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Lifetime offspring production in relation to breeding lifespan, attractiveness, and mating status in male collared flycatchers

  • Behavioral ecology - Original research
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Abstract

As a comprehensive fitness parameter, lifetime reproductive success (LRS) is influenced by many different environmental and genetic factors, among which longevity is one of the most important. These factors can be reflected in secondary sexual characters, which may affect the life histories of individuals via social relations with conspecifics. Facultative polygyny in birds is another conspicuous reproductive trait that potentially increases male reproductive success, but lifetime success data in relation to polygyny are scarce. Here, we used 17 years of breeding data to quantify the LRS of male collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) on the basis of lifetime recruitment of offspring. Breeding lifespan showed a positive relationship with LRS, and it was also significantly associated with mean recruitment of offspring per breeding year. Body size and sexually selected forehead patch size did not predict the number of recruits. Polygyny was positively associated with LRS, but when we corrected for lifespan, this relationship disappeared. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between longevity and LRS is not explained by the higher number of reproductive attempts when living longer, and question the adaptive value of polygyny in this population. The lack of association between forehead patch size and recruitment suggests that forehead patch is a poor indicator of phenotypic quality in our birds.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to R. Könczey, B. Szigeti, E. Szöllősi, and L. Tóth for their help with the fieldwork. We thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. This study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, grants T49650, T75618, K75618 to J.T. and PD72117 to G.H.), Eötvös Loránd University (a scholarship to M.H.), a Bolyai János Fellowship to G.H., the Erdők a Közjóért Alapítvány and the Pilisi Parkerdő Zrt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    Márton Herényi, Gergely Hegyi, Rita Hargitai, Gábor Michl, Balázs Rosivall & János Török

  2. Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estacion Biologica de Donana-CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    László Zsolt Garamszegi

  3. Institute of Environmental Sciences, College of Nyíregyháza, Sóstói út 31/B, 4400, Nyíregyháza, Hungary

    Rita Hargitai

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  1. Márton Herényi
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  2. Gergely Hegyi
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  3. László Zsolt Garamszegi
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  6. Balázs Rosivall
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  7. János Török
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Correspondence to Márton Herényi.

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Communicated by Hannu Ylonen.

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Herényi, M., Hegyi, G., Garamszegi, L.Z. et al. Lifetime offspring production in relation to breeding lifespan, attractiveness, and mating status in male collared flycatchers. Oecologia 170, 935–942 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2362-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2362-4

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