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Genetic sources of individual variation in parental care behavior

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Abstract

Consistent individual differences in behavior exist for many behavioral traits. Several evolutionary hypotheses regarding the maintenance of this variation have been proposed, but they all rest on the relatively untested question of whether this variation has a genetic basis and if so, exactly what genetic mechanisms may be involved. We tested for heritability and the effects of heterozygosity on two measures of parental care behavior (nestling provisioning rate and the likelihood of provisioning with large food items) in a population of wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus), where both behaviors display consistent individual differences across a wide range of contexts. We found no evidence of significant heritability in either measure of parental care behavior. However, in a subset of 46 female sparrows, the likelihood of bringing large food items to the nest, but not provisioning rate, was positively correlated with genetic heterozygosity estimated from 18 polymorphic microsatellite markers. Despite these findings, individual identity continued to explain a significant proportion of the variation in parental care behavior. Our results imply that while the effects of directional selection on traits associated with parental care may be limited in this population, genetic heterozygosity appears to play a role in the maintenance of phenotypic diversity in at least one aspect of parental care behavior.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by the National Science Foundation (IOS #1110440), American Ornithologists’ Union, Animal Behavior Society, Kentucky Ornithological Society, Sigma Xi, UK Dept. of Biology Ribble Research Fund and Kuehne Scholarship Fund, and the UK Graduate School. We thank the managers and staff at UK’s Maine Chance and Spindletop Farms for access to the sparrows. The UK AGTC (especially Abbe Kesterson) provided invaluable assistance running the fragment analysis. We thank Ian Stewart, Sarah Barney, Lizzy Burnett, and Ashely Ginn-Dillon for their help collecting field data, and Patricia Hartman and Melissa Keinath for their help in the lab. We appreciate comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript provided by P. Crowley, C. Fox, A. Pilastro, C. Sargent, T. Zentall, and two anonymous reviewers.

Ethical standards

All applicable United States and University of Kentucky guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. This study was conducted with approval from the University of Kentucky (IACUC #2007-0227). The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

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  1. Daniel P. Wetzel

    Present address: Biology Department, Saint Vincent College, 300 Frasier Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA, 15650, USA

  2. Margret I. Hatch

    Present address: Pennsylvania State University Worthington Scranton, 120 Ridge View Drive, Dunmore, PA, 18512, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Kentucky, 101 Morgan Building, Lexington, KY, 40506-0225, USA

    Daniel P. Wetzel, Margret I. Hatch & David F. Westneat

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  1. Daniel P. Wetzel
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Correspondence to Daniel P. Wetzel.

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Communicated by A. Pilastro

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Wetzel, D.P., Hatch, M.I. & Westneat, D.F. Genetic sources of individual variation in parental care behavior. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 1933–1943 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-2006-x

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