Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax)
Abstract Sex allocation theory predicts that females should bias the production of offspring towards the sex that will maximize maternal fitness. Here we demonstrate evidence for nonrandom sex allocation by female ruffs ( Philomachus pugnax ), at both the individual and population level in relation...
Published in: | Molecular Ecology |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01717.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1365-294X.2003.01717.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01717.x |
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crwiley:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01717.x 2024-09-15T18:30:19+00:00 Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) Thuman, Katherine A. Widemo, Fredrik Griffith, Simon C. 2002 http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01717.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1365-294X.2003.01717.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01717.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Molecular Ecology volume 12, issue 1, page 213-218 ISSN 0962-1083 1365-294X journal-article 2002 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01717.x 2024-08-13T04:17:34Z Abstract Sex allocation theory predicts that females should bias the production of offspring towards the sex that will maximize maternal fitness. Here we demonstrate evidence for nonrandom sex allocation by female ruffs ( Philomachus pugnax ), at both the individual and population level in relation to female condition. At the population level, female condition varies significantly across 3 years and is mirrored by population sex ratio, such that in years when females are in poor condition the population offspring sex ratio is female‐biased, while in years when females are in better condition there was little or no bias. In the year when females were in overall poor condition, females in better condition produced more daughters. The same relationship is also revealed by comparing the sex ratios of individual females breeding in two consecutive years in different condition. As the condition of an individual female improves (across years) she tends to produce more female offspring. Although we have shown that, as in other birds, female condition is an important determinant of sex allocation, our results also suggest that such nonrandom allocation does not occur in every year, being particularly strong in a year when females, on average, are in poorer condition. We suggest that our results are consistent with the idea that skewing the sex ratio is likely to carry a cost to females and that it is adaptive only when the fitness differential between sons and daughters is sufficient to outweigh probable costs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Philomachus pugnax Ruff Wiley Online Library Molecular Ecology 12 1 213 218 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Sex allocation theory predicts that females should bias the production of offspring towards the sex that will maximize maternal fitness. Here we demonstrate evidence for nonrandom sex allocation by female ruffs ( Philomachus pugnax ), at both the individual and population level in relation to female condition. At the population level, female condition varies significantly across 3 years and is mirrored by population sex ratio, such that in years when females are in poor condition the population offspring sex ratio is female‐biased, while in years when females are in better condition there was little or no bias. In the year when females were in overall poor condition, females in better condition produced more daughters. The same relationship is also revealed by comparing the sex ratios of individual females breeding in two consecutive years in different condition. As the condition of an individual female improves (across years) she tends to produce more female offspring. Although we have shown that, as in other birds, female condition is an important determinant of sex allocation, our results also suggest that such nonrandom allocation does not occur in every year, being particularly strong in a year when females, on average, are in poorer condition. We suggest that our results are consistent with the idea that skewing the sex ratio is likely to carry a cost to females and that it is adaptive only when the fitness differential between sons and daughters is sufficient to outweigh probable costs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thuman, Katherine A. Widemo, Fredrik Griffith, Simon C. |
spellingShingle |
Thuman, Katherine A. Widemo, Fredrik Griffith, Simon C. Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) |
author_facet |
Thuman, Katherine A. Widemo, Fredrik Griffith, Simon C. |
author_sort |
Thuman, Katherine A. |
title |
Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) |
title_short |
Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) |
title_full |
Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) |
title_fullStr |
Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) |
title_sort |
condition‐dependent sex allocation in a lek‐breeding wader, the ruff ( philomachus pugnax) |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01717.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1365-294X.2003.01717.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01717.x |
genre |
Philomachus pugnax Ruff |
genre_facet |
Philomachus pugnax Ruff |
op_source |
Molecular Ecology volume 12, issue 1, page 213-218 ISSN 0962-1083 1365-294X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01717.x |
container_title |
Molecular Ecology |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
213 |
op_container_end_page |
218 |
_version_ |
1810471791116681216 |