Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2018-05-03T13:08:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PAULA LUÍSA LIMA MELO DE BARROS.pdf: 594432 bytes, checksum: ea4a8441afae247d5c1c38102db155ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-03T13:08:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PAULA LUÍSA LIMA MELO DE BARROS.pdf: 594432 bytes, checksum: ea4a8441afae247d5c1c38102db155ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-15 / The present study aimed to evaluate the beliefs about parental practices to the premature newborn from the perspective of the caregiver mothers of the outskirts of the city of Guanambi / BA. This is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach. We interviewed 30 mothers of premature newborns, registered in the Basic Unit of the Municipality of Guanambi / BA. Three questionnaires were applied: a sociodemographic, beliefs about parental practices and a qualitative instrument. The data were evaluated using descriptive and comparative statistics. The results identified that sociodemographic factors and prematurity influence the adoption of specific parental practices for each context. The main practices adopted by the mothers studied were face-to-face contact, with an average of 8.5 (+2.6), and body stimulation, with 6.8 (+0.8) points. Mothers were the ones who took care of their children at home (36.7%), followed by grandparents (26.7%). The frequency of prenatal consultations was 93.3%, but 70.0% never participated in any type of support group and exchange of experiences. The main guidelines given to mothers during prenatal care were on vaccines (73.3%). The guidelines offered during prenatal care were classified by mothers as very important (83.3%), but they did not identify any professionals responsible for promoting the link between the family and the FHT. More than half (56.7%) of the participants did not feel prepared to take care of their children at home, as they felt fear (53.3%) and insecurity (33.3%). Mothers did not perceive a relevant contribution from the FHS (66.6%); reported family interferences regarding newborn care, but they saw this interference as positive (33.0%). It was concluded that social, cultural, environmental and, above all, prematurity contexts interfered in the adoption of parental styles and perception of parenthood. The need for new studies to increase knowledge that subsidize effective public policies with an emphasis on the care of premature newborns and the context in which they are inserted is emphasized. / O presente estudo objetivou avaliar as crenças sobre as práticas parentais ao recémnascido prematuro na perspectiva das mães cuidadoras de bairros periféricos da cidade de Guanambi/BA. Trata-se se um estudo de caráter exploratório com abordagem qualiquantitativa. Foram entrevistadas 30 mães de recém-nascido prematuro, cadastradas na Unidade Básica do Município de Guanambi/BA. Foram aplicados três questionários: um sociodemográfico, crenças sobre as práticas parentais e um instrumento qualitativo. Os dados foram avaliados com uso de estatística descritiva e comparativa. Os resultados identificaram que os fatores sociodemográficos e a prematuridade apresentam influência na adoção de práticas parentais específicas para cada contexto. As principais práticas adotadas pelas mães estudadas foram o contato face a face, com a média de 8,5 (+2,6), e a estimulação corporal, com 6,8 (+0,8) pontos. As mães foram as que mais cuidaram dos seus filhos em domicílio (36,7%), seguidas das avós (26,7%). A frequência de consultas de pré-natal foi de 93,3%, mas 70,0% nunca participaram de nenhum tipo de grupo de apoio e troca de experiências. As principais orientações dadas às mães durante o pré-natal foram sobre vacinas (73,3%). As orientações oferecidas durante o pré-natal foram classificadas pelas mães como muito importantes (83,3%), porém elas não identificaram nenhum profissional responsável por promover o elo entre a família e a ESF. Mais da metade (56,7%) das participantes não se sentiram preparadas para cuidar dos seus filhos em domicílio, pois sentiram medo (53,3%) e insegurança (33,3%). As mães não perceberam contribuição relevante por parte da ESF (66,6%); relataram interferências dos familiares quanto aos cuidados ao recém-nascido, porém viram tal interferência como positiva (33,0%). Concluiu-se que os contextos sociais, culturais, ambientais e, sobretudo, a prematuridade, interferiram na adoção de estilos parentais e percepção da parentalidade. Ressalta-se a necessidade de novos estudos para ampliação do conhecimento que subsidiem políticas públicas efetivas com ênfase no cuidado ao recém-nascido prematuro e o contexto em que estão inseridos.

Parental care is important to offspring survival in many species. Because care benefits young and is often costly to parents, it can generate fitness trade-offs that influence the evolution of family life. In particular, interactions within families are predicted to generate variation in care, which in turn causes selection on traits used to give, receive, and influence care. My dissertation examines whether such socially dynamic processes have influenced the evolution of parental and embryo behavior in glassfrogs (Centrolenidae). These Neotropical frogs have terrestrial eggs, aquatic larvae, and multiple origins of male-only care. Embryos can plastically alter hatching age, which might allow them to adaptively respond to variation in egg care. I test for parent–embryo coevolution by combining field observations (40 species), experiments (8 species), and phylogenetic comparative analyses. First, I test historical and functional hypotheses of parental care evolution. I found that uniparental egg-care is ubiquitous in centrolenids, can be provided by either sex, and benefits young. Elaborate male-only care evolved repeatedly from simpler female-only care, a pattern consistent with constraints on female-care levels. Second, I examine the diversification of male-only care, testing whether maternal changes to egg-clutch traits influence embryo dependency and if such changes are associated with male-only care. Evidence indicates that reduced female expenditure on egg-jelly evolved with, and increases the importance of, elaborate male care. Next, I evaluate whether embryos respond to behavioral and evolutionary changes in parenting. Embryos behaviorally delay hatching when parents continue caring, and evidence indicates that evolutionary increases in hatching plasticity evolved with increases in care duration. I tested if male mating success causes variation in male care, and thereby influences embryo behavior. I found that increased mating success extends male care, making nests safer, and embryos delay hatching accordingly. Finally, I examine selective tradeoffs influencing hatching plasticity by measuring hatchling phenotypes and fitness correlates. Across species, delayed hatching provides performance benefits during the larval stage. Overall, my work reveals coevolutionary interactions among mothers, fathers, and embryos. It supports that embryos respond to parentally mediated changes in egg environments and elucidates how family life alters selection on parental and embryo traits.

Family-living has been recognized as a necessary prerequisite for the evolution of advanced cooperative societies, yet the evolutionary and ecological processes that drive the coupling of different forms of cooperation in family-based societies are still poorly understood. In my dissertation, I investigate the correlated evolution of parental care, monogamy, and cooperative breeding in a variety of family-based taxa. I explore the mating and social behavior of family-living beetles with incipient cooperation to better understand the factors driving these social traits. Specifically, I evaluate different causes of extra-pair mating in socially monogamous beetles, the potential benefits that young adult offspring may gain from remaining in the family group, and how these behaviors correspond to different ecological niches. These studies demonstrated that many of the factors predicted to favor family-living in cooperatively breeding animals fail to explain delayed dispersal and family cohesion in this beetle group. In a phylogenetic comparative study of birds, I further evaluate how ecological selective pressures drive the correlated evolution of monogamy, biparental cooperation, and cooperative breeding. Taken together, these studies have implications for our general understanding of the evolution of cooperation, and suggest the action of previously unrecognized processes in shaping and pairing social behaviors.

Male pregnancy is a complex and energetically costly form of male parental care found exclusively in the fish family Syngathidae, which includes pipefishes, seahorses, and seadragons. The novelty of the male brood pouch raises questions about how this trait evolved and what role it plays in sexual selection. One possibility is that brood pouch evolution was partially shaped by postcopulatory sexual selection. We used the sexually dimorphic Gulf pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli, to test for postcopulatory sexual selection within broods and tradeoffs between successive male pregnancies as a function of female attractiveness. Offspring survivorship within a pregnancy was affected by the size of a male's mate, the number of eggs transferred, and the male's mating history. These results indicate the males invest more resources into broods from large, attractive mates to the detriment of future broods. Next, we investigated the effects of food limitation on male parental care strategies. Our data suggests that male Gulf pipefish sacrifice investment in future reproduction, via somatic growth, in favor of current reproduction. A positive relationship between number of failed eggs and male growth rate in our low-food treatments suggests that males may derive an energetic benefit from unsuccessful eggs in the brood pouch. Finally, we used a paired design, to investigate the effect of perceived female attractiveness on offspring survivorship. We found that, in general, males prefer the largest female available. Within a replicate, we found that the male that preferred their mate more, regardless of stimulus female size, also had higher offspring survivorship in the resulting brood. This result is exciting because it shows not only that cryptic male choice affects offspring survivorship in Gulf pipefish but also that mate preference can have a prolonged effect on an individual’s reproductive success. Ultimately, our data suggests that the evolution of the brood pouch has produced a trait that not only nurtures the offspring but also exert cryptic male choice.

<p>A long-held assumption in animal behavior is that females and males differ fundamentally in their mating strategies. Females are thought to be more choosy because female reproduction typically is limited by parental investment. Males, on the other hand, are expected to compete among themselves for access to females or resources, since male reproduction is limited primarily by mating access. This dichotomy is challenged by the increasing realization that males can be choosy and females also compete aggressively. It remains unclear, however, if and how selection acts on aggressive behavior in the context of intrasexual competition among females (reviewed in Chapter 1). In this thesis, I use a population of free-living tree swallows (<i>Tachycineta bicolor<i>) to test predictions about the selective pressures shaping aggressive behavior in females. First, using an experimental manipulation of nest site availability, I demonstrate that more aggressive females have a competitive edge in acquiring nestboxes, a critical limiting resource required for breeding (Chapter 2). This result shows that more aggressive females are more likely to breed and, thus, that females experience direct selection to be aggressive in the context of competition for mating opportunities. Next, I demonstrate a fitness cost of female aggression (Chapter 3): high levels of aggression in females are not associated with the quantity of offspring, but instead, more aggressive females had offspring of lower quality (i.e. reduced mass). Using a cross-fostering approach, I explore the causal link between female aggression and offspring mass, and I find that a trade-off between female aggression and maternal care best accounts for this cost of aggression. Site differences may create variation in how selection shapes female aggression, but the overall finding that more aggressive females have lower quality offspring indicates that this cost may work counter to selection favoring aggressive behavior in the context of competition over nestboxes. Understanding the evolution of female aggressiveness in a biparental system is incomplete without examining how males may alter the selective environment shaping female behavior. In Chapter 4, I explore the potential role of a female's mate in offsetting the costs of aggression. Males appear to mitigate these costs for their female partners, but not by compensating for poor parenting by aggressive females. Instead, females invest more heavily in reproduction, laying more and larger eggs, when mated to a male that is more different from her own phenotype. If this differential investment outweighs the cost of aggressiveness in terms of offspring quality, then male phenotype may play a key role in understanding the selective pressures shaping the evolution of aggressive behavior in females. Altogether, this dissertation explores the costs and benefits of female aggressive behavior. The focus on aggressiveness as a sexually selected trait in females provides a much needed parallel to the wealth of information already known about the selective pressures shaping sexually selected traits in males.</p> / Dissertation

The sexes have different life histories that can influence their parental care strategies. I studied northern flicker, Colaptes auratus, parents and simultaneously radio-tracked mates during the nestling and post-fledging periods. I tested hypotheses about sex differences in parental care strategies by examining foraging patterns, provisioning effort and habitat use. Males and females used the same microhabitats, but avoided overlap of their foraging areas on the home range consistent with the hypothesis that mates separate the home range to reduce competition. During temporary (i.e., 24 hr) brood size manipulations, both parents decreased provisioning to reduced broods, but did not increase provisioning to enlarged broods or alter their foraging pattern on the landscape. I suggest flickers were energy limited and were incapable or unwilling to respond to increased brood demands. During the post-fledging period, males spent more time near their fledglings, and cared for their fledglings longer than females (16 days versus 12 days, respectively). Approximately 36% of females abandoned their brood in the post-fledging period and females with high levels of feather corticosterone were more likely to abandon. Older males and those with high provisioning rates in the nestling period fed their fledglings longer. Nearly 45% of fledglings died within the first week after leaving the nest, but survival was higher for fledglings with intermediate body mass and those that occupied areas of dense cover. Families moved a greater distance from the nest during the first 4 days post-fledging when there was less tree cover within 250 m of the nest site. Parents brought fledglings to areas with dense vegetation within the first week post-fledging, but subsequently shifted to open grassland habitats. My results show that parents invest in their offspring indirectly by taking them to habitats that increase survival. This research stresses the importance of studying parental care during the post-fledging period to gain a more complete understanding of the total parental investment of males versus females and how each sex may react differently to trade-offs between investing in the current brood versus self-maintenance.

This thesis concerns genomic variation within the Annelida, for which genome size studies are few and provide data for only a handful of groups. Genome size estimates were generated using Feulgen image analysis densitometry for 35 species of leeches and 61 polychaete species. Relationships were explored utilizing collection location and supplementary biological data from external sources. A novel, inverse correlation between genome size and maximum adult body size was found across all leeches. Leeches that provide parental care had significantly larger genome sizes than leeches that do not. Additionally, specimens identified as Nephelopsis obscura exhibited geographic genome size variation. Within the Polychaeta, Polar region polychaete genomes were significantly larger than those of Atlantic and Pacific polychaetes. These studies represent the first exploration of leech genome sizes, and provide base evidence for numerous future studies to examine relationships between genome size and life history traits across and within different annelid groups.

Das Tierreich zeichnet sich durch eine große Diversität an Sozialsystemen aus, die von einer einzelgängerischen Lebensweise bis hin zum Leben in komplexen sozialen Gruppen reicht. Diese Variation in Sozialsystemen liefert den perfekten Rahmen um die evolutionäre Entwicklung von sozialen Merkmalen zu untersuchen. Ein besonders erfolgsversprechender Ansatz besteht darin, eng verwandte Arten, die sich durch einen unterschiedlichen Grad der Vergesellschaftung auszeichnen, miteinander zu vergleichen. Die Charaktersierung von Sozialsystemen wird für verschiedene taxonomische Gruppen unterschiedlich gehandhabt. Bei Vögeln wird das Sozialsystem normalerweise durch das Brut- und das soziale Paarungssystem charakterisiert. Die meisten Vogelarten sind paarlebend, aber man findet auch komplexere Gruppen welche im Allgemeinen durch das Verbleiben der Jungen am Aufwuchsort und kooperatives Brüten charakterisiert sind. Bisher wurden verschiedene Hypothesen im Zusammenhang mit Demographie, Ökologie, Lebensgeschichte und Verwandtschaftsverhältnissen vorgeschlagen um den Übergang von Paarbrütern zu kooperativen Brutsystemen in Vögeln erklären. Kurzfuß-Stelzenrallen (Mesitornis variegata) sind mittelgroße, am Boden lebende Vögel, die zur Familie der Mesitornithidae gehören. Diese Vogelfamilie ist endemisch in Madagaskar und beinhaltet zwei weitere allopatrische Arten, welche sich hinsichtlich des Grades der Vergesellschaftung unterscheiden: Die Einfarb-Stelzenralle (Mesitornis unicolor) des östlichen Regenwaldes welche in Paaren brütet und die Monias-Stelzenralle (Monias benschi) des südlichen Dornenwaldes welche in Gruppen lebt und kooperativ brütet. Die Kurzfuß-Stelzenralle hingegen kommt im westlichen Trockenwald vor und lebt für gewöhnlich in Paaren oder kleinen Gruppen von denen angenommen wird, dass es sich um Familiengruppen handelt, wobei allerdings nur wenig Informationen über das Brutsystem vorhanden ist und bisher keine Studie die genetischen Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse innerhalb der kleinen sozialen Einheiten untersucht hat. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit war es erstens die verschiedenen Komponenten des Sozialsystems der Kurzfuß-Stelzenrallen zu beschreiben, ein Art für welche bisher angenommen wurde das sie kooperativ brütet, deren Jungen jedoch Nestflüchter sind und prinzipiell nur wenig elterliche Fürsorge benötigen. Zweitens sollten die proximaten und ultimativen Ursachen untersucht werden, die dieses Sozialsystem geformt haben könnten. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen habe ich genetische, morphologische, räumliche sowie Verhaltensdaten von 10 bis 15 sozialen Einheiten von M. Variegate während fünf Feldsaisonen (Oktober 2009 bis April 2012) im Kirindy-Wald im Westen von Madagaskar gesammelt. Das Ergebnis dieser Studie zeigt, dass die Kurzfuß-Stelzenralle in sehr kohäsiven stabilen Paaren oder kleinen Familien lebt, die durch eine verspätete Abwanderung der Jungtiere entstehen, und dass nur die Elterntiere sich um die Aufzucht der Brut kümmern. Außerdem versorgen die Eltern ihre Jungen entgegen bisherigen Vermutungen in den ersten zwei Lebensmonaten intensiv mit Nahrung, und auch darüber hinaus bis zum 12. Lebensmonat obwohl mit viel geringerer Häufigkeit. Diese lange Periode der elterlichen Fürsorge hängt wahrscheinlich mit der langsamen Entwicklung der Jungtiere hinsichtlich der für die Nahrungssuche erforderlichen Fertigkeiten zusammen. Die hohe Kohäsion sozialer Einheiten mit inter-individuellen Abständen von selten mehr als drei Metern steht eher mit einer Strategie der Raubfeindvermeidung als einer Strategie zur Verhinderung des Fremdgehens in Verbindung. Dennoch kann die hohe Kohäsion zwischen Paarpartnern das streng monogame Paarungssystem erklären. Die Untersuchung des Abwanderungsverhaltens hat ergeben, dass männliche Nachkommen länger in ihren Familien bleiben als weibliche, was mit der beobachteten langsameren Fluktuation der erwachsenen männlichen Population und dem Vorhandensein von „Stiefmüttern“ in einigen Familien übereinstimmt. Darüber hinaus konnte ich durch den Vergleich von Paaren mit und ohne Nachwuchs zeigen, dass Familienleben für die Eltern hinsichtlich der Effizienz der Nahrungsbeschaffung und hinsichtlich der Investitionen in zukünftige Reproduktion kostspielig ist. Dies könnte die Intoleranz der Eltern gegenüber älteren Nachwuchs erklären, welche ich beobachten habe. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass die Einschränkungen bezüglich unabhängigen Brütens und einzelgängerischen Umherstreifens in Kombination mit der langsamen Entwicklung der Fähigkeiten die im Zusammenhange mit der Nahrungsbeschaffung stehen und elterliche Kosten wichtige Faktoren sind, welche das Abwanderungsverhalten der Jungtiere, die Bildung von Familien und die Familienstabilität in dieser Art erklären. Zusätzlich beeinflusst die Gefahr von Raubfeinden, die mit der starken Kohäsion innerhalb sozialer Einheiten einhergeht, das Paarungssystem bei Kurzfuß-Stelzenrallen und legt eine Verbindung zwischen genetischer Monogamie und Raubfeindruck bei sozial monogam lebenden Arten nahe. Basierend auf einem Vergleich mit den anderen Arten der Familie der Mesitornithidae könnte das Brutsystem der Kurzfuß-Stelzenralle als Übergansstadium zwischen einem allein auf den beiden Elternteilen basierenden und einem kooperativen Brutsystem erachtet werden in dem einige Jungen fähig wären Hilfe zu stellen, aber von den Eltern daran gehindert werden.

In this thesis, I describe the behavioural ecology of an Australian passerine, the Southern Emuwren Stipiturus malachurus (Maluridae). The southern emu-wren is threatened in several parts of its range, and yet information on the species’ breeding biology, habitat use and mating system is lacking. These data are fundamental to effective conservation management. My research investigated the breeding behaviour and habitat ecology of a population of southern emu-wrens in Portland, Victoria, Australia, over three breeding seasons (2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03). also collected data pertaining to habitat use from populations located in Anglesea and Lower Glenelg National Park (Victoria, Australia). Southern emu-wrens commonly formed socially monogamous pair bonds, although cooperative breeding was observed for the first time in this species, where male offspring within several families delayed breeding to help raise younger siblings. Successful nests produced 1.8 fledglings on average, however, a nest had only a 56% chance of success during incubation and nestling phases. Nest failure was mainly attributed to depredation and snakes were identified as major nest predators. The slow breeding rate of the southern emu-wren is typical of a small passerine in the Southern Hemisphere. Nevertheless, adult mortality was unusually high. In one breeding season the adult population was reduced by 50%. The population recovered when individuals dispersed from the adjacent coastal heathland to fill territory vacancies. This highlights the vulnerability of populations to local catastrophe, and potential extinction if spatial separation of populations exceeds the species’ dispersal capacity.

abstract: Though it is a widespread adaptation in humans and many other animals, parental care comes in a variety of forms and its subtle physiological costs, benefits, and tradeoffs related to offspring are often unknown. Thus, I studied the hydric, respiratory, thermal, and fitness dynamics of maternal egg-brooding behavior in Children's pythons (Antaresia childreni). I demonstrated that tight coiling detrimentally creates a hypoxic developmental environment that is alleviated by periodic postural adjustments. Alternatively, maternal postural adjustments detrimentally elevate rates of egg water loss relative to tight coiling. Despite ventilating postural adjustments, the developmental environment becomes increasingly hypoxic near the end of incubation, which reduces embryonic metabolism. I further demonstrated that brooding-induced hypoxia detrimentally affects offspring size, performance, locomotion, and behavior. Thus, parental care in A. childreni comes at a cost to offspring due to intra-offspring tradeoffs (i.e., those that reflect competing offspring needs, such as water balance and respiration). Next, I showed that, despite being unable to intrinsically produce body heat, A. childreni adjust egg-brooding behavior in response to shifts in nest temperature, which enhances egg temperature (e.g., reduced tight coiling during nest warming facilitated beneficial heat transfer to eggs). Last, I demonstrated that A. childreni adaptively adjust their egg-brooding behaviors due to an interaction between nest temperature and humidity. Specifically, females' behavioral response to nest warming was eliminated during low nest humidity. In combination with other studies, these results show that female pythons sense environmental temperature and humidity and utilize this information at multiple time points (i.e., during gravidity [egg bearing], at oviposition [egg laying], and during egg brooding) to enhance the developmental environment of their offspring. This research demonstrates that maternal behaviors that are simple and subtle, yet easily quantifiable, can balance several critical developmental variables (i.e., thermoregulation, water balance, and respiration). / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2011