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Territory Quality and Plumage Morph Predict Offspring Sex Ratio Variation in a Raptor

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Listed:
  • Nayden Chakarov
  • Martina Pauli
  • Anna-Katharina Mueller
  • Astrid Potiek
  • Thomas Grünkorn
  • Cor Dijkstra
  • Oliver Krüger

Abstract

Parents may adapt their offspring sex ratio in response to their own phenotype and environmental conditions. The most significant causes for adaptive sex-ratio variation might express themselves as different distributions of fitness components between sexes along a given variable. Several causes for differential sex allocation in raptors with reversed sexual size dimorphism have been suggested. We search for correlates of fledgling sex in an extensive dataset on common buzzards Buteo buteo, a long-lived bird of prey. Larger female offspring could be more resource-demanding and starvation-prone and thus the costly sex. Prominent factors such as brood size and laying date did not predict nestling sex. Nonetheless, lifetime sex ratio (LSR, potentially indicative of individual sex allocation constraints) and overall nestling sex were explained by territory quality with more females being produced in better territories. Additionally, parental plumage morphs and the interaction of morph and prey abundance tended to explain LSR and nestling sex, indicating local adaptation of sex allocation However, in a limited census of nestling mortality, not females but males tended to die more frequently in prey-rich years. Also, although females could have potentially longer reproductive careers, a subset of our data encompassing full individual life histories showed that longevity and lifetime reproductive success were similarly distributed between the sexes. Thus, a basis for adaptive sex allocation in this population remains elusive. Overall, in common buzzards most major determinants of reproductive success appeared to have no effect on sex ratio but sex allocation may be adapted to local conditions in morph-specific patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • Nayden Chakarov & Martina Pauli & Anna-Katharina Mueller & Astrid Potiek & Thomas Grünkorn & Cor Dijkstra & Oliver Krüger, 2015. "Territory Quality and Plumage Morph Predict Offspring Sex Ratio Variation in a Raptor," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0138295
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138295
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Juan Carranza, 2004. "Sex allocation within broods: the intrabrood sharing-out hypothesis," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 15(2), pages 223-232, March.
    2. M. Boerner & O. Krüger, 2009. "Aggression and fitness differences between plumage morphs in the common buzzard (Buteo buteo)," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 20(1), pages 180-185.
    3. L. Jacquin & C. Récapet & P. Bouche & G. Leboucher & J. Gasparini, 2012. "Melanin-based coloration reflects alternative strategies to cope with food limitation in pigeons," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 23(4), pages 907-915.
    4. Kirstin Janssen & Kjell Einar Erikstad & Staffan Bensch, 2006. "Offspring sex ratio allocation in the parasitic jaeger: selection for pale females and melanic males?," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 17(2), pages 236-245, March.
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