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Parental cooperation in a changing climate: fluctuating environments predict shifts in care division
Author(s) -
Vincze Orsolya,
Kosztolányi András,
Barta Zoltán,
Küpper Clemens,
Alrashidi Monif,
Amat Juan A.,
Argüelles Ticó Araceli,
Burns Fiona,
Cavitt John,
Conway Warren C.,
CruzLópez Medardo,
DesucreMedrano Atahualpa Eduardo,
dos Remedios Natalie,
Figuerola Jordi,
GalindoEspinosa Daniel,
GarcíaPeña Gabriel E.,
Gómez Del Angel Salvador,
GrattoTrevor Cheri,
Jönsson Paul,
Lloyd Penn,
Montalvo Tomás,
Parra Jorge Enrique,
Pruner Raya,
Que Pinjia,
Liu Yang,
Saalfeld Sarah T.,
Schulz Rainer,
Serra Lorenzo,
St Clair James J. H.,
Stenzel Lynne E.,
Weston Michael A.,
Yasué Maï,
Zefania Sama,
Székely Tamás
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global ecology and biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.164
H-Index - 152
eISSN - 1466-8238
pISSN - 1466-822X
DOI - 10.1111/geb.12540
Subject(s) - paternal care , climate change , ecology , biology , plover , offspring , charadrius , phenotypic plasticity , population , energetics , geography , demography , pregnancy , genetics , sociology , habitat
Abstract Aim Parental care improves the survival of offspring and therefore has a major impact on reproductive success. It is increasingly recognized that coordinated biparental care is necessary to ensure the survival of offspring in hostile environments, but little is known about the influence of environmental fluctuations on parental cooperation. Assessing the impacts of environmental stochasticity, however, is essential for understanding how populations will respond to climate change and the associated increasing frequencies of extreme weather events. Here we investigate the influence of environmental stochasticity on biparental incubation in a cosmopolitan ground‐nesting avian genus. Location Global. Methods We assembled data on biparental care in 36 plover populations ( Charadrius spp.) from six continents, collected between 1981 and 2012. Using a space‐for‐time approach we investigate how average temperature, temperature stochasticity (i.e. year‐to‐year variation) and seasonal temperature variation during the breeding season influence parental cooperation during incubation. Results We show that both average ambient temperature and its fluctuations influence parental cooperation during incubation. Male care relative to female care increases with both mean ambient temperature and temperature stochasticity. Local climatic conditions explain within‐species population differences in parental cooperation, probably reflecting phenotypic plasticity of behaviour. Main conclusions The degree of flexibility in parental cooperation is likely to mediate the impacts of climate change on the demography and reproductive behaviour of wild animal populations.