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- Larsson, Kjell, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Colony kin structure and host-parasite relatedness in the barnacle goose
- 2009
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - Oxford : Blackwell Science. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 18:23, s. 4955-4963
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP), females laying eggs in the nest of other 'host' females of the same species, is a common alternative reproductive tactic among birds. For hosts there are likely costs of incubating and rearing foreign offspring, but costs may be low in species with precocial chicks such as waterfowl, among which CBP is common. Waterfowl show strong female natal philopatry, and spatial relatedness among females may influence the evolution of CBP. Here we investigate fine-scale kin structure in a Baltic colony of barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis, estimating female spatial relatedness using protein fingerprints of egg albumen, and testing the performance of this estimator in known mother-daughter pairs. Relatedness was significantly higher between neighbour females (nesting ≤ 40 metres from each other) than between females nesting farther apart, but there was no further distance trend in relatedness. This pattern may be explained by earlier observations of females nesting close to their mother or brood sisters, even when far from the birth nest. Hosts and parasites were on average not more closely related than neighbour females. In 25 of 35 sampled parasitized nests, parasitic eggs were laid after the host female finished laying, too late to develop and hatch. Timely parasites, laying eggs in the host's laying sequence, had similar relatedness to hosts as that between neighbours. Females laying late parasitic eggs tended to be less related to the host, but not significantly so. Our results suggest that CBP in barnacle geese might represent different tactical life-history responses.
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| 3. |
- Larsson, Kjell, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Nest parasitism in the barnacle goose : evidence from protein fingerprinting and microsatellites
- 2009
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - London : Academic Press. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 78:1, s. 167-174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Geese are often seen as one of nature's best examples of monogamous relationships, and many social pairs stay together for life. However, when parents and young are screened genetically, some chicks do not match their social parents. Although this has often been explained as adoption of foreign young after hatching, conspecific nest parasitism is another possibility. We used nondestructive egg albumen sampling and protein fingerprinting to estimate the frequency and success of nest parasitism in a Baltic Sea population of barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis. Among the 86 nests for which we had the most complete information, 36% were parasitized, and 12% of the eggs were parasitic. Almost 80% of the parasitic eggs were laid after the host began incubation. Hatching of these eggs was limited to the few cases where the host female incubated longer than normally because her own eggs failed to hatch. Conspecific nest parasitism in this population therefore seems mainly to be an alternative reproductive tactic of lower fitness than normal nesting. Comparison with DNA profiling of chicks (with 10–14 microsatellites) and other evidence confirmed the suitability of protein fingerprinting for analysis of nest parasitism. It can often provide more data than microsatellites, if eggs are albumen-sampled soon after being laid, before most losses occur.
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| 4. |
- Reichart, Letitia M., et al.
(författare)
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Molecular identification of brood-parasitic females reveals an opportunistic reproductive tactic in ruddy ducks
- 2010
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 19:2, s. 401-413
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many taxa, females lay eggs in the nests of other conspecifics. To determine the conditions under which conspecific brood parasitism develops, it is necessary to identify parasitic offspring and the females who produce them; however, for most systems parasitism can be difficult to observe and most genetic approaches have relatively low resolving power. In this study, we used protein fingerprinting from egg albumen and 10 microsatellite loci to genetically match parasitic ducklings to their mothers in a population of ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis). We found that 67% of nests contained parasitic offspring, and we successfully identified their mothers in 61% of the cases. Of the parasitic females identified, 77% also had nests of their own (i.e. a dual tactic, where females both nest and lay parasitically), and we found no evidence that parasitic females pursued a specialist (parasitism only) tactic. We also found that parasitic egg laying was not influenced by nest loss, predation or female condition. Thus, in contrast to most waterfowl studied to date, female ruddy ducks appear to lay parasitic eggs whenever the opportunity arises.
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