Sex ratio variation among broods of great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus
(1997) In Molecular Ecology 6(6). p.543-548- Abstract
- The sex of 746 great reed warbler fledglings (from 175 broods) was determined by the use of single primer polymerase-chain reaction. The reliability of the technique was confirmed as 104 of the fledglings were subsequently recorded as adults of known sex. The overall sex ratio did not differ from unity. Variation in sex ratios between broods was larger than expected from a binomial distribution. Female identity explained some of the variation of brood sex ratio indicating that certain females consistently produced sex ratios that departed from the average value in the population. The theory of sex allocation predicts that parents should adjust the sex ratio of their brood to the relative value of sons and daughters and this may vary in... (More)
- The sex of 746 great reed warbler fledglings (from 175 broods) was determined by the use of single primer polymerase-chain reaction. The reliability of the technique was confirmed as 104 of the fledglings were subsequently recorded as adults of known sex. The overall sex ratio did not differ from unity. Variation in sex ratios between broods was larger than expected from a binomial distribution. Female identity explained some of the variation of brood sex ratio indicating that certain females consistently produced sex ratios that departed from the average value in the population. The theory of sex allocation predicts that parents should adjust the sex ratio of their brood to the relative value of sons and daughters and this may vary in relation to the quality of the parents or to the time of breeding. In the great reed warbler, the proportion of sons was not related to time of breeding, or to any of five female variables. Of five male variables, males with early arrival date tended to produce more daughters. The sex ratio of fledglings that were a result of extra-pair fertilizations did not differ from that of legitimate fledglings. Hence, there is currently no evidence of that female great reed warblers invest in a higher proportion of sons when mated with attractive males. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1747763
- author
- Westerdahl, Helena LU ; Bensch, Staffan LU ; Hansson, Bengt LU ; Hasselquist, Dennis LU and von Schantz, Torbjörn LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 1997
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- cuckoldry, selection, frequency, manipulation, attractiveness, birds, genetic-markers, RAPD, size, song repertoire, sex ratios, sexual selection, polygyny, laying date
- in
- Molecular Ecology
- volume
- 6
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 543 - 548
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:0031009987
- ISSN
- 0962-1083
- DOI
- 10.1046/j.1365-294X.1997.00217.x
- project
- Long-term study of great reed warblers
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9b443050-7cb4-4ceb-b3ea-cd4ea993cda3 (old id 1747763)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:49:09
- date last changed
- 2024-02-23 09:01:53
@article{9b443050-7cb4-4ceb-b3ea-cd4ea993cda3, abstract = {{The sex of 746 great reed warbler fledglings (from 175 broods) was determined by the use of single primer polymerase-chain reaction. The reliability of the technique was confirmed as 104 of the fledglings were subsequently recorded as adults of known sex. The overall sex ratio did not differ from unity. Variation in sex ratios between broods was larger than expected from a binomial distribution. Female identity explained some of the variation of brood sex ratio indicating that certain females consistently produced sex ratios that departed from the average value in the population. The theory of sex allocation predicts that parents should adjust the sex ratio of their brood to the relative value of sons and daughters and this may vary in relation to the quality of the parents or to the time of breeding. In the great reed warbler, the proportion of sons was not related to time of breeding, or to any of five female variables. Of five male variables, males with early arrival date tended to produce more daughters. The sex ratio of fledglings that were a result of extra-pair fertilizations did not differ from that of legitimate fledglings. Hence, there is currently no evidence of that female great reed warblers invest in a higher proportion of sons when mated with attractive males.}}, author = {{Westerdahl, Helena and Bensch, Staffan and Hansson, Bengt and Hasselquist, Dennis and von Schantz, Torbjörn}}, issn = {{0962-1083}}, keywords = {{cuckoldry; selection; frequency; manipulation; attractiveness; birds; genetic-markers; RAPD; size; song repertoire; sex ratios; sexual selection; polygyny; laying date}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{6}}, pages = {{543--548}}, publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}}, series = {{Molecular Ecology}}, title = {{Sex ratio variation among broods of great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294X.1997.00217.x}}, doi = {{10.1046/j.1365-294X.1997.00217.x}}, volume = {{6}}, year = {{1997}}, }