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The contribution of extra-pair paternity to the variation in lifetime and age-specific male reproductive success in a socially monogamous species

Raj Pant, Sara LU ; Versteegh, Maaike A. ; Hammers, Martijn ; Burke, Terry ; Dugdale, Hannah L. ; Richardson, David S. LU and Komdeur, Jan (2022) In Evolution 76(5). p.915-930
Abstract

In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity (EPP) is predicted to increase variance in male reproductive success (RS) beyond that resulting from genetic monogamy, thus, increasing the “opportunity for selection” (maximum strength of selection that can act on traits). This prediction is challenging to investigate in wild populations because lifetime reproduction data are often incomplete. Moreover, age-specific variances in reproduction have been rarely quantified. We analyzed 21 years of near-complete social and genetic reproduction data from an insular population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). We quantified EPP's contribution to lifetime and age-specific opportunities for selection in males. We compared... (More)

In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity (EPP) is predicted to increase variance in male reproductive success (RS) beyond that resulting from genetic monogamy, thus, increasing the “opportunity for selection” (maximum strength of selection that can act on traits). This prediction is challenging to investigate in wild populations because lifetime reproduction data are often incomplete. Moreover, age-specific variances in reproduction have been rarely quantified. We analyzed 21 years of near-complete social and genetic reproduction data from an insular population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). We quantified EPP's contribution to lifetime and age-specific opportunities for selection in males. We compared the variance in male genetic RS vs social (“apparent”) RS (RSap) to assess if EPP increased the opportunity for selection over that resulting from genetic monogamy. Despite not causing a statistically significant excess (19%) of the former over the latter, EPP contributed substantially (27%) to the variance in lifetime RS, similarly to within-pair paternity (WPP, 39%) and to the positive WPP-EPP covariance (34%). Partitioning the opportunity for selection into age-specific (co)variance components, showed that EPP also provided a substantial contribution at most ages, varying with age. Therefore, despite possibly not playing the main role in shaping sexual selection in Seychelles warblers, EPP provided a substantial contribution to the lifetime and age-specific opportunity for selection, which can influence evolutionary processes in age-structured populations.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Age-specific reproduction, extra-pair paternity, lifetime reproductive success, opportunity for selection, sexual selection, Seychelles warbler
in
Evolution
volume
76
issue
5
pages
16 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:35325482
  • scopus:85127686819
ISSN
0014-3820
DOI
10.1111/evo.14473
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c1712619-bcee-450e-88cf-b83047ab1643
date added to LUP
2022-06-28 14:33:39
date last changed
2024-06-12 06:25:45
@article{c1712619-bcee-450e-88cf-b83047ab1643,
  abstract     = {{<p>In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity (EPP) is predicted to increase variance in male reproductive success (RS) beyond that resulting from genetic monogamy, thus, increasing the “opportunity for selection” (maximum strength of selection that can act on traits). This prediction is challenging to investigate in wild populations because lifetime reproduction data are often incomplete. Moreover, age-specific variances in reproduction have been rarely quantified. We analyzed 21 years of near-complete social and genetic reproduction data from an insular population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). We quantified EPP's contribution to lifetime and age-specific opportunities for selection in males. We compared the variance in male genetic RS vs social (“apparent”) RS (RS<sub>ap</sub>) to assess if EPP increased the opportunity for selection over that resulting from genetic monogamy. Despite not causing a statistically significant excess (19%) of the former over the latter, EPP contributed substantially (27%) to the variance in lifetime RS, similarly to within-pair paternity (WPP, 39%) and to the positive WPP-EPP covariance (34%). Partitioning the opportunity for selection into age-specific (co)variance components, showed that EPP also provided a substantial contribution at most ages, varying with age. Therefore, despite possibly not playing the main role in shaping sexual selection in Seychelles warblers, EPP provided a substantial contribution to the lifetime and age-specific opportunity for selection, which can influence evolutionary processes in age-structured populations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Raj Pant, Sara and Versteegh, Maaike A. and Hammers, Martijn and Burke, Terry and Dugdale, Hannah L. and Richardson, David S. and Komdeur, Jan}},
  issn         = {{0014-3820}},
  keywords     = {{Age-specific reproduction; extra-pair paternity; lifetime reproductive success; opportunity for selection; sexual selection; Seychelles warbler}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{915--930}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Evolution}},
  title        = {{The contribution of extra-pair paternity to the variation in lifetime and age-specific male reproductive success in a socially monogamous species}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evo.14473}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/evo.14473}},
  volume       = {{76}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}