Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima
We analysed intraclutch egg-size variation over the laying sequence in relation to clutch size, and the relation between clutch size and female body condition, in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima during an 8-year period. The aim was to assess if eiders adjusted egg size within the laying sequen...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:7384649 2023-05-15T15:55:56+02:00 Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg 2020-07-27 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7384649/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32716933 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226532 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7384649/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32716933 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226532 © 2020 Christensen, Balsby http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY PLoS One Research Article Text 2020 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226532 2020-08-09T00:30:21Z We analysed intraclutch egg-size variation over the laying sequence in relation to clutch size, and the relation between clutch size and female body condition, in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima during an 8-year period. The aim was to assess if eiders adjusted egg size within the laying sequence depending on clutch sizes in response to body condition, as such an adjustment could have adaptive implications on reproductive success through a size advantage for the hatchlings. The analyses were performed on a population level; and then at the individual level using data from recaptured females that changed clutch size between years. Based on 1,099 clutches from 812 individual females, population clutch size averaged 4.13 eggs (range: 1–6), with 4- and 5-egg clutchesconstituting c.70% of all clutches, taking turns in being the most represented clutch size. Clutch size was positively related to female pre-laying body condition at both the population and individual levels. Egg size varied significantly within and between clutch sizes and changes were significantly related to the laying sequence. First eggs were significantly larger in 4-egg clutches and second eggs marginally smaller than in 5-egg clutches, a pattern also found among individual females changing clutch size between years. The relationship between female pre-laying body condition and clutch size, and the intraclutch egg-size pattern indicate that both clutch size and egg size are actively adapted to the pre-breeding body condition of the female. As egg size potentially optimise reproductive success through a size advantage in hatchlings, the observed pattern of intraclutch egg-size variation suggests that female eiders possesses a finely tuned conditional dependent mechanism that may optimize reproductive output in years were females are in suboptimal body condition for breeding. Text Common Eider Somateria mollissima PubMed Central (PMC) PLOS ONE 15 7 e0226532 |
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Research Article Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
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Research Article |
description |
We analysed intraclutch egg-size variation over the laying sequence in relation to clutch size, and the relation between clutch size and female body condition, in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima during an 8-year period. The aim was to assess if eiders adjusted egg size within the laying sequence depending on clutch sizes in response to body condition, as such an adjustment could have adaptive implications on reproductive success through a size advantage for the hatchlings. The analyses were performed on a population level; and then at the individual level using data from recaptured females that changed clutch size between years. Based on 1,099 clutches from 812 individual females, population clutch size averaged 4.13 eggs (range: 1–6), with 4- and 5-egg clutchesconstituting c.70% of all clutches, taking turns in being the most represented clutch size. Clutch size was positively related to female pre-laying body condition at both the population and individual levels. Egg size varied significantly within and between clutch sizes and changes were significantly related to the laying sequence. First eggs were significantly larger in 4-egg clutches and second eggs marginally smaller than in 5-egg clutches, a pattern also found among individual females changing clutch size between years. The relationship between female pre-laying body condition and clutch size, and the intraclutch egg-size pattern indicate that both clutch size and egg size are actively adapted to the pre-breeding body condition of the female. As egg size potentially optimise reproductive success through a size advantage in hatchlings, the observed pattern of intraclutch egg-size variation suggests that female eiders possesses a finely tuned conditional dependent mechanism that may optimize reproductive output in years were females are in suboptimal body condition for breeding. |
format |
Text |
author |
Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg |
author_facet |
Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg |
author_sort |
Christensen, Thomas Kjær |
title |
Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
title_short |
Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
title_full |
Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
title_fullStr |
Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
title_full_unstemmed |
Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
title_sort |
condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the common eider somateria mollissima |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7384649/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32716933 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226532 |
genre |
Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
genre_facet |
Common Eider Somateria mollissima |
op_source |
PLoS One |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7384649/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32716933 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226532 |
op_rights |
© 2020 Christensen, Balsby http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
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CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226532 |
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