J. Potti et al., Repeatability of parental effort in male and female Pied Flycatchers as measured with doubly labeled water, CAN J ZOOL, 77(1), 1999, pp. 174-179
Citations number
58
Categorie Soggetti
Animal Sciences
Journal title
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE ZOOLOGIE
Intensity df parental care is one of the critical factors affecting offspri
ng growth and final size and thus is a key variable in life-history evoluti
on. In the study population of Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca), it:wa
s previously shown that maternal daily energy expenditure was an important
source of variance in offspring size and likelihood of infection by blood p
arasites. Thus, energy expenditure may be considered a parental-performance
effect, and variation among females in the intensity of parental care they
provide might itself be influenced by genetic differences, affording the o
pportunity for evolutionary change. To address whether parental work load i
s a consistent trait and thus may retain additive genetic variance, the sam
e individuals were scored for mass-independent daily energy expenditure (DE
E): across two consecutive breeding seasons, while feeding nestlings close
to fledging: While DEE of females was significantly repeatable between year
s, this was not the case for males. DEE may retain additive genetic varianc
e in females; although its expression may be obscured in males by their les
s constrained activity budgets and lower confidence of paternity..