Dissertation
Sexual selection and reproductive allocation in prothonotary warblers
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
12/2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006010
Abstract
Historically, studies of sexual selection have focused on males, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that sexual selection acts on females as well. In male songbirds, plumage coloration is a sexually selected trait that functions in female mate choice and in competition among males for resources. In these species, females also display plumage coloration that could be acted on by sexual selection. Additionally, life history trade-offs such as the trade-off between parental and mating effort should be examined in both sexes given the connection to sexual selection. I examined plumage coloration in male and female prothonotary warblers to determine if it is a signal of quality used in mate choice and a signal of competitive ability. I also determined how males and females made trade-offs between parental and mating effort, as measured by their ability to produce colorful plumage after a costly reproductive event. I found no evidence for assortative pairing by plumage coloration, but males and females that were more pure yellow in plumage color initiated nests earlier in the season. Females with more pure yellow coloration had higher reproductive success at the first nest of the year. Males with more pure yellow coloration had larger clutches laid for them and extra-pair males were more pure yellow than the male that they cuckolded. Males and females that were more pure yellow in plumage coloration were able to obtain nest sites that were unlikely to be depredated. Females rearing an experimentally enlarged brood increased the amount and frequency of food delivery to nestlings whereas males did not. Females that reared an enlarged brood were unlikely to have a second brood and their future plumage coloration was unaffected by the manipulation. Males that reared an enlarged brood sired a smaller proportion of the offspring in their second brood and produced plumage coloration that was less pure yellow the next year. These results provide evidence that plumage coloration is a sexually selected trait in female as well as male prothonotary warblers, that it is condition-dependent in males, and that the costs of rearing an enlarged brood are sex specific.
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Details
- Title
- Sexual selection and reproductive allocation in prothonotary warblers
- Creators
- Michelle Lee Beck
- Contributors
- Michael S. Webster (Co-Chair)Hubertus Georg Schwabl (Co-Chair) - Washington State University, School of Biological SciencesAndrew Storfer (Committee Member) - Washington State University, School of Biological SciencesLaura C Lavine (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- School of Biological Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 163
- Identifiers
- 99901055121901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation