Aspects of coordinated parental care in several seabird species
Sexual conflict occurs when males and females do not maximize reproductive success in the same way. Conversely, when the fitness prospects of each sex are aligned, there is greater advantage to cooperate and to coordinate. This situation, where breeding partners share a higher proportion of their li...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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eScholarship, University of California
2021
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| Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01k3q8ms https://escholarship.org/content/qt01k3q8ms/qt01k3q8ms.pdf |
| Summary: | Sexual conflict occurs when males and females do not maximize reproductive success in the same way. Conversely, when the fitness prospects of each sex are aligned, there is greater advantage to cooperate and to coordinate. This situation, where breeding partners share a higher proportion of their lifetime reproductive output, is most likely to be realized when pairs remain together for multiple breeding attempts. As a group, seabirds are notable for the number of species that maintain long-term pair bonds and display biparental care across a protracted breeding period. Consequently, in this group behavioral cooperation and coordination is expected to be critical. Behavioral coordination between breeding partners may also improve with the experience of the pair, further incentivizing the maintenance of long-term pair bonds. The scope for coordination, however, is likely to be constrained by various intrinsic extrinsic factors, which may differ between species. This dissertation is an examination of the causes and consequences of behavioral coordination between breeding partners in three allopatric seabird species with contrasting foraging strategies. Specifically, I studied the Cassin’s auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus), the Leach’s storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), and the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). While all of these species share many similar life-history traits, they display markedly different foraging routines, ranging from consistent day-long trips in Cassin’s auklets, to multi-day trips of variable duration in Leach’s storm-petrels, to trips with a bidmodal duration, ranging from one day to more than 10 days in Manx shearwaters. The distinct foraging routines displayed by each species are expected to create different possibilities and incentives for coordination. Additionally, coordination may be influenced by a variety of intrinsic factors, such as individual age and pair experience, or extrinsic factors, such as environmental conditions. By monitoring parental care across the breeding period ... |
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