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1. Incubation temperature as a constraint on clutch size evolution

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13764  

   Hope, Sydney F. ; DuRant, Sarah E. ; Hallagan, John J. ; Beck, Michelle L. ; Kennamer, Robert A. ; Hopkins, William A. ; Williams, ed., Tony ( February 2021 , Functional Ecology)

   Elucidating factors that limit the number of offspring produced is fundamental to understanding life‐history evolution. Here, we examine the hypothesis that parental ability to maintain an optimal physical developmental environment for all offspring constrains clutch size via effects on offspring quality.

   Experimental laboratory studies of birds have shown that a <1°C difference in average incubation temperature has diverse effects on fitness‐related post‐hatching offspring phenotypes. Thus, the inability of parents to maintain optimal incubation temperatures could constrain clutch sizes.

   A fundamental question that has not been sufficiently addressed is whether larger clutch sizes lead towithinnest variation in egg temperature that is large enough to produce offspring with different phenotypes within a brood. This could lead to differential survival among offspring, and could create a trade‐off between offspring number and quality.

   We manipulated clutch size in nests of free‐living wood ducks and measured incubation temperature among and within clutches using multiple temperature loggers.

   As clutch size increased, average incubation temperatures were lower and more variable, and eggs took longer to hatch. Notably, the range inaverageincubation temperature among eggswithinnests increased with clutch size and exceeded 1°C in large clutches. Clutch size did not affect hatch success.

   In conjunction with our companion laboratory studies that used artificial incubation to document the effects of temperature variation on fitness‐related traits in this species, our work suggests that suboptimal incubation temperatures could be a factor that limits clutch size through diminishing returns on post‐hatch offspring quality.

   A freeplain language summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

    

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2. Visual predators and diurnal nest predation provide support for the Skutch Hypothesis and explain evolved incubation behaviors in a montane tropical bird community

   https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad047  

   Şahin Arslan, Necmiye ; Martin, Thomas E. ( September 2023 , Ornithology)

   The Skutch (1949) Hypothesis that nest predation risk constrains parental nest activity has important implications for the evolution of parental care strategies, but the required conditions for the hypothesis to operate have been questioned. We found the necessary conditions existed in a montane tropical bird community where 95.4% of predation events (n = 456) occurred during daylight hours and almost all predators (n = 224) were visually oriented. Moreover, incubation strategies for 21 passerine species were explained by nest predation rates as proposed by the Skutch Hypothesis. Hourly rates of visits to the nest were lower among species with higher nest predation rates, and achieved in part by longer on- and off-bouts. Incubation attentiveness (percent of time incubating) does not necessarily affect parental nest activity and was not related to nest predation rates. Nest predation rates were greater in enclosed- than open-nesting species, counter to long-standing views. Moreover, nest predation was usually higher in the nestling period when parents were more actively visiting nests than during incubation for enclosed- but not open-nesting species. This increase in nest predation in the nestling period for enclosed-nesting species might indicate proximate predation responses to parental nest activity that underlie the evolutionary patterns. Adult mortality also can exert selection on evolved strategies. Following life history theory, annual adult mortality probability explained residual variation in incubation behaviors, while accounting for nest predation, with longer-lived species exhibiting lower nest activity and attentiveness. Ultimately, the conditions for the Skutch Hypothesis were clear and evolved behaviors suggest an important influence of natural selection by nest predation in this montane tropical bird community. At the same time, different patterns of nest predation between open- and enclosed-nesting species emphasize a need for further research into how parental nest activity interacts with nest type to affect predator detection of nests.

    

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3. Plasticity of snowy plover incubation behaviors in response to risks of nest predation

   https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac051  

   Ellis, Kristen S. ; Larsen, Randy T. ; Ghalambor, Cameron K. ; Koons, David N. ; Smiseth, ed., Per ( July 2022 , Behavioral Ecology)

   Nest predation influences population dynamics and is thought to exert strong selection on the evolution of avian life history. Because parental behaviors can attract the attention of nest predators, incubating birds are predicted to decrease conspicuous behaviors at the nest-site and increase incubation constancy when risks of nest predation are high. We examined whether snowy plovers Charadrius nivosus responded to predator-specific risks of nest predation, using the number of off bouts and daily nest attendance (proportion of time spent incubating) as responses. We quantified risks using predator-specific hazard rates of nest mortality, which varied daily and were based on habitat characteristics at each nest. We assessed the influence of predator-specific risks of nest mortality on incubation behaviors using an individual-centering approach, allowing us to explain variation in incubation behaviors within- and among-breeding pairs. We found increased number of off bouts and nest attendance within-breeding pairs in response to increasing risks of nest predation by foxes (Vulpes spp.) and gulls (Larus spp.), but not coyotes (Canis latrans) and common ravens (Corvus corax). Among breeding pairs across habitats, we found increased nest attendance in response to higher risks of nest predation by foxes, but not coyotes, gulls, or ravens. Breeding pairs differed in the amount of behavioral plasticity they exhibited in response to risks of nest predation. Our results suggest that risks of nest predation differentially influence behavioral responses of snowy plovers depending on the predator species, and the amount of behavioral plasticity may depend on the characteristics of breeding adults.

    

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4. Breadth of the thermal response captures individual and geographic variation in temperature‐dependent sex determination

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13410  

   Carter, Anna L. ; Bodensteiner, Brooke L. ; Iverson, John B. ; Milne‐Zelman, Carrie L. ; Mitchell, Timothy S. ; Refsnider, Jeanine M. ; Warner, Daniel A. ; Janzen, Fredric J. ; White, ed., Craig ( August 2019 , Functional Ecology)

   Population‐scale responses of key ecological traits to local environmental conditions provide insight into their adaptive potential. In species with temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD), short‐term, individual developmental responses to the incubation environment have long‐term consequences for populations.

   We took a model‐based approach to study within‐ and among‐population variation in the physiological components of TSD in 12 populations of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta). We used laboratory and field incubation data to quantify variation in thermal reaction norms at both population and clutch scales, focusing on the pivotal temperature that produces a 1:1 sex ratio (P) and the transitional range of incubation temperatures (TRTs) that produce mixed sex ratios.

   Defying theoretical expectations, among‐population variation inPwas not convincingly explained by geography or local thermal conditions. However, within some populations,Pvaried by >5°C at the clutch scale, indicating that the temperature sensitivity of gonadal differentiation can vary substantially among individual nesting females. In addition, the TRT was wider at lower latitudes, suggesting responsiveness to local incubation conditions.

   Our results provide a potential explanation for discrepancies observed between constant‐temperature experimental results and outcomes of fluctuating incubation conditions experienced in natural nests, exposing important knowledge gaps in our understanding of local adaptation in TSD and identifying shortcomings of traditional laboratory studies. Understanding individual variation and the timing of gonadal differentiation is likely to be far more useful in understanding local adaptation than previously acknowledged.

   A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

    

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5. Nest structure affects auditory and visual detectability, but not predation risk, in a tropical songbird community

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13405  

   Mouton, James C. ; Martin, Thomas E. ; Galván, ed., Ismael ( August 2019 , Functional Ecology)

   Offspring mortality varies dramatically among species with critical demographic and evolutionary ramifications, yet the causes of this variation remain unclear. Nests are widely used for breeding across taxa and thought to influence offspring mortality risk. Traditionally, more complex, enclosed nest structures are thought to reduce offspring predation by reducing the visibility of nest contents and muffling offspring sounds compared to open nests. Direct tests of the functional bases for nest structure influence on predation risk are lacking.

   We used experiments and 10 years of observational data to examine how nest structure influences nest predation risk in a diverse community of tropical songbirds. First, we examined how nest size was related to nest structure and nest predation rates across species. Second, we assessed how nest structure influences the detectability of nestling begging calls both in field and in laboratory settings. Finally, we examined how the acoustic properties of different nest structures influence nest predation risk. Specifically, we experimentally broadcast begging calls from open and enclosed nests to determine how auditory cues and nest structure interact to affect predation on plasticine and quail eggs. We also tested whether nest structure was associated with differences in nest predation rates between the incubation (no begging cues) and nestling (begging cues) stages.

   We found that enclosed nests are larger than open nests after accounting for adult size, and larger nests had increased predation rates. Moreover, enclosed nests did not consistently alter nestling begging calls in ways that reduce the likelihood of predation compared to open nests. Indeed, begging cues increased predation rates for enclosed but not open‐cup nests in our playback experiment, and nest predation rates showed greater increases after hatching in enclosed than open‐cup nests.

   Ultimately, enclosed nests do not necessarily provide greater predation benefits than open nests in contrast to long‐standing theory.

   A freeplain language summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

    

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