Experimental global food reduction raises resource acquisition costs of brood care helpers and reduces their helping effort

Functional Ecology

Volumn 24, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 1054-1063

  Bruintjes, Rick ^a   Hekman, Renske ^a   Taborsky, Michael ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BERN   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Cichlid fish; Cooperative breeders; Dispersal; Ecological constraints; Neolamprologus pulcher; Social behaviour; Spacing; Subordinates

Indexed keywords

CICHLID; COOPERATIVE BREEDING; DECISION MAKING; DISPERSAL; EGG PREDATION; EUSOCIALITY; EXPERIMENTAL STUDY; FOOD AVAILABILITY; RESOURCE ALLOCATION; RESOURCE AVAILABILITY; SPACING; ZOOPLANKTON;

ANIMALIA; CICHLIDAE; NEOLAMPROLOGUS PULCHER; VERTEBRATA;

EID: 78149328789     PISSN: 02698463     EISSN: 13652435     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01715.x     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Arnold, K.E. & Owens, I.P.F. (1998) Cooperative breeding in birds: a comparative test of the life history hypothesis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 265, 739-745.
2. Baglione, V., Canestrari, D., Marcos, J.M. & Ekman, J. (2006) Experimentally increased food resources in the natal territory promote offspring philopatry and helping in cooperatively breeding carrion crows. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 273, 1529-1535.
3. Balshine, S., Leach, B., Neat, F., Reid, H., Taborsky, M. & Werner, N. (2001) Correlates of group size in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish (Neolamprologus pulcher). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 50, 134-140.
4. Balshine-Earn, S., Neat, F.C., Reid, H. & Taborsky, M. (1998) Paying to stay or paying to breed? Field evidence for direct benefits of helping behavior in a cooperatively breeding fish. Behavioural Ecology, 9, 432-438.
5. Bergmüller, R., Heg, D. & Taborsky, M. (2005a) Helpers in a cooperatively breeding cichlid stay and pay or disperse and breed, depending on ecological constraints. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 272, 325-331.
6. Bergmüller, R. & Taborsky, M. (2005) Experimental manipulation of helping in a cooperative breeder: helpers 'pay to stay' by pre-emptive appeasement. Animal Behaviour, 69, 19-28.
7. Bergmüller, R., Heg, D., Peer, K. & Taborsky, M. (2005b) Extended safe havens and between group dispersal of helpers in a cooperatively breeding cichlid. Behaviour, 142, 1643-1667.
8. Boland, C.R.J., Heinsohn, R. & Cockburn, A. (1997) Experimental manipulation of brood reduction and parental care in cooperatively breeding white-winged choughs. Journal of Animal Ecology, 66, 683-691.
9. Brouwer, L., Heg, D. & Taborsky, M. (2005) Experimental evidence for helper effects in a cooperatively breeding cichlid. Behavioural Ecology, 16, 667-673.
10. Brown, J.L. (1985) The evolution of helping behaviour - an ontogenetic and comparative perspective. The Comparative Development of Adaptive Skills: Evolutionary Implications (ed. E.S. Gollin), pp. 137-171. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. Publ, Hillsdale, London.
11. Brown, J.L. (1987) Helping and communal breeding in birds: ecology and evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
12. Bruintjes, R. & Taborsky, M. (2008) Helpers pay a high price to stay in a cooperative breeder: effects of demand, helper size and sex. Animal Behaviour, 75, 1843-1850.
13. Canestrari, D., Marcos, J.M. & Baglione, V. (2007) Costs of chick provisioning in cooperatively breeding crows: an experimental study. Animal Behaviour, 73, 349-357.
14. Canestrari, D., Chiarati, E., Marcos, J.M., Ekman, J. & Baglione, V. (2008) Helpers but not breeders adjust provisioning effort to year-round territory resource availability in carrion crows. Animal Behaviour, 76, 943-949.
15. Clutton-Brock, T.H., Russell, A.F., Sharpe, L.L., Young, A.J., Balmforth, Z. & McIlrath, G.M. (2002) Evolution and development of sex differences in cooperative behavior in meerkats. Science, 297, 253-256.
16. Cochran, G.R. & Solomon, N.G. (2000) Effects of food supplementation on the social organization of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Journal of Mammalogy, 81, 746-757.
17. Cockburn, A. (1996) Why do so many Australian birds cooperate: social evolution in the Corvida? Frontiers of population ecology (eds R.B. Floyd, A.W. Sheppard & P.J. De Barro), pp. 451-472. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia.
18. Cockburn, A. (1998) Evolution of helping in cooperatively breeding birds. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 29, 141-177.
19. Covas, R., Doutrelant, C. & Du Plessis, M.A. (2004) Experimental evidence of a link between breeding conditions and the decision to breed or to help in a colonial cooperative bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 271, 827-832.
20. Dickinson, J.L. & McGowan, A. (2005) Winter resource wealth drive's delayed dispersal and family-group living in western bluebirds. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 272, 2423-2428.
21. Dierkes, P., Taborsky, M. & Achmann, R. (2008) Multiple paternity in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 62, 1581-1589.
22. Dierkes, P., Taborsky, M. & Kohler, U. (1999) Reproductive parasitism of broodcare helpers in a cooperatively breeding fish. Behavioural Ecology, 10, 510-515.
23. Dierkes, P., Heg, D., Skubic, E., Taborsky, M. & Achmann, R. (2005) Genetic relatedness in groups is sex-specific and declines with age of helpers in a cooperatively breeding cichlid. Ecological Letters, 8, 968-975.
24. Du Plessis, M.A. (1992) Obligate cavity-roosting as a constraint on dispersal of green (red-billed) woodhoopoes: consequences for philopatry and the likelihood of inbreeding. Oecologia, 90, 205-211.
25. Duftner, N., Sefc, K.M., Koblmüller, S., Salzburger, W., Taborsky, M. & Sturmbauer, C. (2007) Parallel evolution of facial stripe patterns in the Neolamprologus brichardi/pulcher species complex endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45, 706-715.
26. Eden, S.F. (1987) When do helpers help - food availability and helping in the moorhen, Gannilula chloropus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 21, 191-195.
27. Ekman, J., Sklepkovych, B. & Tegelström, H. (1994) Offspring retention in the Siberian jay (Perisoreus infaustus): the prolonged brood care hypothesis. Behavioural Ecology, 5, 245-253.
28. Emlen, S.T. (1982) The evolution of helping. I. An ecological constraints model. American Naturalist, 119, 29-39.
29. Emlen, S.T. & Vehrencamp, S.L. (1983) Cooperative breeding strategies among birds. Perspectives in Ornithology (eds A.H. Brush & J.G.A. Clark), pp. 93-133. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
30. Gashagaza, M.M. (1988) Feeding activity of a Tanganyikan cichlid fish Lamprologus Brichardi. African Study Monographs, 9, 1-9.
31. Gashagaza, M.M. & Nagoshi, M. (1986) Comparative study on the food habits of six species of Lamprologus (Osteichthyes: Cichlidae). African Study Monographs, 6, 37-44.
32. Gaston, A.J. (1978) Evolution of group territorial behavior and cooperative breeding. American Naturalist, 112, 1091-1100.
33. Grantner, A. & Taborsky, M. (1998) The metabolic rates associated with resting, and with the performance of agonistic, submissive and digging behaviours in the cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher (Pisces Cichlidae). Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 168, 427-433.
34. Hamilton, W.D. (1964) The genetical evolution of social behaviour I & II. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7, 1-52.
35. Hatchwell, B.J. & Komdeur, J. (2000) Ecological constraints, life history traits and the evolution of cooperative breeding. Animal Behaviour, 59, 1079-1086.
36. Hatchwell, B.J. & Sharp, S.P. (2006) Kin selection, constraints, and the evolution of cooperative breeding in long-tailed tits. Advances in the Study of Behaviour, 36, 355-395.
37. Heg, D., Bachar, Z., Brouwer, L. & Taborsky, M. (2004) Predation risk is an ecological constraint for helper dispersal in a cooperatively breeding cichlid. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 271, 2367-2374.
38. Heg, D., Brouwer, L., Bachar, Z. & Taborsky, M. (2005) Large group size yields group stability in the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher. Behaviour, 142, 1615-1641.
39. Heg, D., Heg-Bachar, Z., Brouwer, L. & Taborsky, M. (2008) Experimentally induced helper dispersal in colonially breeding cooperative cichlids. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 83, 191-206.
40. Jamieson, I.G., Quinn, J.S., Rose, P.A. & White, B.N. (1994) Shared paternity is a result of an egalitarian mating system in a communally breeding bird, the pukeko. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 257, 271-277.
41. Koenig, W.D., Pitelka, F.A., Carmen, W.J., Mumme, R.L. & Stanback, M.T. (1992) The evolution of delayed dispersal in cooperative breeders. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 67, 111-150.
42. Kokko, H. & Ekman, J. (2002) Delayed dispersal as a route to breeding: territorial inheritance, safe havens, and ecological constraints. American Naturalist, 160, 468-484.
43. Kokko, H., Johnstone, R.A. & Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2001) The evolution of cooperative breeding through group augmentation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 268, 187-196.
44. Kokko, H., Johnstone, R.A. & Wright, J. (2002) The evolution of parental and alloparental effort in cooperatively breeding groups: when should helpers pay to stay? Behavioural Ecology, 13, 291-300.
45. Kokko, H. & Lundberg, P. (2001) Dispersal, migration, and offspring retention in saturated habitats. American Naturalist, 157, 188-202.
46. Komdeur, J. (1992) Importance of habitat saturation and territory quality for evolution of cooperative breeding in the Seychelles warbler. Nature, 358, 493-495.
47. Komdeur, J., Huffstadt, A., Prast, W., Castle, G., Mileto, R. & Wattel, J. (1995) Transfer experiments of Seychelles warblers to new islands - changes in dispersal and helping behavior. Animal Behaviour, 49, 695-708.
48. Korb, J. & Schmidinger, S. (2004) Help or disperse? Cooperation in termites influenced by food conditions. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 56, 89-95.
49. Lin, Y.K., Keane, B., Isenhour, A. & Solomon, N.G. (2006) Effects of patch quality on dispersal and social organization of prairie voles: an experimental approach. Journal of Mammalogy, 87, 446-453.
50. Liu, W., Wang, G., Wan, X.R. & Zhong, W.Q. (2009) Effects of supplemental food on the social organization of Mongolian gerbils during the breeding season. Journal of Zoology, 278, 249-257.
51. Lucia, K.E., Keane, B., Hayes, L.D., Lin, Y.K., Schaefer, R. & Solomon, N.G. (2008) Philopatry in prairie voles: an evaluation of the habitat saturation hypothesis. Behavioural Ecology, 19, 774-783.
52. Pen, I. & Weissing, F.J. (2000) Towards a unified theory of cooperative breeding: the role of ecology and life history re-examined. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 267, 2411-2418.
53. Stacey, P.B. & Koenig, W.D. (1990) Cooperative Breeding in Birds: Long Term Studies of Ecology and Behavior. Cam. Univ. Press, Cambridge.
54. Stacey, P.B. & Ligon, J.D. (1991) The benefits of philopatry hypothesis for the evolution of cooperative breeding: variation in territory quality and group size effects. American Naturalist, 137, 831-846.
55. Stiver, K.A., Dierkes, P., Taborsky, M. & Balshine, S. (2004) Dispersal patterns and status change in a co-operatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher: evidence from microsatellite analyses and behavioural observations. Journal of Fish Biology, 65, 91-105.
56. Taborsky, M. (1984) Broodcare helpers in the cichlid fish Lamprologus brichardi: their costs and benefits. Animal Behaviour, 32, 1236-1252.
57. Taborsky, M. (1985) Breeder-helper conflict in a cichlid fish with broodcare helpers: an experimental analysis. Behaviour, 95, 45-75.
58. Taborsky, M. & Grantner, A. (1998) Behavioural time-energy budgets of cooperatively breeding Neolamprologus pulcher (Pisces Cichlidae). Animal Behaviour, 56, 1375-1382.
59. Taborsky, M. & Limberger, D. (1981) Helpers in fish. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 8, 143-145.
60. Taborsky, B., Skubic, E. & Bruintjes, R. (2007) Mothers adjust egg size to helper number in a cooperatively breeding cichlid. Behavioural Ecology, 18, 652-657.
61. Verhoeven, K.J.F., Simonsen, K.L. & McIntyre, L.M. (2005) Implementing false discovery rate control: increasing your power. Oikos, 108, 643-647.
62. Walters, J.R., Copeyon, C.K. & Carter III, J.H. (1992) Test of the ecological basis of cooperative breeding in red-cockaded woodpeckers. The Auk, 109, 90-97.
63. Werner, N.Y., Balshine, S., Leach, B. & Lotem, A. (2003) Helping opportunities and space segregation in cooperatively breeding cichlids. Behavioural Ecology, 14, 749-756.
64. Whittingham, L.A., Dunn, P.O. & Magrath, R.D. (1997) Relatedness, polyandry and extragroup paternity in the cooperatively breeding white-browed scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 40, 261-270.
65. Woolfenden, G.E. & Fitzpatrick, J.W. (1984) The Florida Scrub Jay. Demography of a Cooperatively-Breeding Bird. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
66. Wright, J. & Dingemanse, N.J. (1999) Parents and helpers compensate for experimental changes in the provisioning effort of others in the Arabian babbler. Animal Behaviour, 58, 345-350.