are evicted despotically from the largest colonies. Yearlings were smaller and lighter, were more attacked than expected, and lost most disputes over nest holes with older birds. Agonistic interactions increased with colony size; consequently, most first breeders recruited in colonies smaller than those at which they first tried to settle. As expected when subordination is a transient state, birds dispersed to a larger colony as they got older even after breeding successfully. The population consequences of these behavioral processes were that the relative frequency of yearlings and first breeders decreased with colony size. At the same time, breeding colony size was repeatable within individuals, so we estimated the amount of heritable variation in this trait. Estimates of heritability derived from parent-offspring and full-sib analyses were consistently high (h2=0.53) when individuals reached asymptotic morphological values and presumably overcame subordinate transient states. Age-related dominance asymmetries masked resemblance among relatives in colony size, but both phenomena seem to coexist in this population and explain a considerable proportion of colony size variation.
منابع مشابه
A few long versus many short foraging trips: different foraging strategies of lesser kestrel sexes during breeding
BACKGROUND In species with biparental care both members of the breeding pair cooperate to raise the offspring either by assisting each other in every reproductive task or by specializing in different ones. The latter case is known as reproductive role specialization. Raptors are considered one of the most role-specialized groups, but little is known about parental behavior away from the nest. U...
متن کاملIs nest-site availability limiting Lesser Kestrel populations? A multiple scale approach
The Lesser Kestrel, a colonial migratory falcon, is one of the most endangered birds in Europe and, due to a sharp population decline across much of the breeding range, is globally threatened. The reasons for this decline are unclear, but reduced nest-site availability might be a major cause. To test this hypothesis we looked at nest-site availability within Portuguese colonies in rural and urb...
متن کاملعوامل مرتبط با تعهدات شهروندی
Objective: Citizens have many rights and commitments. "Citizenship commitments" induce social order and make social affairs predictable. Such a concept due to its nature and meaning holds relation with entire subjects and debates of currently human and social fields. Method: This research is a survey on citizens over the age of 18 in Tehran city. Sampling method is compound of classified a...
متن کاملOn the selection of an appropriate excavation pattern for urban tunnels with big cross-section: A case study
Among various practical measures used for restriction of the ground surface settlement in such tunnels driven in soft ground, selection of an appropriate excavation method plays a significant role. In this paper, employing suggested diagram by Yu & Chern, corresponding values of Niayesh tunnel has been inserted into the diagram. Later, two excavation methods namely: central diaphragm and side d...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- The American naturalist
دوره 169 2 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2007