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Full thesis document accompanied by all data files and R scripts to reproduce analyses in both data chapters (2 & 3). / Animals should favour breeding locations that maximize their lifetime reproductive output. Parents ought to rear young in sites that positively affect offspring but sometimes these same sites inflict costs on parents. How parents balance their own needs against those of their offspring when selecting a site for reproduction remains unclear, particularly in animals that provide extended parental care at one location. Further, few studies have linked variation in life history traits to reproductive site choices within a single species. In this thesis, I addressed both knowledge gaps by studying the plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus), a marine toadfish where fathers provide sole parental care to broods of young in intertidal and shallow subtidal nests for up to two months. In Chapter 2, I measured the costs incurred by caring males and the benefits conferred to offspring in nest sites along a tidal gradient. Males suffered similar rates of body condition deterioration in all nests across the intertidal gradient. Young developed more quickly in intertidal nests compared to subtidal nests, but broods in the highest intertidal nests suffered the highest mortality rates, despite receiving more parental care from the males at these nest sites. We found the most competitive males in lower intertidal nests, a trend that agrees with life history theory—in species with relatively slow offspring development, parents should accrue greater reproductive benefits from nest sites where offspring benefits are highest. In Chapter 3, I describe a laboratory experiment designed to examine how warm water and air exposure (two abiotic conditions that vary dramatically within the intertidal) affect development and survival of plainfin midshipman young, and how these effects vary with maternal traits. Exposure to warm water enhanced embryonic and larval development rates; this effect was attenuated by air exposure. Juveniles raised in warm water also exhibited superior swimming performance, while air-exposed young suffered higher mortality rates. Although larger juveniles emerged from larger eggs, development rates were similar across egg sizes. Offspring survival increased with maternal body condition in cold water but decreased with maternal body condition in warm water. Juvenile body sizes increased with maternal condition in cold water without emersion, and in warm water with emersion—the two ecologically relevant rearing environments. Thus, low condition mothers might accrue greater benefits by depositing their eggs in nests at higher tidal elevations—where development is more rapid—further supporting the idea that among-individual variation in the expression of life history traits might influence nest site preferences in these fish. In sum, my research (Chapters 2 & 3) elucidates the link between life history traits and the spatial component of animal reproductive strategies. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Breeding site fidelity and its effect on reproductive success was investigated in two diving ducks species, i.e. Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) and Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) in the Trebon region and the surroundings using caught and individually marked females, searching for nests, and monitoring of marked individuals and its broods. In both studied species, the fidelity ratio (apparent survival, MARK software) was around 65 %. Evaluating the influencing factors, impact of previous reproductive success in the phase of rearing ducklings was found to be the only one statistically significant factor. Furthermore, we compared reproductive parameters (i.e clutch size, laying date, reproductive success) in the first and subsequent year of study. The statistically significant relationship was found between the timing of nesting in the first and in any subsequent year in the Tufted Duck . When comparing the reproductive success in relation to hatched or unhatched clutches and reared or not reared ducklings, we do not confirm any significant shift. Successful females were not able to improve or even repeat their reproductive success in the following years, which could result in subsequent lower degree of fidelity. Subsequently, there is a female dispersion and reduction of the reproductive success of...

Anti-predator behaviour, sexual selection and reproductive success in the House Sparrow Passer domesticus Alena Klvaňová Summary of the thesis Individual components of parental care are disproportionally distributed among the parents in the House Sparrow. While the female broods the nestlings more often and feeds them more frequently, the male defends the nest more intensely. In an experimental study the parents did not adjust their nest defence intensity to behaviour of their partners, nor to brood parameters. Only males tended to defend the sooner broods more intensely, which is in concordance with the "brood value hypothesis". Male contribution to nestling feeding affected their body mass. Male nest defence intensity increased with the size of their melanin ornament. Thus, we assume that the ornament could signal male investment in this component of parental care, while it does not correlate with feeding frequency and time spent by incubation. This output is probably caused by pleiotropic effect of genes regulating melanogenesis, affecting e. g. testosterone plasma level, which is associated with increased agression and lower intensity of other components of parental care as nestling provisioning or incubation. We have also aked the question whether the anti-predator strategy in House Sparrow is stable...

An individual’s life history is a sequence of events which eventually determine its contribution to the next generation, or fitness. These events are affected by environmental factors, genetic make-up and decisions made by an individual and its breeding partner. Recognition of these determinants helps to understand both short-term ecological changes and long-term evolutionary dynamics in a population. In this thesis long-term individual-based data on common gull (Larus canus) is used to study age-dependent reproductive success, survival, pair retention and breeding time. Collected pedigree data enabled to study genetic variation of traits and the selection on them. The reproductive success of common gulls increased steadily until very old age. This increase cannot be explained by selection effects, since individuals with lower breeding success were shown not to have lower survival. Consequently, this gain must be ascribed primarily to an age-related improvements of individual competence and/or increased reproductive effort. Annual survival of adult birds was age- and year-dependent. The latter was partly explained by winter severity. The size of the white spots on five outermost primaries predicted the bird’s future survival and divorce probabilities and hence, pair endurance capability. Gulls with larger spots enjoyed higher survival and lower divorce rates compared to birds with smaller spots. This suggests that the wing tip pattern might function as a condition dependent signal, revealing individual variation in quality. One of the advantages of persistent pair bond was the ability to start breeding early in the season. The timing of breeding of firm pairs advanced with time not only due to mates’ increasing age, but also owing to their experience together. Although both sexes had phenotypic effects on laying date, it was heritable only in females. On the phenotypic and genotypic level, early laying was under positive fecundity and survival selection in females.

Sex ratio theory suggests that the strength of intersexual selection will increase as a population more male-biased; reflecting increased selectivity in mate choice. Populations of pond turtle have varying adult sex ratios, in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), reported sex ratios range from female biased (1:3) to male biased (3:1). I investigated the effect of sex ratio on male reproductive success (quantified as “fertilization success”) in painted turtles. I examined the mating system of painted turtles in a female-biased population using microsatellite paternity analysis, relating variation in male fertilization success to male phenotype and offspring survival, employed ex situ behavioural observation to clarify the mechanism behind the variation in male fertilization success and used agent-based modeling to simulate the effects of changing sex ratio, population density and proportions of male phenotype on male fertilization success. Small males contributed sperm to a greater number of clutches than did larger males, but were not more likely to reproduce in a season than larger males. There was no offspring fitness advantage related to male body size and no relationship between male claw length and fertilization success. Large male painted turtles courted at a higher frequency than small males. I found no relationship between male courtship behavior and claw length. Females showed no preference for males of any phenotype. Agent-based simulations were based on the distribution of best fit from the observed data; an amalgam of two Poisson distributions, each with its own probability of success and proportional representation in the final distribution. Increased female sex ratio bias, increased population density and increased proportions of “more successful” males all increased the mean and variance of male fertilization success, based on increased encounter rate among turtles. Small and large male painted turtles enjoy different fertilization success. It is uncertain whether this difference is based on active female choice, cryptic female choice, sperm competition or a combination of factors. Sex ratio simulations predict the opposite result as that predicted by sex ratio theory. These contrary results should be compared to simulations manipulating choosiness and field data from painted turtle populations to clarify mechanisms influencing male reproductive success.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-06-05Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:10:29Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 athayde_ea_me_rcla.pdf: 528033 bytes, checksum: 848db7d697c39eb44d6a5d5fe7d6cbcc (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O isolamento espacial causado pela fragmentação florestal e o isolamento temporal causado pela assincronia da floração das plantas têm sido propostos como importantes fatores afetando a reprodução de populações vegetais. Nós determinamos os efeitos da fragmentação florestal e isolamento espacial na fenologia reprodutiva e vegetativa e no sucesso reprodutivo de Anadenanthera falcata (Benth.) Speg. em uma região de cerrado stricto sensu em Itirapina, São Paulo. Para isso, nós comparamos populações em três diferentes ambientes: (1) árvores circundadas por pastagem, ou seja, isoladas; (2) árvores presentes na borda; e (3) árvores presentes no interior. Nós acompanhamos diferentes variáveis da população como: duração, freqüência, época e sincronia da floração, época da frutificação, do brotamento e da queda foliar, produção de flores e frutos, número de flores que se convertem em frutos, número de sementes por fruto, proporção de sementes predadas por fruto e número de plântulas. A duração e a freqüência da floração foram duas vezes maiores em indivíduos isolados. Nós encontramos diferenças na época de floração e frutificação entre os ambientes, assim como na proporção de indivíduos que floresceram e frutificaram, que foi maior no isolamento. A produção de flores e frutos foi maior nas plantas isoladas, no entanto, o sucesso reprodutivo não diferiu entre os ambientes, com o número de flores que se convertem em frutos e o número sementes por fruto semelhante entre eles. A proporção de sementes predadas por fruto foi menor nos indivíduos em isolamento. O número de plântulas diferiu entre os ambientes, com a pastagem não apresentando plântulas de A. falcata. Nós argumentamos que a falta de competição... / Spatial isolation caused by forest fragmentation and temporal isolation caused by asynchronous flowering of plants have been proposed as important factors that affect the reproduction of plant populations. We determined the effects of forest fragmentation and spatial isolation on phenology patterns and reproductive success of the tropical dry forest Anadenanthera falcata (Benth.) Speg. in a region of cerrado stricto sensu in Itirapina, São Paulo. For this, we compared populations in three habitat conditions: (1) trees in habitat surrounded by pasture, or isolated; (2) trees in anthropogenic edges; and (3) trees in the interior of the cerrado. We followed different variables of the population as: duration, frequency, time and synchrony of flowering, time of fruiting, time of leaf flushing and leaf fall, total flower production, total fruit production, the fruit set, the seed set, the predation of seed and the number of seedlings. The duration and the frequency of flowering were greater in the individuals in pasture. We also found little overlap in time flowering and fruiting among individuals in pasture, anthropogenic edge and interior. The total flower production and total fruit production were greater in the individuals in pasture. No have differed in fruit set nor on seed set among habitats. The proportion of predation seeds differed among the habitats with the isolated individuals presenting smaller damages for insects predators in their seeds. The number of seedlings differed among the habitats with the pasture not presenting seedlings of A. falcata. We argued that the competition lack and the resources availability for the plants in isolation are the responsible for the largest duration and frequency of the flowering, as well as for the... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-05-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:49:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 apazaquevedo_ae_me_rcla.pdf: 800607 bytes, checksum: 267307790610778739a78e2fefb26944 (MD5) / Os efeitos de borda incluem mudanças abióticas e bióticas nas condições ambientais, as quais afetam os padrões fenológicos das plantas. Comparamos a fenologia reprodutiva (quanto a data, duração, amplitude e sincronia) e o sucesso reprodutivo (medido pela conversão de flores em frutos fruit set) de Attalea geraensis e Syagrus petraea, entre borda e interior em um fragmento de Cerrado sensu stricto em Itirapina, estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Considerando as mudanças tanto abióticas quanto bióticas nos ambientes de borda em relação aos de interior, esperamos encontrar diferenças fenológicas entre ambientes. A caracterização do microclima local apresentou diferenças entre borda e interior na temperatura, umidade relativa, intensidade luminosa e abertura do dossel, tanto na estação úmida quanto na seca (exceto para abertura do dossel na estação seca, possivelmente pela queda de folhas no Cerrado). Attalea geraensis floresceu principalmente na estação úmida e frutificou o ano todo. Syagrus petraea floresceu e frutificou continuamente, com um pico de floração e frutificação em Outubro e Dezembro respectivamente. Ambas as espécies não apresentaram diferenças temporais significativas na fenologia reprodutiva entre borda e interior, o mesmo ocorrendo para duração, sincronia e sucesso reprodutivo. A reprodução vegetativa pode ter atenuado as diferenças entre as condições de borda e interior em Syagrus. A maior produção de inflorescências estaminadas em Attalea na borda pode estar relacionada com a elevada intensidade de luz neste ambiente. Características da borda tais como uma vegetação mais aberta, um baixo contraste em relação ao ambiente adjacente e, por outro lado, uma elevada abundância de indivíduos e longa duração das fenofases reprodutivas nestas espécies, poderia ter conduzido à resposta neutra observada. / Edge effects include both abiotic and biological changes on environmental conditions that affect plant phenological patterns. We compared the reproductive phenology (in terms of time, duration, amplitude and synchrony), and the reproductive success (fruit set) of Attalea geraensis and Syagrus petraea, between the edge and interior of a fragment of Cerrado sensu estricto (a savanna vegetation), at Itirapina, São Paulo State, Brazil. Considering both abiotic and biological changes on the edge in relation to the interior, we hope to find phenological differences between these environments. A local microclimatic characterization showed differences between edge and interior on temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and canopy openness in both wet and dry seasons (except for canopy openness in the dry season possibly due to the leaffall in the Cerrado). Attalea flowered mainly in the wet season and fruited all year round. Syagrus flowered and fruited continually, with a flower and fruit peak in October and December, respectively. Both species did not present temporal significant differences between edge and interior with regard to the reproductive phenology, duration, synchrony and fruit set. Any differences between edge and interior conditions could have been buffered by the vegetative reproduction in Syagrus. With regard to Attalea, the higher production of staminate inflorescences on the edge may be related to the greater light intensity in this environment. Edge characteristics such as the open structure of the vegetation and the low contrast with the adjacent environment, as well as the high abundance of individuals and long duration of the reproductive phenophases in these species, could have led to the neutral response observed.

Submitted by FABIANA DA SILVA FRANÇA (fabiana21franca@gmail.com) on 2017-12-07T14:47:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ArquivoTotal.pdf: 1704926 bytes, checksum: fd29046df62b2cc7dd594f9946611baa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-07T14:47:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArquivoTotal.pdf: 1704926 bytes, checksum: fd29046df62b2cc7dd594f9946611baa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-28 / Bees are the main pollinators of plant species of agricultural system and most terrestrial environments, interacting with native and exotic plants. Exotic plants are usually found in urban areas, like Tecoma stans, an introduced ornamental species in Brazil, native from the southern United States and northern Central America. In flowers with long tubular corolla as T. stans it is common to certain species of bees make openings/holes that enable access to the floral resources. However, as they do not enter the flower, these bees perform illegitimate visits, because they do not contact the reproductive structures of flowers, and thus rob the floral resources without pollinate the flowers. However, no studies on the robbing behavior in this species has been done. Studies show that the robbing behavior of pollen and nectar can benefit, be neutral or decrease the reproductive success of other plant species. Some studies have been published on the interaction of bees with this plant, mainly in the region south and southeast of Brazil. The objective of this research was to study the bee species assemblage that visit the flowers of Tecoma stans in two areas with different characteristics emphasizing the robbing behavior and its consequences. The study was carried out at the Campus I of the Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), João Pessoa - PB, and the Sítio Olho D'água, Alhambra - PB, during October 2014 and November 2015. All the manual pollination tests resulted in fruit yield while spontaneous self-pollination did not yield fruits, confirming that Tecoma stans is auto-compatible, but needs pollinators to transfer the pollen grains. After floral anthesis, the flowers last for two days and provide pollen for its visitors, an average of 4064.9±543.9 grains/anther; and nectar, mean production of 14.4±7.3μl/day, with an average concentration of sugar of 21.3±3,8% and 0.47±0.3mg of sugar/μl. 24 species of bees were recorded in UFPB and 21 species at the Sítio Olho D'água. The bees started foraging around 5:00h till 17:30h. Visits and visitors were more constant in UFPB than at the Sítio Olho D'água that showed greater variation during the day The number of visits and visitors were significantly higher in UFPB. Peak of visitors occurred in the flowers at 8.00h (average of 9.3±8.3 visitors/plant/day in UFPB. While at the Sítio Olho D'água there was a mean peak of visitors at 8:00h and 12:00h, average of 5.6±2.4 visitors/plant/day and 4.9±2,7 visitors/plant/day, respectively. The most abundant bee species were Trigona spinipes, T. fuscipennis, Partamona littoralis, Plebeia flavocincta and Xylocopa spp. in UFPB, and M. scutellaris and Augochlora spp. in Sítio Olho D'água. Eulaema nigrita, E. atleticana, Centris analis, C. fuscata, C. tarsata, C. aenea, Euglossa carolina, M. scutellaris and Melitoma segmentaria were considered effective pollinators. Apis mellifera, Augochlora sp., Ceratina chloris, C. maculifrons, Nannotrigona punctata, Partamona littoralis, Plebeia flavocincta, Trigona spinipes and T. fuscipennis were classified as occasional pollinators. Females of Xylocopa spp., Pseudaugochlora spp. and Trigona spinipes were primary nectar robbers. Trigona spinipes and Trigona fuscipennis were primary pollen robbers. In experiments in which the flowers received a barrier to prevent nectar robbing, the Reproductive Success of open-pollination with and without barrier were low and similar in both areas, suggesting that the nectar robbing did not influenced the production of fruits, refuting the hypothesis proposed. However, in later tests the Reproductive Success and Reproductive Efficacy in flowers was higher without barrier suggesting that the nectar robbing favored pollination supporting the hypothesis tested. This difference in results may be related to different periods of carrying out the tests, as well as differences in the abundance and pollinator composition in each area. Although some results showed that nectar robbing can affect negatively the fruit production of T stans, we still need more conclusive experiments. / As abelhas são as principais polinizadoras de espécies vegetais do sistema agrícola e da maioria dos ambientes terrestres, interagindo com plantas nativas e exóticas. As plantas exóticas geralmente são encontradas em áreas urbanas como Tecoma stans, espécie nativa da região sul dos Estados Unidos e norte da América Central, introduzida no Brasil para ornamentação. Por apresentar flores com corolas tubulares longas, é comum a realização de aberturas/orifícios por certas espécies de abelhas que possibilitam o acesso aos recursos florais de T. stans. Todavia, como não entram na flor, essas abelhas realizam visitas ilegítimas, pois não contatam as estruturas reprodutivas das flores, e realizam a pilhagem dos recursos florais sem efetuar a polinização das mesmas. Alguns estudos foram publicados sobre a interação das abelhas com essa planta, principalmente, na região sul e sudeste do Brasil. Entretanto, não foram realizados estudos sobre o comportamento de pilhagem nessa espécie. Estudos demonstram que a pilhagem de pólen e néctar pode favorecer, ser neutra ou diminuir o sucesso reprodutivo de outras espécies vegetais. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi estudar a apifauna visitante de Tecoma stans em duas áreas com características diferentes, enfatizando o comportamento de pilhagem e suas consequências. O estudo foi realizado no Campus I da Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), João Pessoa - PB, e no Sítio Olho D'água, Alhandra – PB, durante outubro de 2014 e novembro de 2015. Todos os testes de polinização manual resultaram na formação de frutos enquanto a polinização espontânea não gerou frutos, confirmando que Tecoma stans possui o sistema reprodutivo autocompatível, porém necessita de agentes polinizadores para a transferência dos grãos de pólen. Após a antese, as flores duram dois dias e oferecem pólen para seus visitantes, com média de 4.064,9±543,9 grãos/antera; e néctar, com produção média de 14,4±7,3μl/dia, com concentração média de açúcar de 21,3±3,8% e 0,47±0,3mg de acúcar/μl. Foram registradas 24 espécies de abelhas visitantes florais na UFPB e 21 espécies no Sítio Olho D’água. As abelhas iniciaram o forrageio por volta das 5:00h até às 17:30h. As visitas e os visitantes foram mais constantes na UFPB que no Sítio Olho D’água que apresentou maior variação durante os dias. O número de visitas e o número de visitantes foram significativamente maiores na UFPB. Ocorreu um pico de visitantes às 8:00h (média de 9,3±8,3 visitantes/planta/dia) na UFPB. Enquanto no Sítio Olho D’água ocorreu um pico médio de visitantes às 8:00h e outro às 12:00h (média de 5,6±2,4 visitantes/plantas/dia e 4,9±2,7 visitantes/planta/dia, respectivamente). As abelhas mais abundantes foram Trigona spinipes, T. fuscipennis, Partamona littoralis, Plebeia flavocincta e Xylocopa spp. na UFPB e Melipona scutellaris e Augochlora spp. no Sítio Olho D'água. Eulaema nigrita, E. atleticana, Centris analis, C. fuscata, C. tarsata, C. aenea, Euglossa carolina, Melipona scutellaris e Melitoma segmentaria foram consideradas polinizadoras efetivas; e Apis mellifera, Augochlora sp., Ceratina chloris, C. maculifrons, Nannotrigona punctata, Partamona littoralis, Plebeia flavocincta, Trigona spinipes e T. fuscipennis foram classificadas como polinizadoras ocasionais. As espécies de Xylocopa, Pseudaugochlora e Trigona spinipes foram pilhadoras primárias de néctar. Trigona spinipes e Trigona fuscipennis foram pilhadoras primárias de pólen. Em experimentos nos quais as flores receberam uma barreira para evitar a pilhagem de néctar, o sucesso reprodutivo da polinização livre em flores com e sem barreira foram baixos e semelhantes nas duas áreas, sugerindo que a pilhagem de néctar não influenciou na produção de frutos, refutando a hipótese proposta. Porém, em testes posteriores o Sucesso Reprodutivo e a Eficácia Reprodutiva nas flores sem barreira foi maior, sugerindo que a pilhagem de néctar favorece a polinização. Essa diferença nos resultados pode estar relacionada a diferentes períodos de realização dos testes, assim como a diferenças na abundância e composição de polinizadores em cada área. Os resultados mostraram que a pilhagem de néctar pode afetar a produção de frutos, porém são necessários experimentos mais conclusivos.