Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of recruitment, relatedness and cooperative breeding in two populations of long-tailed tits
AU - Sharp, Stuart P.
AU - Simeoni, Michelle
AU - McGowan, Andrew
AU - Nam, Ki-Baek
AU - Hatchwell, Ben J.
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - Cooperative breeding has evolved primarily in species in which individuals are organized into family groups, and kin selection is considered to be a major force in the evolution of helping behaviour. Family groups are generally thought to form through delayed or limited dispersal, but dispersal patterns vary considerably both between species and in different populations of the same species, and the relationship between dispersal, kinship and cooperation is poorly understood. In this study, we combined long-term observational and genetic data to compare the patterns of demography, kinship and helping in two populations of long-tailed tits, Aegithalos caudatus, a species that exhibits kin-biased helping by failed breeders but not delayed dispersal. Both populations had the same annual breeding success, but philopatric recruitment rates were significantly higher in one population, especially for females. This led to a correspondingly higher proportion of individuals having at least one close relative in that population. Surprisingly, however, there was no difference in the pattern of helping behaviour between the two populations in terms of helper prevalence, helper sex or the relatedness between helpers and the breeders they assisted. We discuss possible explanations and highlight the limitations of population-level analyses for understanding the relationship between demography and cooperation. (C) 2011 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - Cooperative breeding has evolved primarily in species in which individuals are organized into family groups, and kin selection is considered to be a major force in the evolution of helping behaviour. Family groups are generally thought to form through delayed or limited dispersal, but dispersal patterns vary considerably both between species and in different populations of the same species, and the relationship between dispersal, kinship and cooperation is poorly understood. In this study, we combined long-term observational and genetic data to compare the patterns of demography, kinship and helping in two populations of long-tailed tits, Aegithalos caudatus, a species that exhibits kin-biased helping by failed breeders but not delayed dispersal. Both populations had the same annual breeding success, but philopatric recruitment rates were significantly higher in one population, especially for females. This led to a correspondingly higher proportion of individuals having at least one close relative in that population. Surprisingly, however, there was no difference in the pattern of helping behaviour between the two populations in terms of helper prevalence, helper sex or the relatedness between helpers and the breeders they assisted. We discuss possible explanations and highlight the limitations of population-level analyses for understanding the relationship between demography and cooperation. (C) 2011 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Aegithalos caudatus
KW - REPRODUCTIVE SKEW
KW - long-tailed tit
KW - DISPERSAL
KW - BIRD
KW - cooperative breeding
KW - kinship
KW - VISCOUS POPULATIONS
KW - KIN SELECTION
KW - dispersal
KW - relatedness
KW - HELPING-BEHAVIOR
KW - helping
KW - VERTEBRATES
KW - recruitment
KW - AEGITHALOS-CAUDATUS
KW - GENETIC-STRUCTURE
KW - EVOLUTION
U2 - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.01.021
DO - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.01.021
M3 - Journal article
VL - 81
SP - 843
EP - 849
JO - Animal Behaviour
JF - Animal Behaviour
SN - 0003-3472
IS - 4
ER -