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Modelling the maintenance of egg polymorphism in avian brood parasites and their hosts
Author(s) -
LIANG W.,
YANG C.,
STOKKE B. G.,
ANTONOV A.,
FOSSØY F.,
VIKAN J. R.,
MOKSNES A.,
RØSKAFT E.,
SHYKOFF J. A.,
MØLLER A. P.,
TAKASU F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02484.x
Subject(s) - biology , brood parasite , cuckoo , host (biology) , brood , parasitism , zoology , reproductive isolation , population , parasite hosting , evolutionary biology , ecology , demography , sociology , world wide web , computer science
In avian brood parasitism, egg phenotype plays a key role for both host and parasite reproduction. Several parrotbill species of the genus Paradoxornis are parasitized by the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus , and clear polymorphism in egg phenotype is observed. In this article, we develop a population genetics model in order to identify the key parameters that control the maintenance of egg polymorphism. The model analyses show that egg polymorphism can be maintained either statically as an equilibrium or dynamically with frequency oscillations depending on the sensitivity of the host against unlike eggs and how the parasite targets host nests with specific egg phenotypes. On the basis of the model, we discuss egg polymorphism observed in parrotbills and other host species parasitized by the cuckoo. We suggest the possibility that frequencies of egg phenotypes oscillate and we appeal for monitoring of cuckoo–host interactions over a large spatiotemporal scale.