Experimental manipulation of tail length in female barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) affects their future reproductive success |
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Authors: | Cuervo, Jose Javier Moller, Anders Pape de Lope, Florentino |
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Affiliation: | a Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Calle General Segura 1, E-04001 Almería, Spain b Laboratoire d'Ecologie Evolutive Parasitaire, CNRS FRE 2365, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Bât. A, 7ème étage, 7 quai St. Bernard, Case 237, F-75252 Paris Cedex 05, France c Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de Elvas s/n, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain |
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Abstract: | Previous studies have shown no significant effect of experimentaltail length manipulation in female barn swallows (Hirundo rustica)at the beginning of a breeding season on reproductive successor behavior during that breeding season. In the present study,we investigate if tail length manipulation had any effect onreproductive performance the following year, the so-called long-termeffect, in contrast to the short-term effects already studied.We found that females with experimentally elongated externaltail feathers at the beginning of a breeding season producedless offspring during the breeding season the following yearthan did females with shortened or unmanipulated tails. Theseresults suggest that tail elongation caused flight deficienciesthat deteriorated the condition of females and eventually reducedreproductive success. The finding of long-term effects but nosignificant short-term effects for female tail elongation suggeststhat female barn swallows have the ability to adjust immediateparental investment. Detrimental effects of long tails in femalesin terms of decreased reproductive success might explain whyfemale tails are not as long as those of males. Finally, femalesmated to long-tailed (sexually attractive) males decreased theirreproductive success the following year more than did femalesmated to short-tailed males, possibly owing to differentialparental effort causing a deterioration of their condition. |
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Keywords: | external tail feathers life history reproductive success tail length manipulation tradeoffs between life history and sexual selection. |
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