Clutch size and malarial parasites in female great tits.
Details
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: Not specified
It was possible to publish this article open access thanks to a Swiss National Licence with the publisher.
Serval ID
serval:BIB_956A1F234009
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Clutch size and malarial parasites in female great tits.
Journal
Behavioral Ecology
ISSN
1045-2249
Publication state
Published
Issued date
1997
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
8
Number
2
Pages
148-152
Language
english
Abstract
Life-history models predict an evolutionary trade-off in the allocation of resources to current versus future reproduction. This corresponds, at the physiological level, to a trade-off in the allocation of resources to current reproduction or to the immune system, which will enhance survival and therefore future reproduction. For clutch size, life-history models predict a positive correlation between current measurement in eggs and the subsequent parasite load. Tn a population of great tits, we analyzed the correlation between natural clutch size of females and the subsequent prevalence of Plasmodium spp., a potentially harmful blood parasite. Females that showed, 14 days after hatching of the nestlings, an infection with Plasmodium had a significantly larger clutch (9.3 eggs +/- 0.5 SE, n = 18) than uninfected females (8.0 eggs +/- 0.2 SE, n = 80), as predicted by the allocation trade-off. Clutch size was positively correlated with tile prevalence of Plasmodium, but brood size 14 days after hatching was not. This suggests that females incur higher costs during laying the clutch than during rearing nestlings. Infection status of some females changed between years, and these changes were significantly correlated with a change in clutch size as predicted by die trade-off. The link between reproductive effort and parasitism may represent a possible mechanism by which the cost of egg production is mediated into future survival and may thereby be an important selective force in the shaping of clutch size.
Keywords
blood parasites, clutch size
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
24/01/2008 20:14
Last modification date
14/02/2022 8:56