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Variation in growth drives the duration of parental care : A test of Ydenberg’s model

Elliott, Kyle H. ; Linnebjerg, Jannie F. LU ; Burke, Chantelle ; Gaston, Anthony J. ; Mosbech, Anders ; Frederiksen, Morten and Merkel, Flemming R. (2017) In American Naturalist 189(5). p.526-538
Abstract

The duration of parental care in animals varies widely, from none to lifelong. Such variation is typically thought to represent a trade-off between growth and safety. Seabirds show wide variation in the age at which offspring leave the nest, making them ideal to test the idea that a trade-off between high energy gain at sea and high safety at the nest drives variation in departure age (Ydenberg’s model). To directly test the model assumptions, we attached time-depth recorders to murre parents (fathers [which do all parental care at sea] and mothers; N = 14 of each). Except for the initial mortality experienced by chicks departing from the colony, the mortality rate at sea was similar to the mortality rate at the colony. However, energy... (More)

The duration of parental care in animals varies widely, from none to lifelong. Such variation is typically thought to represent a trade-off between growth and safety. Seabirds show wide variation in the age at which offspring leave the nest, making them ideal to test the idea that a trade-off between high energy gain at sea and high safety at the nest drives variation in departure age (Ydenberg’s model). To directly test the model assumptions, we attached time-depth recorders to murre parents (fathers [which do all parental care at sea] and mothers; N = 14 of each). Except for the initial mortality experienced by chicks departing from the colony, the mortality rate at sea was similar to the mortality rate at the colony. However, energy gained by the chick per day was ∼2.1 times as high at sea compared with at the colony because the father spent more time foraging, since he no longer needed to spend time commuting to and from the colony. Compared with the mother, the father spent ∼2.6 times as much time diving per day and dived in lower-quality foraging patches. We provide a simple model for optimal departure date based on only (1) the difference in growth rate at sea relative to the colony and (2) the assumption that transition mortality from one life-history stage to the other is size dependent. Apparently, large variation in the duration of parental care can arise simply as a result of variation in energy gain without any trade-off with safety.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Common murre, Paternal care, Thick-billed murre, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia, Ydenberg’s model
in
American Naturalist
volume
189
issue
5
pages
13 pages
publisher
University of Chicago Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85018573431
ISSN
0003-0147
DOI
10.5061/dryad.kc65r
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7b7fbe6c-d70b-4e52-9b7e-4f4945381872
date added to LUP
2017-05-24 13:44:17
date last changed
2022-04-25 00:18:46
@article{7b7fbe6c-d70b-4e52-9b7e-4f4945381872,
  abstract     = {{<p>The duration of parental care in animals varies widely, from none to lifelong. Such variation is typically thought to represent a trade-off between growth and safety. Seabirds show wide variation in the age at which offspring leave the nest, making them ideal to test the idea that a trade-off between high energy gain at sea and high safety at the nest drives variation in departure age (Ydenberg’s model). To directly test the model assumptions, we attached time-depth recorders to murre parents (fathers [which do all parental care at sea] and mothers; N = 14 of each). Except for the initial mortality experienced by chicks departing from the colony, the mortality rate at sea was similar to the mortality rate at the colony. However, energy gained by the chick per day was ∼2.1 times as high at sea compared with at the colony because the father spent more time foraging, since he no longer needed to spend time commuting to and from the colony. Compared with the mother, the father spent ∼2.6 times as much time diving per day and dived in lower-quality foraging patches. We provide a simple model for optimal departure date based on only (1) the difference in growth rate at sea relative to the colony and (2) the assumption that transition mortality from one life-history stage to the other is size dependent. Apparently, large variation in the duration of parental care can arise simply as a result of variation in energy gain without any trade-off with safety.</p>}},
  author       = {{Elliott, Kyle H. and Linnebjerg, Jannie F. and Burke, Chantelle and Gaston, Anthony J. and Mosbech, Anders and Frederiksen, Morten and Merkel, Flemming R.}},
  issn         = {{0003-0147}},
  keywords     = {{Common murre; Paternal care; Thick-billed murre; Uria aalge; Uria lomvia; Ydenberg’s model}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{526--538}},
  publisher    = {{University of Chicago Press}},
  series       = {{American Naturalist}},
  title        = {{Variation in growth drives the duration of parental care : A test of Ydenberg’s model}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kc65r}},
  doi          = {{10.5061/dryad.kc65r}},
  volume       = {{189}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}