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124 results for “brood parasitism”
Brood parasites that care: alternative nesting tactics in a subsocial wasp
<div> <p>Hosts and brood parasites are a classic example of conflict. Parasites typically provide no offspring care after laying eggs, imposing costs on hosts. Female subsocial wasps, <em>Ammophila pubescens</em>, alternated between initiating their own nests and an 'intruder' tactic of replacing eggs in nests of unrelated conspecifics. Hosts could respond by substituting new eggs of their own, with up to eight reciprocal replacements. Remarkably, intruders usually provisioned offspring in host nests, often alongside hosts. We used field data to investigate why intruders provision and to understand the basis of interactions. We found that intruders could not increase their fitness payoffs by using the typical brood parasite tactic of not provisioning offspring. Intruders using the typical tactic would benefit when hosts provisioned in their stead, but their offspring would starve when hosts failed to provision. Although some hosts obtained positive payoffs when intruders mistakenly provisioned their offspring, on average utilizing a conspecific nest represents parasitism: hosts pay costs while intruders benefit. Both females used the same tactic of egg replacement, but intruders more often laid the final egg. Selection should favour better discrimination of offspring, which could lead to repeated cycles of costly egg replacement.</p> </div>
Fig. 1 in Natural And Artificial Scents Do Not Increase Egg Rejection Rates Of Model Brood Parasitic Eggs By American Robins (Turdus Migratorius)
Fig. 1. Experimental clutches of American Robins, each with a robin-blue (mimetic; left) or a deep-blue (non-mimetic; right) model egg 3D printed in the size, shape, and weight of
Wood duck nest survival and duckling recruitment is minimally affected by interspecific brood parasitism from hooded mergansers and black-bellied whistling-ducks
<p>In the southeastern United States, wood ducks (<em>Aix sponsa</em>) have historically experienced interspecific brood parasitism (IBP) primarily from hooded mergansers (<em>Lophodytes cucullatus</em>), but the recent northward expansion of black-bellied whistling-ducks (<em>Dendrocygna autumnalis</em>) has added a new complexity to these interactions. We monitored nest boxes in Louisiana to evaluate the influence IBP had on wood duck daily nest survival rate (after, DSR) and duckling recruitment. We monitored 1,295 wood duck nests from 2020−2023 and found 112 (8.7%) were parasitized by hooded mergansers and 148 (11.5%) by whistling-ducks. Parasitic egg-laying by hooded mergansers lowered wood duck DSR, while DSR for nests parasitized by whistling-ducks was comparable to clutches containing only wood duck eggs. We considered the wood duck capture histories of 2,465 marked female ducklings and 540 banded adult females to estimate a duckling recruitment probability for the entire study period. We recaptured 50 ducklings as adults; 6 (12.0%) hatched from clutches parasitized by hooded mergansers, 1 (2.0%) from a clutch parasitized by a whistling-duck, and 43 (86.0%) from clutches containing only wood duck eggs. The duckling recruitment probability was 0.039 (95% credible interval = 0.028, 0.051). Nest initiation date had a negative effect on recruitment, wherein most recruits hatched from nests initiated earlier in the season. Given only ~9% of wood duck nests contained hooded merganser eggs, we conclude IBP writ large had no detrimental effect on DSR at a population level. The lower DSR of clutches parasitized by hooded mergansers is potentially linked to a high abundance of early-season parasites that produce "dump nests" and these clutches are often abandoned without being incubated. Despite ongoing parasitism by hooded mergansers and the range expansion of whistling-ducks, wood duck productivity in Louisiana appears to be minimally affected by interspecific brood parasitism.</p>
Are urbanization and brood parasitism associated with differences in telomere lengths in song sparrows?
<p>Urbanization reflects a major form of environmental change impacting wild birds globally. Whereas urban habitats may provide increased availability of water, some food items, and reduced predation levels compared to rural, they can also present novel stressors including increased light at night, ambient noise, and reduced nutrient availability. Urbanization can also alter levels of brood parasitism, with some host species experiencing elevated levels of brood parasitism in urban areas compared to rural areas. Though the demographic and behavioral consequences of urbanization and brood parasitism have received considerable attention, their consequences for cellular-level processes are less understood. Telomeres provide an opportunity to understand the cellular consequences of different environments as they are a well-established metric of biological state that can be associated with residual lifespan, disease risk, and behaviour, and are known to be sensitive to environmental conditions. Here we examine the relationships between urbanization, brood parasitism, and blood telomere lengths in adult and nestling song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Song sparrows are a North American songbird found in both urban and rural habitats that experience high rates of brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) in the urban, but not the rural, sites in our study system. Among adults and nestlings from non-parasitized nests, we found no differences in relative telomere lengths between urban and rural habitats. However, among urban nestlings, the presence of a brood parasite in the nest was associated with significantly shorter relative telomere lengths compared to when a brood parasite was absent. Our results suggest a novel, indirect, impact of urbanization on nestling songbirds through the physiological impacts of brood parasitism.</p>
Data for: Brood parasitism of Hooded Warblers by Brown-headed Cowbirds: Severe impact on individual nests but modest consequences for seasonal fecundity and conservation
<div> <div> <div> <div> <p>Brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (<em>Molothrus ater</em>) often has pronounced negative effects on host nests. However, the extent to which parasitism reduces annual reproduction and presents conservation challenges for host species is unclear. We address this issue with data from a color-banded population of Hooded Warblers (<em>Setophaga citrina</em>) in Pennsylvania, where Hooded Warblers have increased dramatically despite frequent nest parasitism. Our analysis is based on both an extensive dataset (8 years, 847 nests) on the per-nest impacts of cowbird parasitism, and female-based stochastic simulations that accurately reflect the reproductive biology and parasitism rate (30%) of our study population. Cowbird parasitism has multiple negative consequences for Hooded Warbler nests, including: (1) reduced host clutch size, (2) increased nest abandonment, (3) increased risk of complete failure due to predation, and (4) in surviving nests increased egg loss, hatching failure, and nestling mortality. We estimate that parasitism reduces success of Hooded Warbler nests 68%, from 1.29 to 0.41 fledglings per nest. For females and populations, however, the consequences of nest parasitism are considerably less extreme; female annual fecundity decreases 25% for each nesting attempt parasitized, and population-level fecundity drops 5.6% for each 10% increase in the frequency of parasitism. These more modest impacts are attributable to: (1) steep declines in rates of cowbird parasitism as the nesting season progresses, (2) rapid re-nesting following abandonment or failure of parasitized nests, and (3) regular double brooding, with second broods initiated in late June and July when the incidence of cowbird parasitism is low. Our results help resolve the paradox of how cowbird parasitism can have both severe consequences for individual host nests but more modest and sustainable conservation impacts on the seasonal fecundity of females and populations. They further underscore the importance of determining population-level effects of brood parasites before investing in costly management efforts.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div>
Rapid evolution of a brood parasite's egg pattern does not lead to large increases in mimetic fidelity
<p>In coevolutionary mimicry systems, mimics evolve to resemble models. When model fitness is reduced by close mimicry (such as when models are hosts and mimics are brood parasites), selection should drive mimics to evolve greater similarity to models over time, and models to evolve away from mimics ('chase-away evolution'), potentially resulting in mimetic fidelity remaining constant over time. Evidence for reciprocal evolution of models and mimics and its effect on mimetic fidelity is limited, however, likely because long-term data are required to observe such trends. Here, we test for these dynamics in an avian brood parasite system. The brood-parasitic cuckoo finch (Anomalospiza imberbis) lays eggs which mimic those of its host, the tawny-flanked prinia (Prinia subflava). In defence, prinias have evolved complex egg patterns which facilitate recognition of parasitic eggs. Prinia egg patterns are more complex than cuckoo finch egg patterns, and so selection should favour elevated complexity in parasite eggs (i.e. mimics evolving towards models) and even greater complexity in host eggs (i.e. models evolving away from mimics). Using a dataset spanning 50 years, we show that egg pattern complexity has indeed increased in both species over this time period, reflecting rapid adaptive evolution of both models and mimics. Both species have evolved at similar rates. Accordingly, we find no detectible increase in mimetic fidelity over time. Thus, host evolution can counteract even rapid parasite evolution, and result in the persistence of imperfect mimicry.</p>
Combined measures of mimetic fidelity explain imperfect mimicry in a brood parasite–host system
<p>The persistence of imperfect mimicry in nature presents a challenge to mimicry theory. Some hypotheses for the existence of imperfect mimicry make differing predictions depending on how mimetic fidelity is measured. Here, we measure mimetic fidelity in a brood parasite–host system using both trait-based and response-based measures of mimetic fidelity. Cuckoo finches <em>Anomalospiza</em> <em>imberbis</em> lay imperfectly mimetic eggs that lack the fine scribbling characteristic of eggs of the tawny-flanked prinia <em>Prinia</em> <em>subflava</em>, a common host species. A trait-based discriminant analysis based on Minkowski functionals—that use geometric and topological morphometric methods related to egg pattern shape and coverage—reflects this consistent difference between host and parasite eggs. These methods could be applied to quantify other phenotypes including stripes and waved patterns. Furthermore, by painting scribbles onto cuckoo finch eggs and testing their rate of rejection compared to control eggs (i.e. a response-based approach to quantify mimetic fidelity), we show that prinias do not discriminate between eggs based on the absence of scribbles. Overall, our results support relaxed selection on cuckoo finches to mimic scribbles, since prinias do not respond differently to eggs with and without scribbles, despite the existence of this consistent trait difference.</p>
Low incidence of sibling cannibalism among brood parasitic cuckoo catfish embryos
<p>Brood parasites have demanding needs of host resources. Brood parasitic offspring are highly competitive and frequently cause the failure of host broods and the survival of a single parasitic offspring. Accordingly, virulent brood parasites lay single eggs in host nests to minimize multiple parasitism and ensuing sibling competition. In the cuckoo catfish (<em>Synodontis multipunctatus</em>), which parasitise mouthbrooding cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika, the modes of host and parasite oviposition lead to frequent cases of multiple parasitism. We experimentally tested the prediction that multiple parasitism leads to frequent siblicide. Cuckoo catfish embryos prey upon host offspring to obtain nourishment during their 3-week development in the host buccal cavity and may also consume conspecific siblings. The potential benefits of siblicide in the system are, therefore, twofold: to decrease competition for limited resources (i.e. host brood with rich yolk sacs) and to directly obtain nourishment by consuming rivals. We found that sibling cannibalism indeed provided measurable benefits in terms of increased growth of the cannibals, but sibling cannibalism was rare and typically occurred only when all host offspring had been consumed. This implies that cannibalism in the cuckoo catfish embryos emerges to mitigate starvation rather than eliminate sibling competition. </p>
Lack of host specialization despite selective host use in brood parasitic cuckoo catfish
<p><span>Host-parasite dynamics involves coevolutionary arms races, commonly leading to host specialization. General understanding of evolutionary trajectories of specialization in brood parasites is compromised by restricted focus on bird and insect lineages. We studied host utilization and host specificity in a natural population of the cuckoo catfish (<em>Synodontis multipunctatus</em>) which is an obligate parasite of parental care of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika. On a sample of 779 host broods from 20 cichlid species, we detected four host species (with prevalence of parasitism of 2-18%). Phylogenetic analysis based on genomic (ddRAD sequencing) and mitochondrial (Dloop) data from cuckoo catfish embryos showed an absence of host-specific lineages, despite former indications of two morphological forms of the cuckoo catfish. This was corroborated by analyses of genetic structure and co-ancestry matrix. All host species were from the tribe Tropheini, maternal mouthbrooders that spawn over a substrate (rather than in open water). Parasitized host individuals carried smaller clutches (as cuckoo catfish prey on cichlid eggs), but did not differ in their body size or habitat use from non-parasitized conspecifics. We conclude that the cuckoo catfish is an intermediate generalist, selecting a subset of available cichlid species as hosts but not forming host-specific lineages. Brood parasitism in the cuckoo catfish arose in a lineage which lacks any parental care and we discuss costs and benefits of host specialization in this species and brood parasites in general.</span></p>
Data from: Wood ducks and hooded mergansers as interspecific brood parasites: An evaluation of parasitic egg survival
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Group intrusions by a brood parasitic fish are competitive not cooperative
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Combined measures of mimetic fidelity explain imperfect mimicry in a brood parasite–host system
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Low incidence of sibling cannibalism among brood parasitic cuckoo catfish embryos
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Are urbanization and brood parasitism associated with differences in telomere lengths in song sparrows?
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Data from: Costly conspicuousness reveals benefits of sexual dimorphism in brood parasitic diederik cuckoos
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Wood duck nest survival and duckling recruitment is minimally affected by interspecific brood parasitism from hooded mergansers and black-bellied whistling-ducks
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Brood parasites that care: alternative nesting tactics in a subsocial wasp
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Data for: Brood parasitism of Hooded Warblers by Brown-headed Cowbirds: Severe impact on individual nests but modest consequences for seasonal fecundity and conservation
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Lack of host specialization despite selective host use in brood parasitic cuckoo catfish
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Data from: A seasonal shift in offspring sex ratio of the brood parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
<p>Avian obligate brood parasites do not provide parental care for their eggs and young, and may therefore serve as a strong model system to test predictions of evolutionary sex-allocation theories, independent of parental modulation of primary sex ratios. However, none of the handful of previous studies examining offspring sex ratio in brood parasitic birds have revealed a bias from parity at the level of the female parasite, the host species, or temporal scale(s). This is also surprising, because in at least one brood parasite, the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), adult sex ratios are consistently and heavily male-biased. Here we used a large database of embryonic and nestling cowbirds' genetic sex ratios collected from nests of a single host species, the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) to assess potential overall, temporal, and individual patterns of bias. Contrary to previous findings, we documented an increase in the calculated male sex ratios later in the breeding season. There was no effect of whether embryos or nestlings were sampled, implying a lack of host parental effect on shifting the primary-to-secondary sex ratios of brood parasitic offspring. Future work should explore the sex-specific survival and recruitment pattern of fledgling cowbirds raised by this and other host species to reconcile theoretical and empirical predictions and patterns.</p>
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