The association between the emergence of cooperative breeding and clutch size

Previous theoretical work has suggested that smaller brood sizes helped facilitate the emergence of cooperative breeding in birds. However, recent empirical evidence has found no statistically significant difference between the clutch sizes of cooperative breeders and that of noncooperative breeders. One explanation for this finding is that while small clutch sizes may predispose species to cooperative breeding, the emergence of cooperative breeding itself may influence the evolution of clutch size. Here, we develop a set of models using population dynamics to describe how the emergence of cooperative breeding influences clutch size. We find, in contrast to previous theoretical work, that the emergence of cooperative breeding does not necessarily decrease (and under certain conditions may actually increase) clutch size. In particular, clutch size may increase after the emergence of cooperative breeding if helpers – philopatric individuals that assist their breeding relatives – are able to substantially improve breeder fecundity at low costs to their own survival, and if the association between breeder and helper is brief. In many cases, clutch size increases following the emergence of cooperative breeding not because it is optimal for the breeder, but as the result of breeder–helper conflict over resource allocation.