Temporal variation in fitness payoffs promotes cooperative breeding in long-tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus

The American Naturalist
Andrew D C MacColl, Ben J Hatchwell

Abstract

Cooperative breeding is paradoxical because some individuals forego independent reproduction and instead help others to reproduce. The ecological constraints model states that such behavior arises because of constraints on independent reproduction. Spatial variation in constraints has been shown to co-vary with the incidence of cooperative breeding in correlational and experimental studies. Here, we examine whether temporally variable ecological constraints can act in a similar way to promote cooperative breeding in the atypical system of long-tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus. In this species, individuals may switch reproductive tactics from breeding to helping within the same breeding season. Using 7 yr of field data, we show that reproductive success declined seasonally because of declines in brood size, nestling weight, and juvenile survival. The survival to breeding age of chicks from nests with helpers was higher than for chicks from nests without helpers, and since helpers usually helped at the nest of a close relative, they accrued inclusive fitness benefits. We used these data to model the expected fitness payoffs of breeding and helping at different times during the season. The model shows that late in the breeding seas...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 29, 2005·Nature·Stuart P SharpBen J Hatchwell
Jun 5, 2008·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Stuart P SharpBen J Hatchwell
Jun 11, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Ki-Baek NamBen J Hatchwell
Oct 7, 2009·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Ben J Hatchwell
Apr 2, 2014·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Ben J HatchwellMark J Adams
Jun 22, 2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Dustin R Rubenstein
Jul 16, 2016·Behavioral Ecology : Official Journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology·Harry H MarshallMichael A Cant
Oct 25, 2003·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Andrew D C MacColl, Ben J Hatchwell
Sep 17, 2013·Molecular Ecology·Stephanie A J PrestonBen J Hatchwell
Jan 26, 2013·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Ben J HatchwellJessica Meade
Jun 13, 2015·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Mark James AdamsBen J Hatchwell
Feb 11, 2011·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·K-B NamB J Hatchwell

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