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Geographical variation in reproductive ageing patterns and life‐history strategy of a short‐lived passerine bird
Author(s) -
Balbontín J.,
Møller A. P.,
Hermosell I. G.,
Marzal A.,
Reviriego M.,
Lope 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.1420-9101.2012.02606.x
Subject(s) - passerine , biology , variation (astronomy) , life history , geographic variation , ecology , evolutionary biology , ageing , zoology , demography , population , genetics , sociology , physics , astrophysics
We investigated differences in ageing patterns in three measures of breeding performance in populations of barn swallows H irundo rustica L . from S pain and D enmark differing in breeding latitude and hence migration distance and duration of the breeding season. We found differences in ageing patterns between populations. Generally, young (i.e. yearling) and old females (i.e. ≥ 5 years of age) laid their first eggs later and produced smaller clutches than middle‐aged females (i.e. 2–4 years of age) in both populations. The southernmost population (i.e. S panish) showing the shorter migratory distance experienced a greater within‐individual increase in timing of breeding and clutch size in early life and a greater within‐individual decrease in laying date but not in clutch size during senescence compared with the northernmost population (i.e. D anish). We also found that the number of fledglings produced annually was related to the age of the two members of the breeding pairs with pairs composed of young and old females performing less well than breeding pairs composed of middle‐aged females. We did not find reproductive senescence for the age of the male while controlling for the age of the female on the number of fledglings produced annually by the breeding pair. Differential survival between individuals did not explain age effects on laying date or annual clutch size in neither population. However, the increase in the number of fledglings produced annually with age was partly explained by the disappearance of poor‐quality members of the pairs, mainly poor‐quality males. Age‐related breeding success (i.e. number of fledglings) was similar for barn swallows from S pain and D enmark. Therefore, the study of ageing patterns and life‐history strategies in free‐ranging animals from more than a single population can throw new light on life‐history theory, population dynamics and evolutionary studies of senescence.