NDLI: Nest-maintenance effort and health status in chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica: the functional significance of stone-provisioning behaviour

Please wait, while we are loading the content...

Alternative reproductive tactics in the queen-size-dimorphic ant Leptothorax rugatulus (Emery) and their consequences for genetic population structure

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 50, Issue 1, June 2001

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 49

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 48

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 47

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 46

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 45

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 44

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 43

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 42

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 41

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 40

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology : Volume 28

Nest-maintenance effort and health status in chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica: the functional significance of stone-provisioning behaviour

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Fargallo, Juan A. De León, Ana Potti, Jaime
Copyright Year	2001
Abstract	Stone provisioning is a nest-maintenance activity accomplished by pygoscelid penguins after reliefs during the incubation/brooding period. The functional significance of this behaviour has been mainly explained as a parental strategy preventing nest flooding under detrimental weather conditions. In addition, and in the light of recent studies, this behaviour could also fit into the sexual selection process. In this study, we tested the first idea, that is, whether stone provisioning is a nest-maintenance behaviour to increase egg/nestling survival by lowering the risk of nest flooding, and can thus be considered a form of parental care. Additionally, we investigated if the effort invested by parents in nest maintenance is constrained by physiologically limiting resources. The effort of stone collection and the perceived risk of nest flooding were experimentally manipulated during the incubation and early brooding phases in a chinstrap penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica, colony. Three groups of nests were established. After weighing, control nests were left unmanipulated. In a second group of nests (reduced group), only one-half of the initial weight of stones was returned to the nests. In a third group of nests (snow-added group), we both reduced nest weight by a half and added snow outside the nest bowl over 6 consecutive days. Ten days after manipulation, the difference in nest weight between initial and final conditions was significantly related to treatment: penguins increased stone provisioning in the reduced group (44% of half-reduced nests), but drastically more in the reduced and snow-added group (123% of half-reduced nests), while the weight of control nests was unchanged compared to premanipulation conditions. The intensity of stone provisioning was affected by nest date, peaking about hatching time and shortly after, and declining with advancing chick age. These results suggest that stone provisioning is a mechanism that has evolved to prevent egg or chick mortality by nest flooding. The haematocrit, but not leukocyte numbers as expressed by the buffy coat layer, varied with the experimental conditions. Penguins investing more time in nest maintenance had a lower haematocrit, suggesting a physiological trade-off probably mediated by competition between the time devoted to nest maintenance versus foraging activities. The amount of stones collected and the haematocrit were positively related to the number of neighbour nests, so those individuals surrounded by more nests seemed to obtain benefits in the availability of nest material and energy savings. This study indicates that stone-provisioning behaviour is a nest-maintenance activity evolved to improve thermal nest characteristics potentially increasing offspring survival, and competing in time and energy with other reproductive activities. Stone provisioning in penguins should therefore be regarded as a form of parental care and an important part of individual reproductive effort in species breeding in harsh environments. Furthermore, nest size and nest-maintenance effort should be considered reproductive traits indicative of parental quality and thus could also be involved in the post-mating sexual selection process.
Starting Page	141
Ending Page	150
Page Count	10
File Format	PDF
ISSN	03405443
Journal	Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Volume Number	50
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	14320762
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2001-03-31
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Seasonal shifts in the provisioning behavior of chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica

Heat loss and site-dependent fecundity in chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica)

An observation of between-mates feeding behaviour in chick-guarding chinstrap penguins

Nest maintenance and stone theft in the Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)

Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci from the chinstrap penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica

Breeding time, health and immune response in the chinstrap penguin Pygoscelis antarctica

Predicting foraging dive outcomes in chinstrap penguins using biologging and animal-borne cameras (Dataset)

Blood transcriptome resources of chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) penguins from the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

Haematocrit values in chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica): variation with age and reproductive status

Nest-maintenance effort and health status in chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica: the functional significance of stone-provisioning behaviour

Similar Documents

Seasonal shifts in the provisioning behavior of chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica

Heat loss and site-dependent fecundity in chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica)

An observation of between-mates feeding behaviour in chick-guarding chinstrap penguins

Nest maintenance and stone theft in the Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)

Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci from the chinstrap penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica

Breeding time, health and immune response in the chinstrap penguin Pygoscelis antarctica

Predicting foraging dive outcomes in chinstrap penguins using biologging and animal-borne cameras (Dataset)

Blood transcriptome resources of chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) penguins from the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

Haematocrit values in chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica): variation with age and reproductive status

Nest-maintenance effort and health status in chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica: the functional significance of stone-provisioning behaviour