Bower decorations attract females but provoke other male spotted bowerbirds: bower owners resolve this trade-off

Elaborate secondary sexual traits offset the costs that they impose on their bearer by facilitating reproductive benefits, through increased success in intrasexual contests or increased attractiveness to choosy mates. Some traits enhance both strategies. Conversely, I show that spotted bowerbirds Chlamydera maculata may face a trade-off. The trait that best predicts their mating success, numbers of Solanum berries exhibited on a bower, also provokes increased intrasexual aggression in the form of bower destructions by neighbouring bower owners, which reduce the quality of the male's bower. At natural berry numbers, levels of mating success in the population are skewed, but levels of destruction do not vary with berry number. When berry numbers are artificially exaggerated, increased levels of destructions occur, but mating success does not increase. When offered excess berries, either to add to the bower or artificially placed on the bower, bower owners preferred to use numbers of berries related to the number that they displayed naturally. This decision is made without direct experience of the attendant changes in destruction or mating success. This indicates that bower owners may assess their own social standing in relation to their neighbours and modulate their display accordingly.     

Multiple sexual ornaments in satin bowerbirds: ultraviolet plumage and bowers signal different aspects of male quality

Much attention has been devoted to understanding the evolutionof elaborate male ornaments and how they may signal male quality.However, the evolution of multicomponent sexual signals remainspoorly understood, and past research on this type of signalinghas been largely theoretical. Satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchusviolaceus, are polygynous, are sexually dichromatic, and constructsexually selected display structures (bowers): a model systemfor investigating the evolution and signal function of multiplesexual signals. We studied the interrelationship between bowerfeatures, plumage coloration, and indicators of male qualityin this species. To do this, we located the bowers of male satinbowerbirds in rainforest in Queensland, Australia, and quantifiedbower quality. We captured the male bower owners and used reflectancespectrometry to objectively measure the plumage coloration ofseveral body regions. We measured various indicators of malehealth and condition, including the intensity of infection fromectoparasites and blood parasites. Bower quality and male ultravioletplumage coloration were significantly correlated. By using multipleregression analyses, we show that bower quality predicts ectoparasiteload and body size, whereas ultraviolet plumage coloration predictsthe intensity of infection from blood parasites, feather growthrate, and body size. Our findings support the multiple messageshypothesis of multicomponent signals: Female satin bowerbirdsshould assess both male and bower features to choose the highestquality mates.     

Bower quality,number of decorations and mating success of male satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus): an experimental analysis

Bowerbirds build large bowers of twigs decorated with brightly coloured objects at display sites where males court females. The bower and its decorations are hypothesized to influence female choice in these birds. However, there have been no empirical tests of this hypothesis. Data from two years of field research on the satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) show: (1) an extremely skewed distribution of matings among males, and (2) a consistent pattern of female preference for particular males, especially those with well-constructed, highly-decorated bowers. These results support the hypothesis that bower quality is important in influencing female mating preferences. In particular, they support the ‘marker’ hypothesis, which suggests that the construction of bowers evolved to provide females with information about the relative quality of males.     

Structural plumage colour and parasites in satin bowerbirds Ptilonorhynchus violaceus: implications for sexual selection

We investigated whether variation in structural plumage coloration in satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus , could reveal the intensity of infection from parasites, as predicted from models of parasite-mediated sexual selection (PMSS). To do this, we captured adult male, female, and juvenile male satin bowerbirds in Queensland, Australia, and objectively measured individual plumage reflectance from four body regions using a spectrometer. We quantified both ectoparasite load and the intensity of infection from blood parasites. In iridescent blue adult males, plumage reflectance is unimodal, with a single peak in the ultraviolet, while in greenish females and juveniles, plumage reflectance is bimodal, with peaks in both the ultraviolet and green portions of the spectrum. In adult males, the intensity of infection from blood parasites was best predicted by plumage brightness (total reflectance), with brighter males having fewer parasites. Similarly, juvenile males exhibiting greater UV chroma (proportion of reflectance in the UV) had fewer blood parasites. Our findings support a key prediction of PMSS models and provide the first evidence that a structural colour ornament can signal the intensity of infection from blood parasites.     

Vocal mimicry in male bowerbirds: who learns from whom?

Vocal mimicry is one of the more striking aspects of avian vocalization and is widespread across songbirds. However, little is known about how mimics acquire heterospecific and environmental sounds. We investigated geographical and individual variation in the mimetic repertoires of males of a proficient mimic, the spotted bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus maculatus. Male bower owners shared more of their mimetic repertoires with neighbouring bower owners than with more distant males. However, interbower distance did not explain variation in the highly repeatable renditions given by bower owners of two commonly mimicked species. From the similarity between model and mimic vocalizations and the patterns of repertoire sharing among males, we suggest that the bowerbirds are learning their mimetic repertoire from heterospecifics and not from each other.     

Feather stealing in the satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus): male competition and the quality of display

Male satin bowerbirds use feathers to decorate their bowers and often steal feathers and other decorations from the bowers of other males. Decorations are a key element in sexual display and tracking their movement between bowers provides the first detailed information about this unique pattern of sexual competition. For two field seasons the movement of marked feathers was followed. Males varied greatly in stealing activity. The most active feather thieves were often from areas where bowers were close together and they were involved in reciprocal stealing with males at adjacent bowers. The rate of stealing by males was significantly correlated with the number of feathers on their bowers. This suggests that stealing is important in determining the level of bower decoration and mating success. Patterns of stealing behaviour support models of sexual selection which suggest that male interactions are important in influencing female choice through their effect on the quality of male display.     

Personality over ontogeny in zebra finches: long-term repeatable traits but unstable behavioural syndromes

A crucial assumption of animal personality research is that behaviour is consistent over time, showing a high repeatability within individuals. This assumption is often made, sometimes tested using short time intervals between behavioural tests, but rarely thoroughly investigated across long time intervals crossing different stages of ontogeny. We performed such a longitudinal test across three life stages in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), representing about 15-20% of their life span in captivity, and found repeatabilities ranging from 0.03 to 0.67. Fearlessness and exploration were the most repeatable traits both within and across life stages. Activity and aggression were repeatable across, but not or only partly within life stages. Boldness was not repeatable. Furthermore, we found no evidence for a consistent behavioural syndrome structure across ontogeny. Our results indicate that the consistency of behavioural traits and their correlations might be overestimated and suggest that life-long stability of animal personality should not simply be assumed.     

How to be an attractive male: floral dimorphism and attractiveness to pollinators in a dioecious plant

Background  

Sexual selection theory predicts that males are limited in their reproductive success by access to mates, whereas females are more limited by resources. In animal-pollinated plants, attraction of pollinators and successful pollination is crucial for reproductive success. In dioecious plant species, males should thus be selected to increase their attractiveness to pollinators by investing more than females in floral traits that enhance pollinator visitation. We tested the prediction of higher attractiveness of male flowers in the dioecious, moth-pollinated herb Silene latifolia, by investigating floral signals (floral display and fragrance) and conducting behavioral experiments with the pollinator-moth, Hadena bicruris.     

Latitudinal gradients in sexual dimorphism: Alternative hypotheses for variation in male traits

Biological patterns across latitudinal gradients elucidate a number of striking natural clines from which numerous processes can be further explored. The trade‐off between reproduction and somatic maintenance and growth represents a suite of life‐history traits with variable energy allocation and potential latitudinal patterns. Specifically, male sexually dimorphic traits in female choice systems represent one such reproductive investment constrained by resource acquisition and subsequent allocation. Latitudinal variation in sexual dimorphism has been suggested although the relationship between dimorphic traits and latitude are conflicting. Here, we test alternative hypotheses regarding this pattern using two broadly distributed vertebrates exhibiting sexually dimorphic traits. We hypothesized that the exaggeration of dimorphic traits correlates with latitude, with males having exaggerated sexually dimorphic traits at either higher or lower latitudes. Results indicate that male sexually dimorphic traits are exaggerated at lower latitudes while relative gonopodium size in Poecilia latipinna was larger at higher latitudes. This pattern may be a result of lower latitude populations experiencing greater population densities and longer access to resources that could manifest in females more intensively selecting for higher quality males in lower latitudes. Experimental work should address this pattern and investigate mechanistic processes.     

The onset of piscivory in a freshwater fish species: analysis of behavioural and physiological traits

The onset of piscivory in fish, resulting in a shift from zooplankton or invertebrate to fish prey, was studied on pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) larvae displaying and not displaying piscivorous behaviour at different ages (23, 30, 37, 44 and 52 days post-hatching) using behavioural (attack, capture and swimming activity), morphological (allometry) and digestive enzymatic (trypsin, α-amylase and pepsin) analyses. The shift from zooplanktonic food items (Artemia nauplii) to a piscivorous diet did not occur at the same time for all individuals within the same cohort. Predation tests, conducted under controlled conditions (20°C; ad libitum feeding), showed that some larvae attacked fish prey as early as the age of 3 weeks [11.0 ± 1.3 mm total length (TL)], whereas others did not start until the age of 6 weeks (16.6 ± 1.9 mm TL). Piscivorous individuals were bigger, with larger heads, longer tails, higher acid protease and lower alkaline protease activities, than non-piscivorous conspecifics. In conclusion, high interindividual variability in morphological and digestive system developments linked to the development of predatory abilities could induce cannibalism in fish.     

Two examples of fixed behavioural patterns in salmonines: female false spawning and male digging

Data collected from underwater video recordings in the wild and in a semi-natural channel were used to study two examples of relatively unknown behaviour in the Salmoninae subfamily—false spawning in females and digging in Oncorhynchus males. Observations suggest that false spawning should be regarded as an incomplete fixed behavioural pattern (FBP) and that male digging represents two special types of FBP (displacement FBP) with threatening and courting functions as ultimate causes.     

Multiple forms of non-associative plasticity in Aplysia: a behavioural, cellular and pharmacological analysis

A complete understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying the formation of associations between stimuli, as occurs during classical conditioning, requires an understanding of the non-associative effects of the individual stimuli. The siphon withdrawal reflex of Aplysia exhibits both non-associative and associative learning when a tactile stimulus to the siphon serves as a conditioned stimulus, and tail shock serves as an unconditioned stimulus. In this chapter we describe experiments which examine the non-associative effects of tail shock at three different levels of analysis. At a behavioural level we found that the magnitude, and even the sign of reflex modulation induced by tail shock depended critically on three parameters: (i) the state of the reflex (habituated or non-habituated); (ii) the strength of the tail shock, and (iii) the time of testing after tail shock. Specifically, when non-habituated responses produced by water jet stimuli to the siphon were examined, tail shock produced transient inhibition 90 s later; facilitation of non-habituated responses (sensitization) only emerged after a considerable delay of 20-30 min. When habituated responses were examined, tail shock produced immediate facilitation (dishabituation); the amount of facilitation was inversely related to the strength of tail shock, with stronger shock producing no dishabituation. At a cellular level it was found that the complex excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) in siphon motor neurons produced by water jet stimuli to the siphon provides a reliable cellular correlate of several of the non-associative effects of tail shock that we observe behaviourally. When non-decremented complex EPSPS were examined, strong tail shock produced transient inhibition at a test 90 s after shock.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)