The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in the house finch. V. Maternal effects

The phenotype of a mother and the environment that she provides might differentially affect the phenotypes of her sons and daughters, leading to change in sexual size dimorphism. Whereas these maternal effects should evolve to accommodate the adaptations of both the maternal and offspring generations, the mechanisms by which this is accomplished are rarely known. In birds, females adjust the onset of incubation (coincident with the first egg or after all eggs are laid) in response to the environment during breeding, and thus, indirectly, determine the duration of offspring growth. In the two house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) populations that breed at the extremes of the species' distribution (Montana and Alabama), females experience highly distinct climatic conditions during nesting. We show that in close association with these conditions, females adjusted jointly the onset of incubation and the sequence in which they produced male and female eggs and consequently modified the growth of sons and daughters. The onset of incubation in newly breeding females closely tracked ambient temperature in a pattern consistent with the maintenance of egg viability. Because of the very different climates in Montana and Alabama, females in these populations showed the opposite patterns of seasonal change in incubation onset and the opposite sex bias in egg-laying order. In females with breeding experience, incubation onset and sex bias in laying order were closely linked regardless of the climatic variation. In nests in which incubation began with the onset of egg laying, the first-laid eggs were mostly females in Montana, but mostly males in Alabama. Because in both populations, male, but not female, embryos grew faster when exposed to longer incubation, the sex-bias produced highly divergent sizes of male and female juveniles between the populations. Overall, the compensatory interaction between the onset of incubation and the sex-biased laying order achieved a compromise between maternal and offspring adaptations and contributed to rapid morphological divergence in sexual dimorphism between populations of the house finch breeding at the climatic extremes of the species range.     

Evolution of sex-biased maternal effects in birds. IV. Intra-ovarian growth dynamics can link sex determination and sex-specific acquisition of resources

The evolutionary importance of maternal effects is determined by the interplay of maternal adaptations and strategies, offspring susceptibility to these strategies, and the similarity of selection pressures between the two generations. Interaction among these components, especially in species where males and females differ in the costs and requirements of growth, limits inference about the evolution of maternal strategies from their expression in the offspring phenotype alone. As an alternative approach, we examine divergence in the proximate mechanisms underlying maternal effects across three house finch populations with contrasting patterns of sex allocation: an ancestral population that shows no sex-biased ovulation, and two recently established populations at the northern and southern boundaries of the species range that have opposite sequences of ovulation of male and female eggs. For each population, we examined how oocyte acquisition of hormones, carotenoids and vitamins was affected by oocyte growth and overlap with the same and opposite sexes. Our results suggest that sex-specific acquisition of maternal resources and sex determination of oocytes are linked in this system. We report that acquisition of testosterone by oocytes that become males was not related to growth duration, but instead covaried with temporal exposure to steroids and overlap with other male oocytes. In female oocytes, testosterone acquisition increased with the duration of growth and overlap with male oocytes, but decreased with overlap with female oocytes. By contrast, acquisition of carotenoids and vitamins was mostly determined by organism-wide partitioning among oocytes and oocyte-specific patterns of testosterone accumulation, and these effects did not differ between the sexes. These results provide important insights into three unresolved phenomena in the evolution of maternal effects - (i) the evolution of sex-specific maternal allocation in species with simultaneously developing neonates of both sexes; (ii) the link between sex determination and sex-specific acquisition of maternal products; and (iii) the evolution of context-dependent modulation of maternal effects.     

Evolution of sex-biased maternal effects in birds: II. Contrasting sex-specific oocyte clustering in native and recently established populations

In species that produce broods of multiple offspring, parents need to partition resources among simultaneously growing neonates that often differ in growth requirements. In birds, multiple ovarian follicles develop inside the female at the same time, resulting in a trade-off of resources among them and potentially limiting maternal ability for sex-specific allocation. We compared resource acquisition among oocytes in relation to their future sex and ovulation order in two populations of house finches with contrasting sex-biased maternal strategies. In a native Arizona population, where mothers do not bias offspring sex in relation to ovulation order, the male and female oocytes did not show sex-specific trade-offs of resources during growth and there was no evidence for spatial or temporal segregation of male and female oocytes in the ovary. In contrast, in a recently established Montana population where mothers strongly bias offspring sex in relation to ovulation order, we found evidence for both intra-sexual trade-offs among male and female oocytes and sex-specific clustering of oocytes in the ovary. We discuss the importance of sex-specific resource competition among offspring for the evolution of sex-ratio adjustment and sex-specific maternal resource allocation.     

Maternal sex and mate relatedness affect offspring quality in the gynodioecious Silene acaulis

In gynodioecious species, females sacrifice fitness by not producing pollen, and hence must have a fitness advantage over hermaphrodites. Because females are obligately outcrossed, they may derive a fitness advantage by avoiding selfing and inbreeding depression. However, both sexes are capable of biparental inbreeding, and there are currently few estimates of the independent effects of maternal sex and multiple levels of inbreeding on female advantage. To test these hypotheses, females and hermaphrodites from six Alaskan populations of Silene acaulis were crossed with pollen from self (hermaphrodites only), a sibling, a random plant within the same population, and a plant from a different population. Germination, survivorship and early growth revealed inbreeding depression for selfs and higher germination but reduced growth in sib-crosses, relative to outcrosses. Independent of mate relatedness, females germinated more seeds that grew faster than offspring from hermaphrodites. This indicates that inbreeding depression as well as maternal sex can influence breeding system evolution. The effect of maternal sex may be explained by higher performance of female genotypes and a greater abundance of female genotypes among the offspring of female mothers.     

Evolution of sex-biased maternal effects in birds: I. Sex-specific resource allocation among simultaneously growing oocytes

Females in species that produce broods of multiple offspring need to partition resources among simultaneously growing ova, embryos or neonates. In birds, the duration of growth of a single egg exceeds the ovulation interval, and when maternal resources are limited, a temporal overlap among several developing follicles in the ovary might result in a trade-off of resources among them. We studied growth of oocytes in relation to their future ovulation order, sex, and overlap with other oocytes in a population of house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) where strongly sex-biased maternal effects are favoured by natural selection. We found pronounced differences in growth patterns between oocytes that produced males and females. Male oocytes grew up to five times faster and reached their ovulation size earlier than female oocytes. Early onset and early termination of male oocytes' growth in relation to their ovulation resulted in their lesser temporal overlap with other growing ova compared with female oocytes. Consequently, ovulation mass of female but not male oocytes was strongly negatively affected by temporal overlap with other oocytes. In turn, mass of male oocytes was mostly affected by the order of ovulation and by maternal incubation strategy. These results provide a mechanism for sex-biased allocation of maternal resources during egg formation and provide insights into the timing of the sex-determining meiotic division in relation to ovulation in this species.     

Condition-dependent sex allocation in a lek-breeding wader,the ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

Sex allocation theory predicts that females should bias the production of offspring towards the sex that will maximize maternal fitness. Here we demonstrate evidence for nonrandom sex allocation by female ruffs (Philomachus pugnax), at both the individual and population level in relation to female condition. At the population level, female condition varies significantly across 3 years and is mirrored by population sex ratio, such that in years when females are in poor condition the population offspring sex ratio is female-biased, while in years when females are in better condition there was little or no bias. In the year when females were in overall poor condition, females in better condition produced more daughters. The same relationship is also revealed by comparing the sex ratios of individual females breeding in two consecutive years in different condition. As the condition of an individual female improves (across years) she tends to produce more female offspring. Although we have shown that, as in other birds, female condition is an important determinant of sex allocation, our results also suggest that such nonrandom allocation does not occur in every year, being particularly strong in a year when females, on average, are in poorer condition. We suggest that our results are consistent with the idea that skewing the sex ratio is likely to carry a cost to females and that it is adaptive only when the fitness differential between sons and daughters is sufficient to outweigh probable costs.     

Temporal but not spatial environmental variation drives adaptive offspring sex allocation in a plural cooperative breeder

Cooperatively breeding birds have been used frequently to study sex allocation because the adaptive value of the sexes partly depends upon the costs and benefits for parents of receiving help. I examined patterns of directional sex allocation in relation to maternal condition (Trivers-Willard hypothesis), territory quality (helper competition hypothesis), and the number of available helpers (helper repayment hypothesis) in the superb starling, Lamprotornis superbus, a plural cooperative breeder with helpers of both sexes. Superb starlings biased their offspring sex ratio in relation to prebreeding rainfall, which was correlated with maternal condition. Mothers produced relatively more female offspring in wetter years, when they were in better condition, and more male offspring in drier years, when they were in poorer condition. There was no relationship between offspring sex ratio and territory quality or the number of available helpers. Although helping was male biased, females had a greater variance in reproductive success than males. These results are consistent with the Trivers-Willard hypothesis and suggest that although females in most cooperatively breeding species make sex allocation decisions to increase their future direct reproductive success, female superb starlings appear to base this decision on their current body condition to increase their own inclusive fitness.     

Interaction between maternal effects: onset of incubation and offspring sex in two populations of a passerine bird

Maternal phenotype and maternal environment can profoundly affect the phenotype and fitness of offspring. Yet the causes of variation in such maternal effects are rarely known. Embryos in avian eggs cannot develop without being incubated and this creates an opportunity for maternal control of duration and onset of offspring development. However, females might adjust the start of incubation (e.g., coincident with the first egg or delayed until after egg-laying) in response to environmental conditions that they experience at the time of breeding. We studied two populations of the house finch ( Carpodacus mexicanus) that breed at the climatic extremes of the species' geographical range (Montana and Alabama) and found that in both populations, the timing of incubation onset was closely associated with the bias in the sequence in which male and female eggs were laid within a clutch. When females started incubation with the first egg, they produced sons and daughters in highly biased sequence, when females delayed the onset of incubation until after the egg-laying, the sequence of sons and daughters was not biased. Because in both populations, onset of incubation was associated with the ambient temperature, these results emphasize that maternal effects on offspring can be influenced by ecological conditions experienced by parental generation.     

Sex-biased preferential care in the cooperatively breeding Arabian babbler

In many social birds there are sex differences in dispersal patterns, with males commonly remaining in their natal group whereas females typically disperse at adolescence. Group members may therefore increase their fitness by preferentially caring for offspring of a particular sex according to social circumstances. Although previous studies have focussed on intragroup social factors that may affect preferential care, we propose that the relative size of neighbouring groups is of primary importance. Here we show that in the cooperatively breeding Arabian babbler (Turdoides squamiceps), parents preferentially feed male offspring when relative group size is small, and female offspring when group size is large. Unlike parents, helpers consistently favour young of the opposite sex to themselves, suggesting the risk of competition with members of the same sex for future breeding opportunities may override other considerations. These results emphasize the complexity of investment strategies in relation to social circumstances and the variable benefits of raising males vs. females in a species with sex-biased philopatry.     

Prenatal developmental conditions have long-term effects on offspring fecundity

Maternal effects, in which differences in parental state cause differences in offspring fitness, are important in trade-offs influencing an individual's optimal reproductive strategy. In zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) we manipulated the nutritional state for four weeks before the start of breeding through protein supplementation. Zebra finches were kept on identical diets during the rest of the experiment. We then tested the effects of maternal state on offspring size, survival and fecundity. In order to separate the effects of maternal state occurring through egg production, incubation and chick-rearing, we used a cross-fostering experiment. We show that a protein-rich diet prior to laying improved maternal body weight prior to breeding compared with birds on a protein-poor diet. Poorer maternal state prior to breeding gave rise to offspring with lower fecundity than offspring from birds in a better nutritional state. Maternal state is thought to affect the conditions developing offspring experience through the bird's ability to produce and incubate eggs. Male and female embryos differed in their responses to conditions at different developmental stages. This shows that embryonic developmental conditions and sex differences in vulnerability to these conditions need to be incorporated into future models of selection, life-history evolution and sex-ratio theory.     

Sexual dimorphism of egg size in the European Blackbird Turdus merula

Recently, a number of studies have shown that female birds are able to control the sex of their progeny at the stage of the gamete. There is also some evidence that females adjust their investment in offspring depending on the sex of the embryo during egg formation. Differential maternal investment to the eggs depending on their sex is usually interpreted as an adaptive strategy, by which females can increase competitive abilities of the smaller sex, or preferentially invest towards the sex with the potentially higher fitness returns. Here, we studied variation in egg size in relation to embryo sex and laying order in the European Blackbird Turdus merula. We found male and female eggs to differ in size, with larger eggs containing male embryos, as well as a significant interaction between embryo sex and laying order. This interaction resulted from the fact that egg size increased with the laying sequence among eggs bearing females but did not change with laying order among eggs bearing males. There was no relationship between offspring sex and the laying sequence within a clutch. We suggest that sexual dimorphism in egg size recorded in the European Blackbird may reflect favouritism of the sex which may give higher fitness returns.     

Review. Meiotic drive and sex determination: molecular and cytological mechanisms of sex ratio adjustment in birds

Differences in relative fitness of male and female offspring across ecological and social environments should favour the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms that enable adjustment of brood sex ratio to the context of breeding. Despite the expectation that genetic sex determination should not produce consistent bias in primary sex ratios, extensive and adaptive modifications of offspring sex ratio in relation to social and physiological conditions during reproduction are often documented. Such discordance emphasizes the need for empirical investigation of the proximate mechanisms for modifying primary sex ratios, and suggests epigenetic effects on sex-determining mechanisms as the most likely candidates. Birds, in particular, are thought to have an unusually direct opportunity to modify offspring sex ratio because avian females are heterogametic and because the sex-determining division in avian meiosis occurs prior to ovulation and fertilization. However, despite evidence of strong epigenetic effects on sex determination in pre-ovulatory avian oocytes, the mechanisms behind such effects remain elusive. Our review of molecular and cytological mechanisms of avian meiosis uncovers a multitude of potential targets for selection on biased segregation of sex chromosomes, which may reflect the diversity of mechanisms and levels on which such selection operates in birds. Our findings indicate that pronounced differences between sex chromosomes in size, shape, size of protein bodies, alignment at the meiotic plate, microtubule attachment and epigenetic markings should commonly produce biased segregation of sex chromosomes as the default state, with secondary evolution of compensatory mechanisms necessary to maintain unbiased meiosis. We suggest that it is the epigenetic effects that modify such compensatory mechanisms that enable context-dependent and precise adjustment of primary sex ratio in birds. Furthermore, we highlight the features of avian meiosis that can be influenced by maternal hormones in response to environmental stimuli and may account for the precise and adaptive patterns of offspring sex ratio adjustment observed in some species.     

Extra-pair young in house wren broods are more likely to be male than female

Sex-allocation theory predicts that females should preferentially produce offspring of the sex with greater fitness potential. In socially monogamous animal species, extra-pair mating often increases the variance in fitness of sons relative to daughters. Thus, in situations where offspring sired by a female''s extra-pair mate(s) will typically have greater fitness potential than offspring sired by the within-pair mate, sex-allocation theory predicts that females will bias the sex of offspring sired by extra-pair mates towards male. We examined the relationship between offspring sex and paternity over six breeding seasons in an Illinois population of the house wren (Troglodytes aedon), a cavity-nesting songbird. Out of the 2345 nestlings that had both sex and paternity assigned, 350 (15%) were sired by extra-pair males. The sex ratio of extra-pair offspring, 0.534, was significantly greater than the sex ratio of within-pair offspring, 0.492, representing an increase of 8.5 per cent in the proportion of sons produced. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report of female birds increasing their production of sons in association with extra-pair fertilization. Our results are consistent with the oft-mentioned hypothesis that females engage in extra-pair mating to increase offspring quality.     

Maternal Natal Environment and Breeding Territory Predict the Condition and Sex Ratio of Offspring

Females in a variety of taxa adjust offspring sex ratios to prevailing ecological conditions. However, little is known about whether conditions experienced during a female’s early ontogeny influence the sex ratio of her offspring. We tested for past and present ecological predictors of offspring sex ratios among known-age females that were produced as offspring and bred as adults in a population of house wrens. The body condition of offspring that a female produced and the proportion of her offspring that were male were negatively correlated with the size of the brood in which she herself was reared. The proportion of sons within broods was negatively correlated with maternal hatching date, and varied positively with the quality of a female’s current breeding territory as predicted. However, females producing relatively more sons than daughters were less likely to return to breed in the population the following year. Although correlative, our results suggest that the rearing environment can have enduring effects on later maternal investment and sex allocation. Moreover, the overproduction of sons relative to daughters may increase costs to a female’s residual reproductive value, constraining the extent to which sons might be produced in high-quality breeding conditions. Sex allocation in birds remains a contentious subject, largely because effects on offspring sex ratios are small. Our results suggest that offspring sex ratios are shaped by various processes and trade-offs that act throughout the female life history and ultimately reduce the extent of sex-ratio adjustment relative to classic theoretical predictions.     

Maternal corticosteroids influence primary offspring sex ratio in a free-ranging passerine bird

When fitness benefits of investment in sons and daughters differ,animals are predicted to manipulate the sex ratio of their offspring.Sex ratio manipulation occurs in many taxa, but the mechanismsunderlying the phenomenon in vertebrates remain largely unknown.Factors favoring skewed sex ratios, such as reduced maternalcondition or food availability, also induce elevated corticosteroids.Recent experimental studies support a causal relationship betweencorticosteroids and sex ratio. Evidence of a natural correlationbetween maternal corticosteroids and offspring sex ratio hasbeen lacking, however. Without such evidence, the importanceof corticosteroids in influencing sex ratios in natural populationswas unknown. We measured baseline corticosteroids in 19 free-rangingfemale white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and thesex ratios of their offspring. Females with high corticosteroidsproduced more daughters than females with low hormone levels.We then conducted a controlled, field-based experiment investigatingthe effects of moderately increased maternal corticosteroidson offspring sex ratios to determine if the observed correlationreflects a causal relationship between maternal corticosteroidsand offspring sex ratio. Hormone-implanted females producedmore female embryos than control females. These findings providethe first evidence of a natural correlation between maternalcorticosteroids and offspring sex ratios in free-ranging birds,and the first experimental evidence of a causal link betweenmoderate increases in corticosteroids and biased primary sexratios.     

Facultative Sex Allocation and Sex‐Specific Offspring Survival in Barrow's Goldeneyes

Sex allocation theory predicts that females should bias their reproductive investment towards the sex generating the greatest fitness returns. The fitness of male offspring is often more dependent upon maternal investment, and therefore, high‐quality mothers should invest in sons. However, the local resource competition hypothesis postulates that when offspring quality is determined by maternal quality or when nest site and maternal quality are related, high‐quality females should invest in the philopatric sex. Waterfowl – showing male‐biased size dimorphism but female‐biased philopatry – are ideal for differentiating between these alternatives. We utilized molecular sexing methods and high‐resolution maternity tests to study the occurrence and fitness consequences of facultative sex allocation in Barrow's goldeneyes (Bucephala islandica). We determined how female structural size, body condition, nest‐site safety and timing of reproduction affected sex allocation and offspring survival. We found that the overall sex ratio was unbiased, but in line with the local resource competition hypothesis, larger females produced female‐biased broods and their broods survived better than those of smaller females. This bias occurred despite male offspring being larger and tending to have lower post‐hatching survival. The species shows strong female breeding territoriality, so the benefit of inheriting maternal quality by philopatric daughters may exceed the potential mating benefit for sons of high‐quality females.     

Evidence for inbreeding depression in a species with limited opportunity for maternal effects

It is often assumed that mating with close relatives reduces offspring fitness. In such cases, reduced offspring fitness may arise from inbreeding depression (i.e., genetic effects of elevated homozygosity) or from post‐mating maternal investment. This can be due to a reduction in female investment after mating with genetically incompatible males (“differential allocation”) or compensation for incompatibility (“reproductive compensation”). Here, we looked at the effects of mating with relatives on offspring fitness in mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki. In this species, females are assumed to be nonplacental and to allocate resources to eggs before fertilization, limiting differential allocation. We looked at the effects of mating with a brother or with an unrelated male on brood size, offspring size, gestation period, and early offspring growth. Mating with a relative reduced the number of offspring at birth, but there was no difference in the likelihood of breeding, gestation time, nor in the size or growth of these offspring. We suggest that due to limited potential for maternal effects to influence these traits that any reduction in offspring fitness, or lack thereof, can be explained by inbreeding depression rather than by maternal effects. We highlight the importance of considering the potential role of maternal effects when studying inbreeding depression and encourage further studies in other Poeciliid species with different degrees of placentation to test whether maternal effects mask or amplify any genetic effects of mating with relatives.     

Determinants of within- and among-clutch variation in yolk corticosterone in the European starling

Maternal glucocorticoids are known to affect offspring phenotype in numerous vertebrate taxa. In birds, the maternal transfer of corticosterone to eggs was recently proposed as a hormonal mechanism by which offspring phenotype is matched to the relative quality of the maternal environment. However, current hypotheses lack supporting information on both intra- and inter-clutch variation in yolk corticosterone for wild birds. As such, we examined variation in yolk corticosterone levels in a wild population of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Maternal condition, clutch size and nesting density were all negatively related to yolk corticosterone deposition; females with high condition indices, those laying larger clutches and those nesting in high-density associations deposited lower amounts of the hormone into eggs than those with low condition indices, laying small clutches and nesting in isolation. Alternatively, we found no effects of maternal age or human disturbance on yolk corticosterone deposition. Intra-clutch variation of yolk corticosterone was significant, with levels increasing across the laying sequence in all clutch sizes examined, with the difference between first and last-laid eggs being greater in large versus small clutches. Given the reported effects of yolk corticosterone on offspring size and growth, intra-clutch variation in yolk corticosterone has the potential to alter the competitive environment within a brood. Furthermore, our results indicate that variation in yolk corticosterone can originate from variation in both the mother's quality as well as the quality of her breeding environment. The presence of inter-female variation in particular is an important pre-requisite in testing whether the exposure of offspring to maternally-derived corticosterone is a mechanistic link between offspring phenotypic plasticity and maternal quality.     

High progesterone during avian meiosis biases sex ratios toward females

Evidence of altered primary sex ratios in birds shows that mothers can manipulate the sex of their offspring before oviposition. In birds, females are the heterogametic sex (ZW) and males are homogametic (ZZ). Sex is determined in the first meiotic division, when one sex chromosome is retained in the oocyte and the other segregates to the polar body. Altered primary sex ratios suggest that birds may be capable of biasing the segregation of sex chromosomes during meiosis I. During the time of meiosis I, follicular steroid production is limited primarily to progesterone (P4). We experimentally manipulated the levels of P4 in female domestic chickens during the approximate time of meiosis I. We advanced the ovulation of the first egg of a sequence (or clutch) with a subcutaneous injection of P4. We found a significant effect of P4 dose on the sex of the resulting egg. The high progesterone group produced 25% males whereas the low progesterone group produced 61% males and the control group produced 63% males in the first ovulation of the sequence. We propose that variation in maternal progesterone during the critical time for genetic sex determination is the mechanism for primary sex ratio manipulation in birds.     

Maternal correlates of brood sex ratio variation in the lekking lance-tailed manakin Chiroxiphia lanceolata

Theory predicts that overall population sex ratios should be around parity. But when individual females can receive higher fitness from offspring of one sex, they may benefit by biasing their brood sex ratios accordingly. In lekking species, higher variance in male reproductive success relative to that of females predicts that male offspring gain disproportionately from favorable rearing conditions. Females should therefore produce male-biased broods when they are in a position to raise higher quality offspring: i.e., in better body condition or when they reproduce earlier in the breeding season. To investigate these hypotheses, we studied brood sex ratios of lance-tailed manakins Chiroxiphia lanceolata . We found that overall sex ratios and mean brood sex ratios were not different from random expectation. Brood sex ratios were not related to laying date or female body condition. However, we detected a quadratic relationship between brood sex ratios and maternal age: both young (1–2 years) and old (8+ years) females produced female-biased brood sex ratios. This relationship was most clear in a year also distinguished by early rainy and breeding seasons. We suggest that breeding inexperience in young females and senescence in older females is the most plausible explanation for these results, and that the relationship between female age and brood sex ratio is mediated by environmental conditions.