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69 results for “cooperative breeders”
Data from: Benefits of coloniality: communal defence saves anti-predator effort in cooperative breeders
1. Many anti-predator benefits of group living are predicted to scale with prey density. Nevertheless, evidence for a general density-dependent increase of prey survival is scarce. A possible reason for this discrepancy is the reduction of costly anti-predator behaviour of prey with increasing density, which may offset density-dependent survival gains. Benefits of group living might hence accrue by saved investment into anti-predator behaviours rather than by increased survival rates. 2. Here, we experimentally presented predators in a colony of the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher to study density dependence of their anti-predator defences. Predation is a driver of the formation and stability of breeding groups in this species, but potential benefits of coloniality are yet unclear. We hypothesised that increased density of breeding groups would either increase total anti-predator behaviour or allow individuals to reduce their anti-predator effort due to enhanced predator deterrence from neighbours. 3. Confirming predictions from the second hypothesis, our results show that focal groups invested less into anti-predator behaviour at higher densities, while neighbouring groups' behaviour compensated for this reduced effort. This resulted in stable levels of anti-predator behaviours over the entire range of natural densities. Thus, aggregating in colonies allows these fish to save investment in anti-predator behaviour. 4. These results suggest that the formation of both breeding groups and colonies reflects adaptive responses to high predation pressure in this species. Two different levels of sociality seem to be favoured by the same selective force. 5. Our study provides experimental evidence in nature for an important benefit of coloniality that may explain the concomitant existence of different levels of sociality in many highly social taxa.
Data from: Strategic reduction of help before dispersal in a cooperative breeder
In cooperative breeders, sexually mature subordinates can either queue for chances to inherit the breeding position in their natal group, or disperse to reproduce independently. The choice of one or the other option may be flexible, as when individuals respond to attractive dispersal options, or they may reflect fixed life-history trajectories. Here, we show in a permanently marked, natural population of the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher that subordinate helpers reduce investment in territory defence shortly before dispersing. Such reduction of effort is not shown by subordinates who stay and inherit the breeding position. This difference suggests that subordinates ready to leave reduce their investment in the natal territory strategically in favour of future life-history perspectives. It seems to be part of a conditional choice of the dispersal tactic, as this reduction in effort appears only shortly before dispersal, whereas philopatric and dispersing helpers do not differ in defence effort earlier in life. Hence, cooperative territory defence is state-dependent and plastic rather than a consistent part of a fixed life-history trajectory.
Data from: Group-size dependent punishment of idle subordinates in a cooperative breeder where helpers pay to stay
In cooperative breeding systems, dominant breeders sometimes tolerate unrelated individuals even if they inflict costs on the dominants. According to the 'pay-to-stay' hypothesis, (i) subordinates can outweigh these costs by providing help and (ii) dominants should be able to enforce help by punishing subordinates that provide insufficient help. This requires that dominants can monitor helping and can recognize group members individually. In a field experiment, we tested whether cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher subordinates increase their help after a forced 'idle' period, how other group members respond to a previously idle helper, and how helper behaviour and group responses depend on group size. Previously, idle helpers increased their submissiveness and received more aggression than control helpers, suggesting that punishment occurred to enforce help. Subordinates in small groups increased their help more than those in large groups, despite receiving less aggression. When subordinates were temporarily removed, dominants in small groups were more likely to evict returning subordinates. Our results suggest that only in small groups do helpers face a latent threat of punishment by breeders as predicted by the pay-to-stay hypothesis. In large groups, cognitive constraints may prevent breeders from tracking the behaviour of a large number of helpers.
Data from: Sex-biased dispersal at different geographical scales in a cooperative breeder from fragmented rainforest
Dispersal affects both social behavior and population structure and is therefore a key determinant of long-term population persistence. However, dispersal strategies and responses to spatial habitat alteration may differ between sexes. Here we analyzed spatial and temporal variation in ten polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci of male and female Cabanis's greenbuls (Phyllastrephus cabanisi), a cooperative breeder of Afrotropical rainforest, to quantify rates of gene flow and fine-grained genetic structuring within and among fragmented populations. We found genetic evidence for female-biased dispersal at small spatial scales, but not at the landscape level. Local autocorrelation analysis provided evidence of positive genetic structure within 300 m distance ranges, which is consistent with behavioral observations of short-distance natal dispersal. At a landscape scale, individual-based autocorrelation values decreased over time while levels of admixture increased, possibly indicating increased gene flow over the past decade.
Data for: Living fast, dying young: anthropogenic habitat modification influences the fitness and life history traits of a cooperative breeder
<p>Datasets and scripts for the study: Living fast, dying young: anthropogenic habitat modification influences the fitness and life history traits of a cooperative breeder</p>
Datafiles and code for Covas et al: The oxidative cost of helping and its minimisation in a cooperative breeder
<p>Cooperative actions are beneficial to the group, but presumably costly to the individual co-operators. In cooperatively breeding species, helping to raise young is thought to involve important energetic costs, which could lead to elevated exposure to reactive oxygen species, resulting in oxidative stress. However, identifying such costs can be difficult if individuals adjust their investment in helping in relation to environmental conditions or their own physiological condition. Experimental approaches are therefore required to quantify the costs of helping but, to date, these have been infrequent. Here, we combined correlational and experimental data to investigate the oxidative cost of helping-at-the-nest and how this affects helping decisions in wild sociable weavers <i>Philetairus socius</i>, a colonial cooperatively breeding bird. At the correlational level, we found that the probability of helping was influenced by the interaction of an individual's oxidative state and age: compared to younger birds, older individuals were more likely to help when they had higher oxidative damage, and the opposite trend was found for younger individuals. After experimentally increasing the energetic cost of flight, manipulated helpers in breeding colonies decreased nestling feeding rates and incurred an increase in oxidative damage, which was not present in manipulated helpers in non-breeding colonies. This indicates that individuals decreased their helping behaviour to minimise the associated costs. These results suggest <span>that oxidative stress can influence helping decisions and underlie a trade-off between cooperation and self-maintenance, which is central to understanding when helping might take place in this and other species.</span></p>
Data from: Factors influencing dispersal initiation and timing in a facultative cooperative breeder
<p>Natal dispersal is a high-risk endeavor where decisions on whether and when to disperse have long-term consequences. Among facultative cooperative breeders, juveniles often forego dispersal and remain philopatric for one or more breeding seasons. This decision is key to the formation of cooperative breeding groups and could have significant effects on reproductive success. We investigated the probability and initiation of dispersal in the cooperatively breeding Brown-headed Nuthatch (<em>Sitta pusilla</em>) to determine the influence that social environments had on dispersal. This study was concurrent with another study where manipulation of population sex ratios increased the prevalence and size of cooperative groups. The concurrent manipulations enabled us to evaluate social effects on dispersal as a plausible mechanism driving the relationship between adult sex ratios and cooperation. We evaluated which factors best predicted whether males dispersed, and the timing of dispersal for both sexes. We considered variables related to the immediate nesting environment as well as characteristics of the local population. Social environments were related to dispersal for both males and females. Juvenile males dispersed earlier when a helper was present in the natal group. Females dispersed earlier in settings with more adult neighbors and when a lower proportion of those neighbors were males. Females with shorter tarsi relative to their siblings dispersed earlier, suggesting that size-based competitive interactions may also affect dispersal decisions. Our results suggest juveniles disperse more readily when they fledge in constrained social environments, and that competition with conspecifics is a major driver of dispersal in the Brown-headed Nuthatch.</p>
Predator defense is shaped by risk, brood value and social group benefits in a cooperative breeder
<p><span>Predation is a major cause of mortality and nest failure in birds. Cooperative predator defense can enhance nest success and adult survival, but since it is inherently risky, dynamic risk assessment theory predicts that individuals modify defense behavior according to risk posed by the predator. Parental investment theory on the other hand predicts that reproductive payoffs (brood value) determine investment in nest defense. We propose that in cooperative breeders, fitness benefits deriving from survival of other group members may additionally influence defense behavior (social group benefits theory). We tested predictions of these theories in the cooperatively breeding purple-crowned fairy-wren, <i>Malurus coronatus</i>, where brood value is higher for breeders, but social group benefits more important for helpers. We recorded experimentally-induced individual defense behaviors in response to predator models presented near nests, representing differing levels of threat to nests and adults. As predicted, (i) individuals engaged in less risky defenses when encountering a more dangerous predator (dynamic risk assessment theory); (ii) individuals defended older broods more often, and breeders defended more than helpers (parental investment theory); and (iii) helpers were more likely to respond to a predator of adults (social group benefits theory). Our findings highlight that predator defense in cooperative breeders is complex, shaped by the combination of immediate risk and multiple benefits.</span></p>
Data from: Oxidative status and social dominance in a wild cooperative breeder
1. Oxidative stress has been proposed as a key mediator of life-history trade-offs, yet the social factors that affect patterns of oxidative states amongst individuals in animal societies remain virtually unexplored. 2. This is important, as rank-related differences in reproductive effort in many social species have the potential to generate, or indeed arise from, differences in oxidative state across dominance classes. 3. Here, we examine rank-related variation in oxidative states before and after a lengthy breeding season in a wild cooperatively breeding bird with high reproductive skew in the semi-arid zone of Southern Africa; the white-browed sparrow weaver (Plocepasser mahali). 4. Our findings reveal that prior to breeding, neither sex showed rank-related differences in markers of oxidative damage or antioxidant protection, suggesting that dominants' reproductive monopolies do not arise from superior pre-breeding oxidative states. 5. After breeding, however, females (who provision young at higher rates than males) suffered elevated oxidative damage, and dominant females (the only birds to lay and incubate eggs, and the primary nestling provisioners) experienced differential declines in antioxidant protection. 6. While males also showed reduced antioxidant capacity after breeding, this decline was rank-independent and not associated with elevated oxidative damage. 7. Our findings suggest that divisions of labour in animal societies can leave the hardest-working classes differentially exposed to oxidative stress, raising the possibility of hitherto unexplored impacts on health and ageing in social species.
Behavioural change during dispersal and its relationship to survival and reproduction in a cooperative breeder
<p>(1) The ability of dispersing individuals to adjust their behaviour to changing conditions is instrumental in overcoming challenges and reducing dispersal costs, consequently increasing overall dispersal success. Understanding how dispersers' behaviour and physiology change during the dispersal process, and how they differ from resident individuals, can shed light on the mechanisms by which dispersers increase survival and maximise reproduction. (2) By analysing individual behaviour and concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM), a stress-associated biomarker, we sought to identify the proximate causes behind differences in survival and reproduction between dispersing and resident meerkats (Suricata suricatta). (3) We used data collected on 67 dispersing and 108 resident females to investigate (i) which individual, social, and environmental factors are correlated to foraging and vigilance, and whether the role of such factors differs among dispersal phases, and between dispersers and residents; (ii) how time allocated to either foraging or vigilance correlated to survival in dispersers and residents; and (iii) the link between aggression and change in fGCM concentration, and their relationship with reproductive rates in dispersing groups and resident groups with either long-established or newly established dominant females. (4) Time allocated to foraging increased across dispersal phases, while time allocated to vigilance decreased. Time allocated to foraging and vigilance correlated positively, and negatively respectively, with dispersers' group size. We did not find a group size effect for residents. High proportions of time allocated to foraging correlated with high survival, and more so in dispersers, suggesting that maintaining good physical condition may reduce mortality during dispersal. Further, while subordinate individuals rarely reproduced in resident groups, the conception rate of subordinates in newly formed dispersing groups was equal to that of their dominant individuals. Mirroring conception rates, in resident groups, fGCM concentrations were lower in subordinates than in dominants, whereas in disperser groups, fGCM concentrations did not differ between subordinates and dominants. (5) Our results, which highlight the relationship between behavioural and physiological factors and demographic rates, provide insights into some of the mechanisms that individuals of a cooperative species can use to increase overall dispersal success.</p>
Datafiles and code for Covas et al: The oxidative cost of helping and its minimisation in a cooperative breeder
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Behavioural change during dispersal and its relationship to survival and reproduction in a cooperative breeder
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Data from: Benefits of coloniality: communal defence saves anti-predator effort in cooperative breeders
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Predator defense is shaped by risk, brood value and social group benefits in a cooperative breeder
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Data from: Strategic reduction of help before dispersal in a cooperative breeder
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Data from: Strategic promiscuity helps avoid inbreeding at multiple levels in a cooperative breeder where both sexes are philopatric
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Female need for paternal care shapes variation in extra-pair paternity in a cooperative breeder
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Data from: Factors influencing dispersal initiation and timing in a facultative cooperative breeder
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Experimental predator intrusions in a cooperative breeder reveal threat-dependent task partitioning
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Data from: The price of associating with breeders in the cooperatively breeding chestnut-crowned babbler: foraging constraints, survival and sociality
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