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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
A silver spoon for a golden future: Long-term effects of natal origin on fitness prospects of oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus)
Journal of Animal Ecology, Volume 75, No. 2, Year 2006
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Description
1. Long-term effects of conditions during early development on fitness are important for life history evolution and population ecology. Using multistrata mark-recapture models on 20 years of data, we quantified the relation between rearing conditions and lifetime fitness in a long-lived shorebird, the oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). We addressed specifically the relative contribution of short- and long-term effects of rearing conditions to overall fitness consequences. 2. Rearing conditions were defined by differences in natal habitat quality, in which there is a clear dichotomy in our study population. In the first year of life, fledglings from high-quality natal origin had a 1.3 times higher juvenile survival. Later in life (age 3-11), individuals of high-quality natal origin had a 1.6 times higher adult prebreeder survival. The most striking effect of natal habitat quality was that birds that were reared on high-quality territories had a higher probability of settling in high-quality habitat (44% vs. 6%). Lifetime reproductive success of individuals born in high-quality habitat was 2.2 times higher than that of individuals born in low-quality habitat. This difference increased further when fitness was calculated over several generations, due to a correlation between the quality of rearing conditions of parents and their offspring. 3. Long-term effects of early conditions contributed more to overall fitness differences as short-term consequences, contrary to common conceptions on this issue. 4. This study illustrates that investigating only short-term effects of early conditions can lead to the large underestimation of fitness consequences. We discuss how long-term consequences of early conditions may affect settlement decisions and source-sink population interactions. © 2006 British Ecological Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Van De Pol, Martijn
Netherlands, Groningen
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Bruinzeel, Leo W.
Netherlands, Groningen
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Heg, D.
Netherlands, Groningen
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Switzerland, Bern
University of Bern
van der Jeugd, Henk P.
Netherlands, Groningen
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Verhulst, Simon
Netherlands, Groningen
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Statistics
Citations: 219
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01079.x
e-ISSN:
13652656
Research Areas
Sexual And Reproductive Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study