Optimisation of parental effort: state dependent parental care strategies in birds

• Applicant: Dr. Anke Rehling
• Subject Area: Systematics and Morphology (Zoology)
• Term: from 2008 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 83146110

In order to predict how animals react to changes in their environment it is essential to understand how the allocation of parental resources is shaped by conflicts among family members and by variations in parental and offspring state. Given that parental resources are limited, parents should be selected to optimize the allocation of resources across broods with respect to maximal lifetime reproductive success. They are predicted to adjust their effort to variations in their own, their partner’s and their offspring’s state. Differences in fitness costs and benefits of parental investment between parents and offspring or between partners result in the evolution of intra-familiar conflicts over parental resources. These conflicts are likely to influence parental care. Integrating investigations on the physiological mechanisms that control parental care is necessary as these allow insight into the constraints within which optimal behavioural responses can occur. I here focus on the influence of parental state on the parental effort of both parents in an experimental field study in the lesser black backed gull (Larus fuscus) and in laboratory studies in zebra finches (Poephila guttata). My aim is to investigate how a change in body reserves affects parental effort by looking at behavioural as well as endocrinological aspects. I further aim to investigate, if and to what extent parents compensate for changes in care provided by their partner and which factors influence their inclination to do so.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Pat Monaghan