Behavioural plasticity of alternative reproductive tactics: the role of the social environment

Theoretical frameworkInvestigating the extent of behavioural plasticity is a key requirement to understanding the evolution of phenotypic diversity. Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are typically either condition-dependent and flexible or genetically determined and fixed. Behavioural plasticity is thought to confer substantial fitness advantages in variable environments but to what extent species with ARTs exhibit plastic responses to variation in social environments is largely unknown. In this project, I propose to investigate the role of the social environment in the expression of ARTs in two avian species with similar mating systems and reproductive phenotypes: ruffs (C. pugnax) and spotted bowerbirds (P. maculatus). Breeding males of both species exhibit one ‘conventional’ tactic investing in reproduction by competing for a display arena, and other parasitic, ‘sneaking’ tactics exploiting such investment and obtaining copulations opportunistically. However, the range of plasticity of these ARTs in response to variable social environments is currently unknown in both species.Research questionsThis project aims to address three main questions. First, I will ask whether behavioural plasticity is tactic dependent and varies across morphs, i.e., it is more likely to be observed in morphs deploying sneaking or resource-defense strategies. Second, I will investigate whether plasticity involves courtship display, aggressive behaviours, or a combination of both. Last, I will examine whether behavioural plasticity impacts attractiveness and reproductive success. MethodsI propose to combine experimental approaches in controlled conditions in ruffs, and in the wild in spotted bowerbirds. By manipulating lek structure (separating males by morph) in captive ruffs, I will investigate the effect of an experimental manipulation of the social environment on the expression of ARTs. In spotted bowerbirds, I will remove resident males to investigate behavioural plasticity in subordinate males in the wild. I propose to combine cutting-edge methodologies for behavioural analysis – including machine learning techniques for movement tracking – with established paradigms to investigate social and dominance networks, parentage analysis, and fine-scale behavioural analysis of motor courtship during the experimental manipulation. InnovationThese experimental approaches are of primary importance for understanding the relative roles of intrinsic and exogenous regulatory mechanisms – as well as of their interplay – in the expression of ARTs. In ruffs, Because these experimental approaches cannot be implemented in nature, this project provides a unique opportunity to quantify behavioural plasticity of ARTs in captive birds.Primary researchers involvedDr. Clemens Küpper will be the host at the Max Planck Institute during the research stay abroad. Prof. Leonida Fusani will supervise the project on bowerbirds in the return phase in Vienna.

FWF Erwin Schrödinger Stipendium

Max Planck Institut für Ornithologie
Funktion: AssoziierterPartner

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