Journal für Ornithologie

, Volume 139, Issue 4, pp 413–420 | Cite as

Low frequency of extra-pair paternity in Common Gulls (Larus canus) as revealed by DNA fingerprinting

  • Monika Bukacińska
  • Dariusz Bukaciński
  • Jörg Thomas Epplen
  • Klaus Peter Sauer
  • Thomas Lubjuhn
Article
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Summary

During the last decade, the mating systems of many bird species have been analysed using molecular genetic methods. Most of these studies were performed on Passeriformes while Non-Passeriformes were rarely investigated. To fill this gap, we analysed blood samples of 24 Common Gull (Larus canus) families from two Polish colonies using DNA fingerprinting. A total of 55 of 56 chicks was unequivocally assigned to their genetic parents. Only two of these chicks (3.6%) from two different broods resulted from extra-pair copulations, the other 53 could be attributed to the putative parents; i.e., intraspecific brood parasitism was not observed. With respect to the number of breeding pairs investigated, the frequency of extra-pair paternity amounted to 8.3%. Thus, extra-pair paternity is relatively infrequent compared to other bird species. This result is surprising because the percentage of observed extra-pair copulations (i.e., mainly forced copulations in Common Gulls) in relation to the absolute number of copulations was 15.7% in the colonies studied. A possible reason for the disproportionate number of forced copulations and the lower percentage of resulting extra-pair young may include different mechanisms for paternity control by the pair males and/or by females.

Key words

Non-Passeriformes DNA fingerprinting extra-pair paternity forced copulations 

Niedriger Anteil von Vaterschaften außerhalb des Paarbundes bei Sturmmöwen (Larus canus)

Zusammenfassung

In den letzten 10 Jahren wurde das Paarungssystem vieler Vogelarten auch mit Hilfe molekulargenetischer Methoden näher untersucht. Dabei standen vor allem verschiedene Singvogelarten im Vordergrund, während Nicht-Singvogelarten kaum berücksichtigt wurden. Die vorliegende Untersuchung an Sturmmöwen (Larus canus) soll helfen diese Lücke zu schließen. Hierzu wurden die Blutproben von 24 Sturmmöwenfamilien zweier polnischer Kolonien mit Hilfe des genetischen Fingerabdruckverfahrens untersucht. Bei 55 der 56 untersuchten Küken konnten eindeutige Aussagen zur Elternschaft gemacht werden. Nur zwei Küken (3,6%) aus zwei unterschiedlichen Bruten gingen auf Kopulationen außerhalb des Paarbundes zurück, die restlichen 53 stammten von den sozialen Eltern ab, d. h. Fälle von innerartlichem Brutparasitismus konnten nicht nachgewiesen werden. In bezug auf den prozentualen Anteil an Brutpaaren, deren Bruten Jungtiere enthielten, die das Resultat von Kopulationen außerhalb des Paarbundes waren, ergab sich ein Wert von 8,3%. Dieser Wert ist im Vergleich mit anderen Vogelarten sehr niedrig. Der geringe Anteil an Vaterschaften außerhalb des Paarbundes verwundert, da der Anteil von Kopulationen außerhalb des Paarbundes, die von den Männchen bei Sturmmöwen meist gewaltsam erzwungen werden, im Vergleich zur Gesamtzahl beobachteter Kopulationen in den untersuchten Kolonien 15,7% betrug und damit deutlich höher lag, als dies auf der Basis der Ergebnisse der DNA-Fingerprinting Untersuchungen zu erwarten gewesen wäre. Mögliche Gründe für die Diskrepanz zwischen dem Anteil der erzwungenen Kopulationen außerhalb des Paarbundes und dem Anteil der resultierenden Küken sind verschiedene Mechanismen der Vaterschaftskontrolle durch die Paarmännchen und/oder durch die Weibchen.

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Copyright information

© Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft/Blackwell Wissenschafts-Verlag 1998

Authors and Affiliations

  • Monika Bukacińska
    • 1
  • Dariusz Bukaciński
    • 1
  • Jörg Thomas Epplen
    • 2
  • Klaus Peter Sauer
    • 3
  • Thomas Lubjuhn
    • 3
  1. 1.Institute of EcologyPolish Academy of Science, Dziekanów LeśnyLomiankiPoland
  2. 2.Molekulare HumangenetikRuhr-Universität BochumBochumGermany
  3. 3.Institut für Evolutionsbiologie und ÖkologieRheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität BonnBonnGermany

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