Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds

by Williams, Tony D.

• ISBN13: 9780691139821
• ISBN10: 0691139822
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-07-16
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birdsis the most current and comprehensive account of research on avian reproduction. It develops two unique themes: the consideration of female avian reproductive physiology and ecology, and an emphasis on individual variation in life-history traits. Tony Williams investigates the physiological, metabolic, energetic, and hormonal mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the key female-specific reproductive traits and the trade-offs between these traits that determine variation in fitness. The core of the book deals with the avian reproductive cycle, from seasonal gonadal development, through egg laying and incubation, to chick rearing. Reproduction is considered in the context of the annual cycle and through an individual's entire life history. The book focuses on timing of breeding, clutch size, egg size and egg quality, and parental care. It also provides a primer on female reproductive physiology and considers trade-offs and carryover effects between reproduction and other life-history stages. In each chapter, Williams describes individual variation in the trait of interest and the evolutionary context for trait variation. He argues that there is only a rudimentary, and in some cases nonexistent, understanding of the physiological mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the major reproductive life-history traits, and that research efforts should refocus on these key unresolved problems by incorporating detailed physiological studies into existing long-term population studies, generating a new synthesis of physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Structure of the chapters	p. 1
A primer on reproduction in female birds	p. 3
Individual variation	p. 4
What is not in this book?	p. 5
Avian reproduction in a changing world	p. 6
The Hormonal and Physiological Control of Egg Production	p. 8
Overview of the female reproductive system	p. 9
Pre-vitellogenic follicle development	p. 11
Rapid follicie growth (RFG) or rapid yolk development (RYD)	p. 14
Vitellogenesis and lipoprotein metabolism	p. 18
Mechanisms of receptor-mediated yolk uptake	p. 23
Oviduct structure and function	p. 25
Regulation of the timing of egg-laying (oviposition)	p. 28
Follicle atresia and laying skips	p. 32
Hormonal control of ovarian and oviduct function	p. 33
The ovary	p. 34
The oviduct	p. 39
Hypothalamic and pituitary regulation of gonadal function	p. 40
Hormonal integration of environmental information	p. 43
Photoperiodic control of gonadal function	p. 44
Supplemental, non-photoperiodic cues and ovarian function	p. 48
Future research questions	p. 50
Timing of Breeding	p. 52
Early-season events are critical in determining timing of breeding	p. 54
Fitness consequences of timing decisions	p. 56
Selection on timing of breeding	p. 60
Constraint, individual optimization, and the search for mechanism	p. 64
Sex-specific response mechanisms for timing of breeding	p. 66
Physiological mechanisms associated with photoperiod (day length) as a proximate factor	p. 71
Individual variation in photoperiodic response	p. 72
Where would sex-specific photoperiodic response mechanisms reside?	p. 76
Physiological mechanisms associated with temperature as a proximate factor	p. 78
Temperature as a long-term "information" cue	p. 78
Correlates of temperature as information cues	p. 82
Possible "direct" effects of temperature on timing	p. 83
Where would temperature response mechanisms reside?	p. 87
Physiological mechanisms associated with food availability as a "proximate" factor	p. 88
Argument 1: Food availability is a constraint because supplemental food advances the timing of laying	p. 89
Argument 2: Food availability must be a constraint because egg production is energetically expensive	p. 90
Argument 3: Food availability is a constraint because pre-breeding "body condition" determines laying date	p. 91
Where would food (resource) response mechanisms reside?	p. 92
Conclusion	p. 97
Future research questions	p. 99
Egg Size and Egg Quality	p. 100
Individual variation in egg size	p. 100
Fitness consequences of variation in egg size	p. 106
Egg-size-clutch-size trade-offs and fecundity costs of large egg size	p. 113
Selection on egg size	p. 117
Variation in egg composition or egg quality	p. 118
Egg macronutrient composition	p. 118
Yolk hormones	p. 121
Egg immunoglobulins and antimicrobial proteins	p. 127
Egg antioxidants	p. 130
Physiological mechanisms underlying individual variation in egg size and egg quality	p. 133
Mechanisms regulating egg size and egg-size-dependent egg quality	p. 133
Mechanisms underlying egg-size-independent variation in egg quality	p. 143
Variation in the primary sex ratio and sex-specific follicle development	p. 146
Extreme flexibility in reproductive investment: The house finch	p. 150
Conclusions	p. 151
Future research questions	p. 153
Clutch Size	p. 155
Individual variation in clutch size and clutch number	p. 155
Why does clutch size vary among individuals?	p. 160
Chick-rearing ability and individual optimization of clutch size	p. 161
Nest predation and clutch size	p. 165
Embryo viability, incubation capacity, and clutch size	p. 167
Constraints on egg production	p. 170
Selection on clutch size	p. 172
Physiological mechanisms of clutch-size determination	p. 175
Determinate versus indeterminate laying	p. 176
A general mechanistic model for control of clutch size in birds	p. 177
Potential mechanisms for individual and date-independent variation in clutch size	p. 185
Proximate constraints on clutch size: food availability and nutrient reserves	p. 187
Conclusion	p. 194
Future research questions	p. 196
Parental Care: Incubation and Chick-Rearing	p. 198
Comparative aspects of variation in parental care	p. 198
Individual variation in parental care	p. 201
Incubation	p. 201
Chick-rearing	p. 204
Fitness consequences of individual variation in parental care	p. 207
Incubation effort, constancy, and duration	p. 208
Short-term effects of incubation effort	p. 209
Long-term effects of incubation effort	p. 210
Chick-rearing, provisioning effort, and nestling productivity	p. 212
Short-term effects of variation in chick-rearing effort	p. 213
Long-term effects of variation in chick-rearing effort	p. 214
Physiological mechanisms underlying individual variation in parental care	p. 217
Energetic costs of incubation	p. 220
Energetic demands of chick-rearing	p. 224
Nutritional demands of incubation and chick-rearing	p. 224
Are there resource-allocation trade-offs during parental care?	p. 228
Hormonal mechanisms underlying individual variation in parental care	p. 231
Prolactin and parental care	p. 232
Prolactin and individual variation in parental care	p. 235
Corticosterone and breeding failure	p. 237
Corticosterone and individual variation in parental care	p. 238
Conclusions	p. 243
Future research questions	p. 245
Trade-Offs and Carry-Over Effects	p. 247
Carry-over effects between winter, the pre-breeding period, and reproduction	p. 249
Costs of reproduction	p. 251
Carry-over effects between reproduction and post-breeding life stages	p. 254
Post-fledging parental care	p. 254
Breeding-molt overlap	p. 255
Physiological mechanisms underlying trade-offs and carry-over effects	p. 260
Resources and resource-allocation mechanisms	p. 263
Mechanisms arising from direct physiological or hormonal "conflict" between overlapping functions	p. 268
"Integrated" physiological mechanisms and individual quality	p. 273
Stress, allostasis, and reactive scope	p. 274
Oxidative stress	p. 277
Oxygen-transport systems, hematology, and anemia	p. 281
Conclusion	p. 290
Future research questions	p. 291
Conclusions	p. 293
Bibliography	p. 299
Index	p. 361
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