Journal compilation © 2006 British Ecological Society Blackwell Publishing LtdDeterminants of quality in a long-lived colonial species

• Main Authors: Jenny G. Underhill, Mike P. Harris
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: common guillemot; Uria aalge; uria
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.491.6452; http://wildevolution.biology.ed.ac.uk/publications/Lewis et al 2006 JAE.pdf

1. In many animal populations a small proportion of individuals produce the majority of surviving offspring, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Behaviour may be an important determinant of variation in fitness: ‘high-quality ’ individuals may have enhanced abilities in foraging or predator and parasite avoidance. 2. The role of behaviour in determining variation in quality was examined using the common guillemot Uria aalge, a monogamous seabird with biparental care. Using a novel mixed model approach, we analysed binary data on breeding success of each pair attempting to breed in each year with variables critical to breeding success (timing of breeding; inferred age; breeding experience and success; number of nest sites and part-ners) as fixed effects. Random effects for year, male, female and each distinct pairing of a male and a female were included in the model, allowing a quality estimate to be derived for each individual and pair. A range of behaviours associated with breeding were examined in relation to these quality estimates. 3. Breeding success declined with timing of breeding, and increased initially with age before declining in old age. It increased with previous successful experience, not breeding